ANCHORAGE, Alaska — [July 10, 2026] — Alaska Conservation Foundation (ACF) today announced $378,000 in general operating support grants awarded through its Alaska Defense Fund to 23 grassroots conservation organizations and Tribal entities across the state.
Established in 2016 to unite conservation efforts and provide essential resources to defend Alaska’s landscapes, communities, and ways of life, the Alaska Defense Fund ensures ACF has the resources to support grassroots advocacy partners during times of great need. As federal policy toward Alaska’s public lands and waters continues to shift, the fund remains more critical than ever, enabling ACF to deploy resources in support of partners’ communications, community organizing, and legal defense efforts.
What sets the Alaska Defense Fund apart is that the money is entirely unrestricted, allowing organizations to spend it wherever they see a need. Instead of being tied to narrow project goals, these flexible funds can directly support organizations’ core operations. It reflects ACF’s role as an intermediary funder, moving resources straight to the grassroots groups and Tribal entities working to protect the state’s lands, waters, and ways of life.
This year’s Alaska Defense Fund awards represent continued growth in ACF’s investment in the conservation movement, up from $350,000 in 2025 and $252,500 in 2024, an increase of roughly 50% over two years. Grant recipients are working on the front lines to protect some of Alaska’s most treasured public lands and waters, including the Susitna River Watershed, Tongass National Forest, Cook Inlet, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Brooks Range, and Bristol Bay.
More than a quarter of this year’s grantees are Indigenous-led or Tribal organizations, including United Tribes of Bristol Bay, Chilkat Indian Village, Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic, Gwich’in Steering Committee, Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission, and Grandmothers Growing Goodness. This reflects ACF’s strategic commitment to elevating Indigenous voices and the perspectives of underrepresented people throughout its work.
“Alaska’s lands and waters are facing serious pressure right now, from continued efforts to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, to the important fight to address wasteful bycatch from trawling in federal and state waters. Our grantee partners are the ones showing up for these places every day, and they need resources that can keep pace. The Alaska Defense Fund exists for exactly this moment. We are proud to provide resources to the grassroots groups and Indigenous-led organizations holding the line. By providing unrestricted funding, we’re making sure they can use it where they need it most, whether that’s for legal defense, community organizing, or just covering costs like staff salaries to keep their vital work going.”
— Anna Dalton, Vice President of Program Development, Alaska Conservation Foundation
Since 1980, Alaska Conservation Foundation has awarded more than $63 million in grants to support conservation across the state. As the only public foundation solely dedicated to conservation in Alaska, ACF works as an intermediary funder, shifting power and resources to grassroots organizations and Tribal entities while providing value-added support that strengthens statewide coordination and collaboration.
FY26 Alaska Defense Fund General Operating Support Grantees:
- Trustees for Alaska
- Cook Inletkeeper
- Susitna River Coalition
- Southeast Alaska Conservation Council
- Alaska Center Education Fund
- Sitka Conservation Society
- Alaska Wilderness League
- National Parks Conservation Association
- Alaska Community Action on Toxics
- Northern Alaska Environmental Center
- United Tribes of Bristol Bay
- SalmonState
- Gwich’in Steering Committee
- Alaska Wildlife Alliance
- Alaska Marine Community Coalition
- Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition
- Chilkat Indian Village
- Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic
- Renewable Energy Alaska Project
- Sierra Club Alaska
- Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association
- Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission
- Grandmothers Growing Goodness
About Alaska Conservation Foundation
Founded in 1980, Alaska Conservation Foundation is the only public foundation solely dedicated to conservation in Alaska. Our priorities are protecting Alaska’s public lands and waters and building resilience to the impacts of climate change. As a proud intermediary funder, ACF prides itself on shifting power and resources to Alaska’s grassroots and providing value-added services to ensure statewide coordination and collaboration. To date, ACF has awarded more than $63 million in grants to support Alaska conservation. Learn more at alaskaconservation.org.
Contact
Anna Dalton, Vice President of Program Development
Alaska Conservation Foundation
adalton@alaskaconservation.org | (907) 433-8213 | alaskaconservation.org
