Sealaska’s Progress with Ocean Health Enables Alternatives to Logging
Monday, January 11, 2021
Shift to new businesses aligns with Alaska Native heritage and creates enduring value for shareholders and communities
Jan. 11, 2021 (Juneau, AK)—Sealaska, an Alaska Native Corporation that owns and manages 362,000 acres of land in Southeast Alaska, plans to transition out of logging operations in 2021.
“Logging created value for our Alaska Native shareholders for decades, and it brought us to where we are today. We’re grateful for the commitment and professionalism that led to our success,” said Sealaska CEO Anthony Mallott. “But we’ve now built an organization that can thrive well into the future, and that means engaging in activities with more enduring benefits for our communities.”
Over the past six years, Sealaska has invested in and grown a range of businesses that support healthy oceans. Those include geotechnical engineering, marine construction, freshwater remediation, and nearly $1 billion in operations dedicated to producing low-impact foods from the sea.
A particular focus is community-oriented enterprises in Southeast Alaska’s growing economic sectors, including ocean-based foods and tourism. Sealaska is analyzing and investing in businesses such as Barnacle Foods, which emphasizes building the local economy by creating local jobs and keeping the value chain local. Sealaska seeks more, similar opportunities to build strength and resilience for Southeast Alaska.
The result of all of Sealaska’s reinvention is that logging comprises a small percentage of the company’s total revenue. The time is right to pursue other options, Mallott said. “Several years ago, we started carefully investing in successful new businesses that are better aligned with Sealaska’s Alaska Native heritage,” he said. “Now we are in a good position to redirect our efforts into work that’s in balance with our natural resources, and that we also believe will create significantly more value for shareholders and communities in the long term.”
In addition to building successful new lines of business, Sealaska supports education, workforce development, stewardship and economic programs to help people and communities transition to new economies based on long-term stewardship of natural resources.
“Programs we support provide a pathway to migrate jobs to sustainable alternatives that foster balanced ecosystems,” Mallott said. “Our Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people have been connected to these lands for 10,000 years. It’s important to us to take care of our land and resources in a way that will benefit all people for generations to come.”
ABOUT SEALASKA
Sealaska is an Alaska Native regional corporation for Southeast Alaska formed under federal law in 1971. With more than 23,000 shareholders of Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian background, its purpose is to strengthen its people, culture and homelands. Sealaska invests in and operates businesses that improve the health of our oceans, maintain healthy homelands in Southeast Alaska, and benefit shareholder communities. Learn more at Sealaska.com.
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