Native Conservancy

Native land conservation: eyak cultural mapping started from a community vision to bring the traditional eyak names, associated stories, historic knowledge and language connections back to life through counter-mapping. Counter-mapping challenges widely accepted colonial perspectives of land and waters. This program provides recognition and cultivates deeper understandings of the eyak homelands, the value of names, stories and sacred sites. The bering river coal acquisition is a 23-year conservation campaign to stop roads and protect three-million acres of wild salmon habitat on the copper river delta. The bering river coalfields are 73,000 acres of pristine wilderness along the eastern perimeter of the copper river delta's alluvial fan that is a corridor for continuous wildlife. The watershed is fully intact and supports the returns of thousands of spawning coho and sockeye salmon each year. The goal is to protect and secure the coal title for the remaining 11,000 acres of the bering river coalfields.

Reclaiming land & water: in response to the pandemic that threatened food sovereignty in the region, local elders were surveyed and resulted in the need and desire for traditional foods that were far-reaching. The elder's ability to access wild foods was limited even prior to the pandemic. The goal is to nurture and grow this program for longevity. Local harvested food is donated to approximately 100 local native elders.

Other program activities include conferences and communications: this accounts for donor and grant outreach and marketing to help support the mission of the organization.