Meet Spruce Root Communications Specialist Tripp J Crouse, register for the 2023 Southeast Alaska Farmers Summit, a wrap-up on the Path to Prosperity annual Business Competition Boot Camp and more!

The establishment of the Seacoast Trust represents a large-scale shift of investment and decision-making to the communities and peoples of Southeast Alaska. Grounded in Indigenous values, annual earnings from the Seacoast Trust will fund a different kind of conservation: one that understands people and communities are inseparable components of a healthy environment. If we want thriving rivers and forests, we need mechanisms that shift power and resources to the people living here.

Allison Mills manually drilled a bit into the base of a massive yellow cedar tree on Prince of Wales Island, in Southeast Alaska. The drizzly August day filled with the dull squeak of metal rubbing against wood. Once she reached the center of the tree, she gently pulled the delicate core sample free, lifted it to her face and inhaled the wood’s slightly spicy, medicinal scent. “I love the smell so much,” she said. 

For the first time in four years, the Southeast Alaska Farmers Summit will be held in-person February 23-25, 2023, at the Holy Cross House, 406 Excel St., Petersburg, Alaska. The summit focuses on bringing farmers together in order to learn from one another and from other industry professionals.

We are currently looking to fill our Program Manager for Technical Assistance position, which provides one-on-one business coaching and supports entrepreneurial programs and loan applications. If you or someone you know is interested in working for Spruce Root, visit spruceroot.org/careers.

Until this position is filled, we are under limited capacity to serve clients. We encourage clients to fill out our intake application and we will schedule coaching sessions as we can. Priority will be given to entrepreneurs seeking a loan from Spruce Root.

During a lower-than-usual tide this summer, the rocks on the beach were exposed on Southeast Alaska’s Chichagof Island. Ralph Wolfe went down to the shore to help young people — participants in Hoonah Culture Camp — harvest traditional Alaska Native subsistence foods. Together, they pried tasty mollusks, called gumboots, off rocks and filled plastic buckets with slick bull-kelp and bright green sea asparagus.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has made its final funding decisions in a $25 million program to support local organizations in Southeast Alaska, officials said.