Regional Office

Alaska Office

Western Arctic. (Kiliii Yuyan for Earthjustice)

310 K Street, Ste. 508
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
The Unuk River in Alaska in the spring.
June 12, 2024 Press Release

Alaska, Washington Tribes condemn BC’s flawed consultation policy

New and diminished engagement with U.S. Tribes violates Provincial law

May 28, 2024 In the News: KYUK

Pipeline proposed to power Donlin mine could have impacts from Y-K Delta to Cook Inlet

Olivia Glasscock, Attorney, Alaska Office, Earthjustice: “Unless you look at the whole project, you’re not actually going to understand the impacts on the public interest.”

May 17, 2024 document

Pebble Mine: Proposed Answer of Applicant Intervenor-Defendants

A coalition of 15 conservation groups, represented by Earthjustice, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and Trustees for Alaska filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit to defend the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s decision that protects Bristol Bay from harmful mines, like the proposed Pebble Mine, under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act.

Features