Alaska Under Threat

Alaska Under Threat

Software: ArcGIS, Illustrator, MAPublisher, Photoshop, Blender
Client: The Pew Charitable Trusts, US Public Lands and Rivers

Over the past several years, Trump administration policies opened up huge swaths of Alaska for activities such as mining, logging, and road-building, while others are currently under threat. Cumulatively, the area is similar in size to the state of Utah. Extractive and commercial activity threaten vital watersheds and ecosystems that indigenous communities rely on for food security. Most of the threatened areas are managed by the Bureau of Land Management, while others, such as the Tongass National Forest, are under the jurisdiction of the National Forest Service. This series depicts these areas in relation to Alaskan communities and resources like rivers and major lakes.

The client had a specific request for this series: in addition to showing topography, they requested that Alaska be green instead of solid white that I typically use for this team’s branding. It’s easy to think of Alaska as a snowy, desolate place, but it’s rich with forest and vegetation. I used a highly-edited version of NASA’s blue marble from August, a time of year when there’s minimal snowfall.