Tell me about yourself?

Folks call me Andis. I’ve been working on Wilderness issues and conservation for the past few years. I have a degree in Environmental Studies with a focus on Wilderness Philosophy; I serve on the board of directors of the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance and the Alaska Wilderness Recreation and Tourism Association; and I run a Wilderness research and advocacy program for the Sitka Conservation Society. 

Give me a little background about how you got into conservation.

I grew up mostly bounded by cornfields. When you live in the Midwest, you come to realize early just how precious wild space really is by virtue of its absence. Once I graduated, I was finally able to get out of the grainbelt and visit the beautiful places I’d spent years looking at in magazines. I realized that I had to help protect these last wild lands so that every kid growing up in the grainbelt would have the chance to see them someday too.

Tell me about SCS and your work there.

Our mission at SCS is to protect the Tongass rainforest and support the development of sustainable communities in Southeast Alaska. It s big endeavor and we are a small non-profit. So, we all have to wear many different hats to get the work done. As our Communications Director, my role is to get our message out to members, the public, and policy makers. I also manage our Wilderness Stewardship Project which coordinates agency staff, researchers, and volunteers on expeditions to some of the most remote and inaccessible parts of our Wilderness areas to conduct monitoring and research.

Whats cool about the Tongass? How does it differ from the rest of Alaska?

The Tongass is really unique. First, it is HUGE! It is the largest National Forest in the nation at 17 million acres (that’s bigger than the country of Ireland). Second, it is WET! Most communities get between 100-200 inches of rain per year. That’s why we have such verdant forest with such giant trees. Third, it is WILD! One third of the entire Forest is designated Wilderness Area (almost 6 million acres). There are 19 separate Wilderness areas in the Tongass from the giant Kootznoowoo to tiny Warren Island.

Tell me a little bit about Wilderness and the Wilderness Act.

I love Wilderness. There is nothing else that compares to it for protecting public lands. See, back in the day, the only way lands could be protected was through National Parks. But once a place was made into a Park, like Yellowstone or Yosemite, the roads would be paved, parking lots and hotels installed, hotdog stands erected, and Kodak Vantage Points established. Luckily, a group of folks wanted to come up with a new way to protect public land that would preserve them in a truly wild condition. They came up with the Wilderness Act. The Wilderness Act allows us to visit nature on its own terms. There are no roads, no built structures, and no motors allowed. On the other hand, things like hunting, hiking, paddling, camping, and horse-back riding are allowed and encouraged.

How did the idea for The Meaning of Wild come about?

Ben and I came up with the idea for this film, The Meaning of Wild while we were stuck together on a 42-foot sailboat for three weeks during a Wilderness expedition. The places that we conduct monitoring expeditions are so gobsmackingly gorgeous that we wanted everyone to see them, but because these areas are so inaccessible, we decided to make videos of the trip as a way to “bring the Wilderness to everyone else.” We made a few short video blogs about the trip, but realized that we could be doing so much more, maybe even a real documentary film! We kicked the idea around for a couple more seasons and brought our partners at the Forest Service into the discussion. With the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act approaching in 2014, now was the time to finally make it happen!

Why did SCS feel it was important to make the film?

Our mission at SCS is to protect Wilderness and wild lands. But we can’t protect anything without public support advocating on behalf of the places they love. I’ve never met anyone who has spent time in a Tongass Wilderness who hasn’t become an advocate. Unfortunately, we can’t get EVERYBODY out in the field to see these places, so this film is a compromise. If we can’t bring people into the Wilderness, we’ll bring the Wilderness to them!

Tell me about your partnership with the Tongass National Forest.

When SCS started over 45 years ago, our founders fought to designate a large chunk of Wilderness to prevent the Forest Service from clear-cutting all of the best forest habitat. At that time, our organization was primarily at odds with the Forest Service. Over the decades, the Forest Service has begun to realize that the tourism and fishing industries, which rely on intact forests, are far more important than the unsustainable, out-dated timber industry. So, now we work closely with them to support initiatives that help the forest and our communities, like Wilderness stewardship.
The Forest Service still has a long way to go to shift their priorities away from their ill-fated timber focus, but, their partnership on this film is a step in the right direction.

How did you get funding for the film?

A larger portion of the funding from the film was provided by the Forest Service. The Tongass FS also made lots of in-kind contributions like sharing logistics to get the film crew into the field. The rest of the funding came from good old-fashioned fundraising.

You decided to crowd fund instead of grants, why?

We decided to crowd-source fundraise, which means we basically asked everyone we knew online to donate to the film project in as big or small of a way as they could. We like the idea of crowd-sourcing because it involves everyone. In a way, by crowd-sourcing, this film is kind of like Wilderness areas themselves–it belongs to everyone and it’s future depends on the passion and commitment of each individual.   We couldn’t believe the response! Within about a month we had managed to raise the $45,000 needed for the project! Contributions were as small as $5. Some funders that deserve special thanks are Wilburforce Foundation, Un-Cruise, Skaggs Foundation, Roger and Elaine DuBrock, Alaska Wilderness League, Audubon Alaska, Defenders and Friends of Admiralty, and the Bridgeway Foundation…that’s a long list and they all deserve to get a shout out!

What excites you most about the film?

I am most excited to finally be able to share a bit of my experience with my friends and family. I’ve been far away from my hometown for many years working to protect this place. When I tell people who haven’t been here about the Tongass, it’s hard to express just how truly unique and incredible it is without sounding like excessive hyperbole. Now I’ll be able to share a piece of it with them!

What does SCS hope folks will walk away from the film with?

We hope that folks walk away from the film recognizing the vastness and wildness of the Tongass, but even more importantly that they walk away with a sense of its fragility. We wouldn’t have these places if it were not for the passion and drive of individual people who fought for their designation. And in the same way, we won’t have these places forever without passionate and driven people stepping up now to demand more Wilderness and better management of existing Wilderness. Basically, I hope that folks walk away asking “How can I help protect Wilderness?” …because I’ve got lots of answers for them!