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Advocacy · Alaska-focused

Alaska Wilderness League

“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.

Home groundWashington, DC
Founded1993
Tax status501(c)(3)
Led byKristen Miller

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The origin

How they started

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 work, and what it cost

Refuge

$1.4M, 38% of spending

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.

Read it as they filed it
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

$551K, 15% of spending

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.

Read it as they filed it
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.

Arctic Defense Campaign

$390K, 11% of spending

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.

Read it as they filed it
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.

Tongass

$179K, 5% of spending

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.

Read it as they filed it
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

70 cents of every dollar goes to the work

70¢
70¢ the work16¢ keeping the lights on14¢ raising the next 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

Who does the work

21paid staff
850volunteers last year
15board members
Kristen MillerExecutive DirectorComp $166,051, FY2025
Mladen MatesSenior Director of FinanceComp $131,823, FY2025
Christopher KonishSenior Director of DevelopmentComp $116,070, FY2025

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 in

The record

The court 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

14 years of filings

Total revenue by fiscal year, as filed. Point at or tap the line for any year.

$2M$4M$4.0M FY2520112025
Total revenue by fiscal year
YearRevenue
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

On the record with the agencies

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

The record, in order

  1. 1993Alaska Wilderness League is formed.the return, formation year
  2. 20142014 to 2023: 9 cases filed, all since closed: Sovereign Inupiat for a Living Arctic v. United States Bureau of Land Management; Sovereign Inupiat for a Living Arctic v. Bureau of Land Management and 7 more.
    The other 7
    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.
    the docket
  3. 2020Gwich’in Steering Committee v. United States Department of the Interior: plaintiff, still in court.the docket
  4. 2021First appears in Kendeda Fund’s grants.the funder’s return
  5. 2022First appears in the grants of 444S Foundation, Campion Foundation and Wilburforce Foundation.the funders’ returns
  6. 2023State of Alaska v. The United States Department of Agriculture: intervenor, still in court.the docket
  7. 2 comments, both to the Bureau of Land Management, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
  8. 20241 comment to the Fish and Wildlife Service, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
  9. 20253 comments to federal agencies, the Bureau of Land Management among them, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
  10. First appears in Wilderness Society’s grants.the funder’s return
  11. 2026Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges v. U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers: plaintiff, still in court.the docket
  12. 3 comments, most to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov

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

The places they defend

Most 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.

Where and what
Federal landsFish & Wildlife Service · U.S. Forest Service · Bureau of Land Management · National Park Service
Active inAlaska
The family, on the record

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.

Who writes the rules where they work

The Alaska congressional delegation averages 4 of 100 on public lands. See the full scorecard

More groups in Washington DC

Ways in

How to help

Stand with the Alaska Wilderness League

The mission is theirs. The backing is yours.

Sources and methodFinancials, headcounts, and program text: IRS Form 990, FY2025 and 13 prior filings via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, EIN 52-1814742. Leadership and compensation: Form 990 Part VII and the return’s signature block, FY2025 filing. Grantees: Schedule I, same filing. Court record: CourtListener dockets in the MTJP litigation database (4 linked cases: 3 active, 1 lost). Related organizations: Schedule R of the same filing, matched to our directory by EIN. Allies: co-litigation edges derived from the same dockets, same case and same side. Funders: the funders’ own returns (Schedule I and 990-PF Part XV) via ProPublica, names and years only. Lobbying: Senate LDA filings naming the Alaska Wilderness League as client or registrant, read from the LDA filings MTJP holds. Agency comments: regulations.gov comments whose submitter organization is the group’s own name, each row linked to the comment itself. Place links: MTJP editorial curation with per-link sources. Org-reported figures are always labeled. Data verified as of 2026-09-23. Nothing on this page is pay-to-play.