Environmental Protection & Wildlife Conservation in Alaska

Tourism is becoming one of the world’s largest industries.  In Alaska, tourism is already the third-largest private sector employer and is expected to play an even more dominant role in the state’s economic growth and development in coming decades.  In many parts of rural Alaska, tourism represents one of the few opportunities for economic development.  The challenge is to manage tourism so that it benefits local communities while conserving the very natural resources in this unique state that visitors come to see: Alaska’s mountains, glaciers, forests, oceans, wildlife, Native American cultures and authentic Alaskan communities.
 
For over 20 years, the Alaska Wilderness Recreation & Tourism Association (AWRTA) has been the environmental and cultural “conscience” of the Alaska tourism industry.  Composed of primarily smaller, wilderness-dependent businesses, AWRTA members package top-notch outdoor adventure experiences and services with sustainable operating practices which promote environmental protection and wildlife conservation.  AWRTA helped create Adventure Green Alaska, an ecotourism certification program that helps Alaska visitors identify sustainable tourism businesses.
 
AWRTA actively engages in Alaska’s most critical environmental issues bringing to ecotourism debates an environmental protection and wildlife conservation perspective as well as an economic development and a business perspective.  AWRTA is a vocal opponent of the following environmentally-damaging Alaska projects and practices:
 

• Developing the Pebble Mine near Bristol Bay
• Drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
• Wildlife predator control policies that are not dictated by science and sound management principles

 
Visit AWRTA online at www.awrta.org to learn more about AWRTA’s advocacy for Alaska environmental protection and wildlife conservation.