Founded in 1980, the Alaska Conservation Foundation (ACF) is a nonprofit organization

Nonprofit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 located in Anchorage, Alaska

Anchorage, Alaska

Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...

. As of 2011, it is the only public foundation dedicated to conservation

Conservation movement

The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the future....

 in Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

. Through the support of individuals and foundations over 30 years, ACF has awarded more than $33 million in grants to over 200 grassroots organizations and individuals working to protect and manage Alaska’s natural resources

Natural Resources

Natural Resources is a soul album released by Motown girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas in 1970 on the Gordy label. The album is significant for the Vietnam War ballad "I Should Be Proud" and the slow jam, "Love Guess Who"...

.

Mission

ACF builds strategic leadership and support for Alaskan efforts to take care of wildlands, waters, and wildlife - which sustain diverse cultures, healthy communities, and prosperous economies.

Organization

ACF is a non-profit organization with approximately 13 full-time employees located in Alaska. It is governed by a national, 18-member volunteer board of directors

Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

. Nancy Lord, Alaska's poet laureate

Poet Laureate

A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...

 from 2008–10, was elected to serve as board chair in 2010. The board of trustees includes Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...

 and Doug McConnell

Doug McConnell

Doug McConnell is a television journalist who has focused on environmental issues, with programs on the air continuously since 1982. He has created, produced and hosted many series, special programs, and news projects for local, national and international distribution...

.

History

ACF was founded the same year the United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 passed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act

Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act

The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act was a United States federal law passed in 1980 by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on December 2 of that year....

. Co-founders Celia Hunter and Denny Wilcher were veterans of that campaign to protect more than 100 million acres (404,686 km²) of Alaska’s parks, refuges

Wildlife refuge

A wildlife refuge, also called a wildlife sanctuary, may be a naturally occurring sanctuary, such as an island, that provides protection for species from hunting, predation or competition, or it may refer to a protected area, a geographic territory within which wildlife is protected...

 and national forests

United States National Forest

National Forest is a classification of federal lands in the United States.National Forests are largely forest and woodland areas owned by the federal government and managed by the United States Forest Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture. Land management of these areas...

. They started Alaska Conservation Foundation to help build an Alaska-based conservation movement and support the groups working to protect the state's natural wonders. ACF started small, raising about a half-million dollars a year. That funding nurtured the early growth of today's conservation groups, such as Alaska Center for the Environment, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council and Northern Alaska Environmental Center.

In 1993, ACF superseded the Alaska Conservation Society

Alaska Conservation Society

The Alaska Conservation Society was the first grassroots environmental conservation group in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was founded in 1960 to coordinate environmental opposition to Project Chariot, a plan to dig a harbor in Alaska's North Slope with nuclear weapons, and to fight the proposed...

.

Issue areas

ACF has been at the center of many successful environmental initiatives since its inception, including the long standing protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest National Wildlife Refuge in the country, slightly larger than the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge...

. Today, ACF provides funding, leadership and coordination expertise on critical conservation issues, including Bristol Bay

Bristol Bay

Bristol Bay is the eastern-most arm of the Bering Sea, at 57° to 59° North 157° to 162° West in Southwest Alaska. Bristol Bay is 400 km long and 290 km, wide at its mouth...

, climate and energy, Tongass National Forest

Tongass National Forest

The Tongass National Forest in southeastern Alaska is the largest national forest in the United States at 17 million acres . Most of its area is part of the temperate rain forest WWF ecoregion, itself part of the larger Pacific temperate rain forest WWF ecoregion, and is remote enough to be home...

 and the Arctic

Arctic

The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...

 and oceans.

Capacity building

Alaska Conservation Foundation seeks to build the influence of Alaska’s conservation movement through its community capacity initiative. Organizational capacity grants promote effective operations and leadership within Alaska's conservation organizations. The new Alaska Native Fund, launched in partnership with an Alaska Native steering committee, advances Alaska Native priorities for protecting our land and sustaining our ways of life. The conservation internship program focuses on developing the next generation of conservation leaders.

Recognition

ACF received a four-out-of-four star rating from Charity Navigator

Charity Navigator

Charity Navigator is an independent, non-profit organization that evaluates American charities. Its stated goal is "to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace by evaluating the financial health of America's largest charities."-About:...

, an independent organization that rates non-profits.

In 2010, ACF met the Better Business Bureau

Better Business Bureau

The Better Business Bureau , founded in 1912, is a corporation consisting of several private business franchises of local BBB organizations based in the United States and Canada, which work through their parent corporation, the Council of Better Business Bureaus .The Better Business Bureau, through...

's 20 standards for charity accountability.

The watchdog service American Institute of Philanthropy

American Institute of Philanthropy

The American Institute of Philanthropy is a 501 nonprofit organization, created in the United States by Daniel Borochoff in 1992, to provide information about charities' financial efficiency, accountability, governance, and fundraising. Its official website is known as...

 awarded ACF an "A-" rating as one of the nation’s top rated environmental nonprofits.

GuideStar

GuideStar

GuideStar USA, Inc. is an information service specializing in reporting on U.S. nonprofit companies. In 2010, their database contained over 5 million IRS Forms 990 filings on 1.9 million organizations.....

recognizes ACF as a valued partner in the Guidestar exchange.

ACF received a Green Star Award for demonstrating strong environmental and business ethics by implementing the eight Green Star Standards.