“To galvanize support for Alaska’s wild lands and waters.”
3 live lawsuits, 9 comments to the agencies, 70 cents of every dollar to the work.
The origin
Alaska Wilderness League, founded in 1993, is the main Washington, D.C. group working full-time to keep Alaska’s wildest places off-limits to oil and gas. Its central fight is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain, where it has repeatedly helped beat back congressional attempts to open the refuge to drilling. President Jimmy Carter served as its honorary board chair until his death in 2024. With offices in Anchorage and Juneau, it also works on the Tongass and the Western Arctic.
Where the money went, FY2025
The arctic National Wildlife Refuge has been a primary focus of AWL since its founding.
Including $68,916 granted onward, the largest share ($30,000) to National Religious Partnership for the Environment.
REFUGE - THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE HAS BEEN A PRIMARY FOCUS OF AWL SINCE ITS FOUNDING. EVER SINCE CONGRESS VOTED TO OPEN UP THE ARCTIC REFUGE COASTAL PLAIN FOR OIL AND GAS EXTRACTION IN 2017, AWL'S PRIMARY GOAL HAS BEEN RESTORING PROTECTIONS WHILE STOPPING AND LIMITING DAMAGE FROM ANY AND ALL INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT. TO SECURE THIS GOAL, AWL WORKS WITH MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO SECURE A WILDERNESS DESIGNATION AND MINIMIZE IMPACTS FROM THE 2017 TAX ACT, ALONG WITH OTHER POLICIES THAT PROTECT REFUGE LANDS FOR LONG-TERM SUSTAINABLE USES. AWL'S WORK INCLUDES EDUCATING AND MOBILIZING AMERICANS INCLUDING ALASKANS IN THEIR MEMBER AND SUPPORTER NETWORK, WHILE AWL ALSO LEADS LIKEMINDED ORGANIZATIONS AND ENTITIES WHO ARE ALSO SEEKING LONG-TERM PROTECTIONS FOR THIS ICONIC LANDSCAPE.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
National petroleum reserve Alaska (npra) - Alaska’s western arctic is home to incredible biodiversity, featuring some of the longest migrations left on earth.
Including $7,197 granted onward.
NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE ALASKA (NPRA) - ALASKA'S WESTERN ARCTIC IS HOME TO INCREDIBLE BIODIVERSITY, FEATURING SOME OF THE LONGEST MIGRATIONS LEFT ON EARTH. AT THE SAME TIME, THE NPRA IS INCREASINGLY THE FOCUS OF OIL AND GAS COMPANIES WHO SEEK TO EXTRACT BILLIONS OF BARRELS OF OIL IN THE DECADES TO COME. AFTER WORKING WITH THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO BETTER PROTECT THIS LANDSCAPE, AWL IS NOW FOCUSED ON KEEPING THOSE PROTECTIONS IN PLACE, ALONG WITH TELLING THE STORY OF WHAT IS AT STAKE IF CURRENT PROTECTIONS ARE LOST. ON TOP OF DEPLOYING AWL'S NETWORKS OF SUPPORTERS, AWL IS ALSO HELPING TO CREATE AND LEAD ELEVATION STRATEGIES THAT INCREASE PUBLIC AWARENESS ABOUT THIS RELATIVELY UNKNOWN AREA OF ALASKA'S ARCTIC, WHILE OPPOSING OIL AND GAS PROJECTS THAT WOULD LOCK THE REGION INTO OIL PRODUCTION THROUGH THE 2050S AND BEYOND.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
AWL houses the central staff and serves as the fiscal sponsor for this collaborative campaign effort involving national and state-based conservation groups as well as indigenous organizations based in Alaska.
Including $60,000 granted onward.
ARCTIC DEFENSE CAMPAIGN - AWL HOUSES THE CENTRAL STAFF AND SERVES AS THE FISCAL SPONSOR FOR THIS COLLABORATIVE CAMPAIGN EFFORT INVOLVING NATIONAL AND STATE-BASED CONSERVATION GROUPS AS WELL AS INDIGENOUS ORGANIZATIONS BASED IN ALASKA. THIS RECENTLY EXPANDED COLLABORATIVE EFFORT IS NOW AIMED AT PROTECTING BOTH THE NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE-ALASKA AND THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE FROM OIL EXTRACTION THREATS.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
In southeast Alaska, the tongass National Forest has already transitioned to a post-clear cut logging economy, but for the past decade, policies of the government have lagged behind.
Including $2,387 granted onward.
TONGASS - IN SOUTHEAST ALASKA, THE TONGASS NATIONAL FOREST HAS ALREADY TRANSITIONED TO A POST-CLEAR CUT LOGGING ECONOMY, BUT FOR THE PAST DECADE, POLICIES OF THE GOVERNMENT HAVE LAGGED BEHIND. AFTER ACHIEVING STRONGER PROTECTIONS IN YEARS PAST, TODAY AWL IS FOCUSED ON PROTECTING THE ROADLESS RULE'S APPLICABILITY IN THE FOREST, AND THE TRANSITION AWAY FROM LARGE SCALE, CLEAR CUT OLD GROWTH LOGGING. TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL, AND TO KEEP PUBLIC LANDS PUBLIC IN THE REGION, AWL WORKS CLOSELY WITH PARTNERS BOTH NATIONALLY AND IN ALASKA TO PUSH BACK AGAINST ANY LEGISLATION THAT WOULD PRIVATIZE PUBLIC LANDS IN THIS FOREST.RAPID DEFENSE - DEFENDING ALASKA'S PUBLIC LANDS REQUIRES CONSTANT ATTENTION. SOME THREATS LIKE DRILLING THE ARCTIC REFUGE ARE HIGH PROFILE, AND GARNER PUBLIC SCRUTINY THAT AWL WILL HELP TO SUPPORT THROUGH THEIR LONG RUNNING ADVOCACY EFFORTS DESCRIBED ABOVE. HOWEVER, OTHER THREATS TO THE INTEGRITY OF ALASKA'S PUBLIC LANDS ARE NOT AS OBVIOUS, THROUGH THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS OR VIA ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION. WITH AWL'S POLICY EXPERTISE AND OFFICE IN ALASKA, AWL IS WELL EQUIPPED TO ANALYZE PUBLIC LAND THREATS STATEWIDE, WHILE AWL SIMULTANEOUSLY WORKS TO INFLUENCE FEDERAL DECISIONS IN WASHINGTON, DC.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Follow the dollar
Read it as a snapshot, not a scorecard. Splits move year to year with grants and campaigns, and healthy shops live all across this range.
$2,493,340 programs, $570,721 management, $514,327 fundraising. Form 990, FY2025.
The backers
Backed on the record by 444S Foundation, Campion Foundation, Wilburforce Foundation, Wilderness Society and Kendeda Fund, latest filing FY25.
The people
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. If it’s out of date, tell us. Work at the Alaska Wilderness League? Claim this page.
Those 850 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If the Alaska Wilderness League is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.
Find your way inThe record
And 7 more in our case database: a selection we track, not their full docket.
Fights alongside Sierra Club (10 shared cases), Center for Biological Diversity (7 shared cases), Defenders of Wildlife (7 shared cases), Natural Resources Defense Council (6 shared cases) and Environment America (5 shared cases) and 13 more. Same case, same side, on the federal docket.
The filings
Total revenue by fiscal year, as filed. Point at or tap the line for any year.
| Year | Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2011 | $3,470,077 |
| 2012 | $3,199,262 |
| 2013 | $3,952,973 |
| 2014 | $3,131,109 |
| 2015 | $3,721,209 |
| 2016 | $3,365,405 |
| 2017 | $1,733,762 |
| 2018 | $3,552,052 |
| 2019 | $2,458,772 |
| 2020 | $5,129,061 |
| 2021 | $4,730,276 |
| 2022 | $4,026,914 |
| 2023 | $3,995,994 |
| 2025 | $4,009,193 |
From $3.5M in 2011 to $4.0M in FY25, across 14 public filings (none on record for 2024).
On the Hill
The Alaska Wilderness League has hired federal lobbyists: 2 filings in 2025, naming 2 bills. The filings, at the Senate.
Most filed on natural resources, the environment and the budget.
The record
9 comments on federal decisions since 2023, each filed under the group’s own name on regulations.gov, none yet on a decision we track. Read them on regulations.gov.
Year by year
2014, In re Big Thorne Project & 2008 Tongass Forest Plan, lost; 2020, Organized Village of Kake v. Vilsack, closed; 2020, Friends of Alaska Nat’l v. Debra Haaland, closed; 2019, SalmonState v. Hladick, closed; 2019, Native Village of Nuiqsut v. Bureau of Land Management, closed; 2018, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council v. Stewart, closed; 2021, Alaska Wildlife Alliance v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, closed.
Rust, a case still in court. Green, a funder’s return. Hollow, a filing. Every row is a record we hold: 12 federal cases with the group on the docket, 9 comments filed under its own name, 5 funders whose returns name it. Nothing here is written from memory.
Their ground
Plaintiff asking the court to void the 2025 reinstatement of the Ambler road permits
Who’s defending it On the ground · On this place: 1 case in federal court, filed 2024Tongass National ForestWorks the Tongass and the Roadless Rule fight in Washington
Who’s defending it On the ground · Critical threatIzembek National Wildlife RefugePlaintiff in the Izembek land exchange litigation, represented by Trustees for Alaska
Who’s defending it Leading the fight · Critical threatArctic National Wildlife RefugeBuilt around defending the Arctic Refuge from oil and gas drilling
Who’s defending it On the ground · Critical threatNPR-A Teshekpuk Lake Special AreaTreats the 3.65 million acre Teshekpuk Lake wetlands as a defining priority, drove thousands of public comments for stronger NPR-A Special Area protections, and opposed the 2025 congressional attempt to overturn them.
Who’s defending itMost urgent first: open comment windows, then live federal cases, then the threat level. See every threatened place on one map, and who stands for each.
Alaska Wilderness League files one related organization on its return: Alaska Wilderness League Action (501(c)(4)). A related organization shares people or purpose; it does not share the books.
The Alaska congressional delegation averages 4 of 100 on public lands. See the full scorecard
Ways in
Straight to their own donation page. Your dollar never passes through us.
Give on their site ↗Show upVolunteer with themFind their volunteer door on their own site.
Find it on their site ↗SpeakComment and callOpen comment windows and call scripts for fights like these, ready to send.
Public Lands Action NetworkFollowWatch the mapEvery threatened place in the country, tracked, with who stands for each.
Threatened Lands MapThe mission is theirs. The backing is yours.