Famed for its immense wilderness and abundant wildlife, Alaska is home to the United States’ only Arctic region, the largest national forest in the nation — the Tongass — and a rich native culture that dates back millennia.

Opened in 1978, our Alaska regional office works to safeguard public lands, waters and wildlife from destructive oil and gas drilling, mining and logging and to protect the region's marine and coastal ecosystems. Learn about some of the office's current and past legal cases.

Working Green: Alaska

The construction and day-to-day operation of buildings have a powerful impact on our planet. Earthjustice is actively promoting a green, environmentally-conscious future outside of the courtroom. Learn about the green features of the Juneau location of the Alaska regional office.

Highlights of past successes include:

• Defeating a State of Alaska challenge to the Roadless Rule nationwide;
• Enjoining countless old-growth Tongass timber sales in lawsuits over a span of nearly 30 years;
• Protecting the Arctic from development’s harm, including the Western Arctic’s most sensitive wildlife habitat near Teshekpuk Lake, thus opening the door to permanent protection of the area;
• 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; and
• Defeating a proposed permit to dump mine tailings from the Quartz Hill Molybdenum Mine into the waters of Misty Fjords National Monument.