Letting Nature Run Wild
Since 1978, we’ve given voice to Alaska’s wildlife, protecting their habitat and promoting biodiversity and abundance.
Help protect Alaska’s wildlife by becoming a wildlife advocate today.
Who We Are
Alaska is one of the few places on Earth where wildlife roam wild lands. The state is home to a unique and spectacular array of aquatic and terrestrial wildlife species, and our constitution recognizes that fish, forests, wildlife, grasslands, and other replenishable resources belong to Alaskans and are to be maintained in perpetuity.
Founded in 1978, Alaska Wildlife Alliance (AWA) is not only the oldest Alaska-based grassroots organization working to conserve our wildlife, but we’re also the only statewide, Alaska-founded 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated solely to the protection of Alaska’s wildlife. As such, we are uniquely placed to serve as a voice for the state’s wildlife, safeguard their abundance, biodiversity, and habitat, and advocate for science-based, ethical wildlife management.
Our Mission
Alaska Wildlife Alliance is committed to the protection of Alaska’s wildlife for its intrinsic value, as well as for the benefit of present and future generations of Alaskans. We advocate for healthy ecosystems, scientifically and ethically managed to protect our wildlife in an increasingly dynamic world.
Explore Our Programs
Voices for wildlife
Alaska’s wildlife doesn’t have a voice in the decision-making processes that directly affect them. Bears can’t attend Board of Game meetings, belugas can’t educate fishermen about their importance to an ecosystem, and caribou can’t explain how a changing climate affects their habitat. That’s where AWA comes in.
endangered species recovery
Every species in Alaska is vital to the ecosystem. AWA establishes robust, grassroots strategies to recover Alaska’s threatened and endangered Species, focusing on a few species at a time to ensure we’re successful.
climate adaptation
Alaska is warming over three times faster than the lower 48, threatening our wildlife and the people who depend upon them. AWA is developing a novel, frontline adaptation program using nature-based solutions to sustains biodiversity in our rapidly changing climate
defending MULCHATNA BEARs
The State of Alaska killed 191 bears, shooting them from helicopters in Southwest Alaska. More than 20 were sows with cubs. Help us stop the Mulchatna bear control program.
Recent Alaska Wildlife News
Out-of-cycle proposals on predator control, archery hunt technology, and the Ambler Road were taken up at the meeting, as well as an ADFG update on the Mulchatna caribou herd.
The federal government has published a highly controversial rule that fundamentally narrows how the Endangered Species Act protects wildlife. The rule specifically rescinds the longstanding regulatory definition of what it means to "harm" a protected animal.
Documenting Alaska’s first aerial bear control program - “That day, I was not proud to be an Alaskan.”
Keep your eyes peeled — endangered Cook Inlet belugas are back and all AKBMP monitoring sites are open!
April marked our last Wildlife Wednesday of the 2025-2026 season! Every winter, we host online presentations with experts in Alaskan wildlife on the third Wednesday of each month.
A federal appeals court has reinstated habitat protections for ringed and bearded seals in Alaska.
For the past several months, Alaska Wildlife Alliance has been advocating for science-based, ethical wildlife management at the Board of Game meetings. Read on to learn about our biggest wins for wildlife in the 2026 Board of Game season!
Last year, AWA got curious about Cook Inlet fish stock trends and research gaps, recognizing that this information could be key to understanding beluga prey availability. Check out the resulting research and report here!
This week, Alaska Wildlife Alliance joined Alaskan and national groups represented by Trustees of Alaska to sue the Interior Department for unlawfully removing federal protections over public lands in an area stretching from the Yukon River to the Brooks Range.
Alaska Wildlife Alliance’s former Vice President of the Board, John Morton, was recently interviewed by the US Geological Survey.
Today, ten groups, including Alaska Wildlife Alliance, filed an amended and supplemental complaint against Ambler Road, represented by Trustees for Alaska. We argue that agencies violated numerous laws and acted beyond their legal authority when they reinstated unlawful permits for the proposed Ambler road.
Enjoy the recording of our January 2026 Wildlife Wednesday, as well as additional slides on Round Island.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is proposing permitting wheel plane landings at McNeil River Sanctuary to change visitor access, prioritizing questionably safe air taxi scheduling over the protections for bears the Department is obligated to uphold. Learn how you can speak up for McNeil’s bears.
The Board of Game proposals for the Southeast region have been released and AWA is carefully combing through them so that we can best represent the needs of Alaska’s wildlife at the Wrangell Board of Game meeting at the end of January.
The State has been ordered to pay over $500,000 in legal fees following AWA’s win of the 2024 Mulchatna bear control lawsuit.
A coalition of Indigenous, conservation, and environmental organizations, including AWA, has issued a formal 60-day notice of an intent to sue the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) over the 2025 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program.
Alaska’s Representative Nick Begich recently introduced a proposal to gut the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Alaskans and many others oppose the bill - read on to learn how you can make your voice heard.
Another year of protecting Alaska’s wildlife has somehow come and gone, and we have our Annual Report to prove it.
On October 14th, Superior Court Judge Christina Rankin affirmed her finding that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game acted in bad faith when they shot 11 bears from the air this spring.
On Monday, despite widespread Alaskan, Tribal, and national opposition to the proposed 211-mile mining road through Gates of the Arctic National Preserve and across the southern Brooks Range, the President ordered approval of a proposed Ambler Road in Northwest Alaska.
AWA assessed the climate vulnerability for wildlife, people, and habitat in Hooper Bay, and created a vulnerability assessment, the first plan of its kind for villages in this area. The data has been shared with community members, and now its available to the public!
Submit public comments by August 28 to help protect endangered Cook Inlet belugas from extractive industry harassment.
It's European Green Crab Day! The green crab is considered one of the most invasive species in the ocean.
Explore Alaska’s Wildlife
By the 1920s, Musk oxen had disappeared from Alaska, with the only remaining animals being found in east Greenland and Arctic Canada. These reintroduced species are living relics from a prehistoric age, when musk oxen roamed the northern plains alongside mammoths and saber-toothed cats.
Learn more about the “enigma of the Pacific”, and why old-growth forests is important to these small seabirds.
There’s a global traveler who’s in it for the long haul… the Arctic tern! Catch more about this special bird in this Species Spotlight.
The wolves of the sea? Killer whales, of course! Read more about one of the world’s most widespread mammals.
Chickens, barn doors, and Pacific halibut… how are they all connected? Find out in this Species Spotlight!
Meadow voles are not mice. Surprised? There’s a lot more to learn in this Species Spotlight!
Breach for the sky! With one of the longest migrations of any animal on the planet, this whiskered whale has a lot to celebrate. Check out more about the humpback whale in this Species Spotlight!
Boldly (yet functionally) accessorized, the Dall sheep is perfectly prepared for living in Alaska's rugged terrain. Meet this Alaskan icon in our next Species Spotlight!
Want to learn more about the G.O.A.T. that is not actually a goat? Jump in and read on, there’s a lot to discover about the mountain goat in this Species Spotlight!
Sockeye or “red” salmon are icons of Alaska. It’s only fair that this famous fish is highlighted in our next Species Spotlight! Read on to discover something new about this keystone species and learn about how so many species (including humans!) depend on it.
First you learned about tufted puffins, but now horned puffins? Can we even TAKE anymore adorable seabirds?? Yes, yes we can. Dive on into this new Species Spotlight to learn more about horned puffins! You won’t be disappointed. Hint: more pufflings and orange clown feet.
Baby tufted puffins are called "pufflings," and there's way more where that came from in our latest Species Spotlight blog post! Read on to learn everything you could ever want to know about tufted puffins.
The snowy owl is as beautiful as it is mysterious. Find out everything you need to know about this creature in this Species Spotlight!
The red fox would be the high-jump champion of any track team. They would also be the most clever… if that were ever a competition. Read more about the many talents of the red fox in this Species Spotlight!
Ringed seals are more than just adorable- they’re fascinating, too! And… famous? Oh, and they’re at-risk. Find out more about these rock sausages in this species spotlight!
Turns out weasels ARE known for tricks… learn everything there is to know about Ermine in Alaska!
Sea otters are keystone predators that maintain the dense, productive forests of kelp in coastal Alaska. Kelp forests are habitat for many invertebrates that are food for over 20 species of fish; these forests also provide spawning habitat for herring and Atka mackerel as well as nursery areas for salmon fry. Many birds, such as sea ducks, use them for resting and feeding. The forests of giant algal fronds protect the coastline from severe wave action and, like our land-based forests, absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping to reduce global warming.
2025 Annual Report
Another year of protecting Alaska’s wildlife has somehow come and gone, and we have our Annual Report to prove it. 2025 was marked by tremendous victories and heartbreaking pivots, from securing trapping setbacks in the Mat-Su Valley to watching Board of Game pass an aerial bear gunning program outside Denali National Park despite over 18,000 comments in opposition.
Check out the full scope of work in our 2025 Annual Report.
Our Upcoming Events
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