Regional Office

Alaska Office

Western Arctic. (Kiliii Yuyan for Earthjustice)

441 W 5th Avenue, Ste. 301
Anchorage, AK 99501
(907) 277-2500

325 Fourth Street
Juneau, AK 99801
(907) 586-2751

akoffice@earthjustice.org

Media Inquiries

Elizabeth Manning
Public Affairs and Communications Strategist
emanning@earthjustice.org

Legal Assistance Inquiries

Contacto de Prensa

Robert Valencia
Estratega de Comunicaciones y Asuntos Públicos Hispanos/Latinos
rvalencia@earthjustice.org
(212) 845-7376

Who We Are

Since 1978, our Alaska regional office has fought destructive oil and gas drilling, mining, and logging that threatens the region’s communities, lands, waters, and wildlife. See bar admissions for our attorneys.

Charisse ArceSenior Attorney

Erin ColónSenior Attorney

Ian DooleySenior Associate Attorney

Hannah Payne FosterAssociate Attorney

Olivia GlasscockSenior Associate Attorney

Kate GloverSenior Attorney

Erik GrafeDeputy Managing Attorney

Carole HolleyManaging Attorney

Eric JorgensenSenior Attorney

Iris Korhonen-PennLitigation Paralegal

Jeremy LiebSenior Attorney

Sarah SaundersLegal Practice Manager / Supervising Litigation Paralegal

Lauren TanelLegal Practice Assistant

Maile TavepholjalernSenior Attorney

Our Impact

Alaska is home to irreplaceable diversity of peoples, wildlife, and ecosystems. It includes rich Alaska Native cultures dating back millennia, the only Arctic region in the U.S., and the Tongass National Forest.

Earthjustice, in coordination with our clients and allies, defends the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Arctic Ocean, and Western Arctic from fossil fuel development, as well as opposes industry efforts to log and build roads in Alaska’s old-growth forests and wilderness.

We are committed to representing those who oppose unlawful and ill-advised mining in the vast expanse of Alaska and British Columbia and are battling some of the region’s worst hard rock and coal mine proposals.

In this work, the office represents a diverse mix of organizations and allies, including conservation groups, community organizations, and many Alaska Native Tribes who have, for millennia, relied on Alaska’s lands and waters for their way of life.

Highlights of past successes include:

  • Overturning a Trump executive order opening the vast majority of the Arctic Ocean to oil and gas drilling
  • Defeating a Bush administration action exempting the Tongass National Forest from the national Roadless Rule
  • Enjoining countless old-growth Tongass timber sales in lawsuits over a span of more than 30 years
  • Protecting the Arctic from development’s harm, including the Western Arctic’s most sensitive wildlife habitat near Teshekpuk Lake
  • Winning protections for Alaska’s ocean ecosystems and marine animals, including Steller sea lions
  • Forcing substantial reform of gold placer mining practices throughout Interior Alaska through a successful litigation campaign
  • Defeating a permit for a proposed mine that would have released toxic tailings into the waters of Misty Fjords National Monument

Recent News
View of the Tulsequah River, looking east towards the confluence with Taku River.
February 19, 2024 Press Release

Alaska Tribes facing BC mining threat ask for international hearing

SEITC briefs the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights on Canada’s violations

February 19, 2024 Document

SEITC Observations on the Merits of BC Mines Case

A group of Alaska Tribes with roots along Canada’s transboundary rivers, the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC), submitted a brief to the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights requesting a hearing on the looming threats of several risky and under-regulated gold mines in British Columbia.

Tongass National Forest.
January 30, 2024 Press Release

Alaska Native Tribes, Southeast Alaska Businesses and Forest Advocates Defend Tongass National Forest’s Roadless Rule

Legal intervention seeks to retain forest protections that support Tribes, communities, and sustainable local economies

Features