Sharing Our Members' Stories

Read just a few personal perspectives on the work of The Nature Conservancy over these past two decades. 

Robert Ruffner, of the Kenai Watershed Forum 

When school children draw water samples from the Kenai River these days, they’re discovering that the water is cleaner than it used to be. Levels of the most worrisome pollutant – gasoline – are in sharp decline. Why? A long-term water quality monitoring project initiated by the Conservancy in 2000 led to a community-wide plan to buy-back 200 inefficient two-stroke boat motors – the source of what added up to thousands of gallons of spewed gas on summer days.

“The results are pretty dramatic. It’s a major success story that probably has national significance. The Conservancy deserves credit for getting it started,” says Robert Ruffner, director of the Kenai Watershed Forum.

In addition to a seed grant that helped the watershed forum open its doors eleven years ago, the Conservancy taught its particular style of science-based conservation that has been so effective on the Kenai Peninsula.

“The Nature Conservancy in Alaska has been a mentor in a type of conservation philosophy that’s been really effective for us here. We are well respected and people seem to really appreciate our apolitical stance on things, not just politics but also fish politics. It’s been an important aspect of developing credibility for the watershed forum.”

Susan Ruddy, of The Providence Foundation

Before The Nature Conservancy in Alaska had even a chair for its office, Susan Ruddy began fostering the conversation that brings unlikely partners to the same table. Since the beginning, the Conservancy in Alaska has stood on the shoulders of a committed leadership drawn from the business and conservation community alike.

“It was really clear that people were so polarized here that there was no way to have a conversation. I felt really strongly that we need to bring people together,” says Susan, who served as the Alaska chapter’s first president and continues to serve as a trustee.

Always at the center of that conversation, Susan says, is the good science that explores Alaska’s diverse and broad landscapes. Over its 20 year history, the Conservancy has brokered land deals and easements that ensure the protection of key habitats, but it also has contributed much to a landscape-scale understanding of Alaska’s ecoregions. With its ethos of helping Alaska to do it right the first time, the Conservancy helps to plan the thoughtful conservation of important habitats. It helps decision makers understand a decision’s consequences.

In reflecting on two decades of conservation, Susan recalls the Conservancy’s instrumental work in developing the Kenai River Watershed Council and its quiet role in establishing the state’s five land trusts. More recently, the work of the Tongass Futures Roundtable and the Pribilof Island Collaborative has shown how all sides can work together for conservation. She recalls, too, the hours of engaged discussion among people from across the political spectrum who sat down together at the behest of the Conservancy. In this way, the Conservancy has helped Alaska shape its own conservation future.

“I’m just so proud of the Conservancy’s entire legacy in Alaska,” she says.

Al Parrish, of Providence Hospital 

Al Parrish had just bought his first new car and was driving it north on the Alaska Highway. He was 19 years old. At one point along his journey, he steered the blue Corvair onto the side of the road and killed the engine. There, he listened.

“It was May 13, 1965, and the sun was setting. It was one of those beautiful days. There wasn’t anybody around, and it was the first time in my life that I heard silence,” Al says. “In that moment of silence, I thought to myself, ‘this is important. It is very important to me and my soul. I need to do something in my life that will help share this with people.’”

Years later, Al continues to recall that spring day with a vivid clarity. He’s led a successful career in Alaska’s hospitality industry, and now serves as chief executive of Providence Health and Services Alaska. In addition to serving as a trustee for the Alaska chapter in the past, Al has continued his involvement with the Conservancy. He and his wife Ann recently became members of the Last Great Places Society, which honors those who have made a gift of $10,000 or more over the course of a year to support conservation work.

“The Nature Conservancy has always looked for collaborative processes,” Al says. “And to me, that approach has always been the best one.”

Francisca Yanez, of Bristol Bay Native Corp. 

Each place has a story. Where there are berries or salmon, caribou or beaver, there are names. These place names are written not on paper, but kept in a community’s understanding of its place.

 

The Nushagak River Watershed Traditional Use Area Conservation Plan helps preserve the names that tell important stories in the Bristol Bay watershed. Francisca Yanez, a native Yup’ik speaker who grew up in the village of Togiak, has taken the time to hear these stories, listening for important understandings conveyed within, and translating them from Yup’ik to English.

Brian Davies, formerly of BP in Alaska and former chair of the Alaska chapter Board of Trustees

Among the core values of the Conservancy, a respect for people, communities and cultures is central. For Brian Davies, president of the Conservancy’s Board of Trustees in Alaska, this is an important consideration as we work to preserve the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.

“The needs of humans also need to be considered in our planning. According to the mission of The Nature Conservancy, humans and their well-being are also important. That continues to be the single strongest distinguishing factor of The Nature Conservancy. And that’s also our single greatest strength,” Brian says.

He has supported the Conservancy for most of its 20 years in Alaska, where he first came to work for BP in 1971. This support for the Conservancy has grown since his retirement as vice president of BP’s Prudhoe Bay operations in 1994. Over the years, Brian has seen the Conservancy find solutions to difficult natural resource discussions.

“I think the Tongass Futures Roundtable is a classic example of that sort of role: the facilitator of difficult discussions and then coming to a way of working together that accommodates nearly everybody’s ideals.”