In Honor of Bart Koehler’s Lifelong Fight for Alaska’s Wild Places
Alaska Conservation Foundation (ACF) is deeply honored to announce the establishment of the Bart Koehler Rapid Response Fund—a living tribute to a master strategist, a relentless community organizer, and a giant of the conservation movement. Whether you worked alongside Bart, were mentored by him, or simply share his passion for the Tongass and all our public lands, ACF invites you to help us launch this fund. Every gift to this fund will help us build and grow this living legacy to Bart’s incredible contributions to Alaska.
If you wish to contribute to the Bart Koehler Rapid Response Fund:
Few individuals have altered the map of Alaska’s protected wildlands as profoundly as Bart Koehler. When Bart took the helm of the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC), clearcutting was devastating the pristine, old-growth forest stands of the Tongass National Forest, fueled by boondoggle subsidies and corporate monopolies. The political establishment considered the logging to be an unstoppable force. They underestimated Bart Koehler and the many community members who cared deeply about their public lands.
As a player/coach working side by side with a team of devoted and talented SEACC staff, volunteers, and members, Bart transformed a regional group of Alaskans striving to protect the Tongass into a national tidal wave. His signature strategy was to give Alaskans who depended on and cared about the Tongass the means to stand face to face with decision-makers, without letting distance or bureaucracy get in the way. He welcomed strategies proposed by staff, volunteers, members, and environmental colleagues alike, seamlessly blending them into a unified plan. Bart’s team organized local Alaskans to travel across the country, taking the story of the Tongass to the front pages of national publications and into the halls of Congress. That human-centered advocacy turned a local struggle into a national victory when Congress passed the Tongass Timber Reform Act in 1990, protecting 1.4 million acres of temperate rainforest and thousands of miles of salmon streams.
Bart knows that when the wild is on the line, timing and local voices are everything. To honor his legacy, the Bart Koehler Rapid Response Fund will provide targeted grants through ACF’s existing Rapid Response Grant Program to frontline organizations when funds are needed for a last-minute flight to Juneau or Washington, D.C., to testify, or to mobilize precisely when the window of opportunity opens.
From Alaska to the wilderness of Wyoming and Nevada and beyond, Bart’s conservation leadership has made an indelible mark. By contributing to the Bart Koehler Rapid Response Fund, you are joining a joyful, fierce, and spirited team effort to help future generations guard the wild places to which he dedicated his life.
Other ways to contribute to the Bart Koehler Rapid Response Fund:
Mail a Check
Send a check to us at 1227 W. 9th Ave., Suite 300 Anchorage, Alaska 99501. Please make the check out to Alaska Conservation Foundation and note “Bart Koehler Rapid Response Fund” in the memo line.
Call Us
Give us a call at (907) 276-1917 to submit a donation via credit card over the phone. Please be sure to mention the Bart Koehler Rapid Response Fund.
Bart Koehler accepted the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Alaska Conservation Foundation, a fitting tribute to a career that also earned him the Olaus Murie Award for Outstanding Professional Contributions in 1990. Watch Bart reflect on a lifetime spent fighting for Alaska’s wild places.
