Our Planet
Supporting conservation of Alaska’s treasured habitats.
Commitment to Sustainability & Responsible Travel - Our Pledge
“Each year Alaska Alpine Adventures will donate 1% of our gross revenue and a number of complimentary trips to conservation organizations around Alaska and the US. We will stay actively involved in efforts to promote sustainable industries and to protect Alaska’s magnificent landscape and the terrestrial and aquatic wildlife that call its land and waters home. We are committed to promoting environmental awareness, to protecting the traditional rights of indigenous cultures, to minimizing our impact on the environment in every facet of our organization, and to making certain that we “Leave No Trace.”
Alaska Alpine Adventures has been following the tenets of sustainable travel since we started our business in 1998, and the success of our trips is due in large part to the fact that we project and promote conservation ethics throughout all aspects of our enterprise. In 2015, we were accepted as members of 1% For the Planet. We are supporting members and strict practitioners of Leave No Trace. We recycle waste in the office and field, pack out human waste on basecamp trips and some of our river trips, use compact florescent and LED bulbs, biodegradable products, and organic ingredients for our menus. We minimize packaging of our food and always keep our footprint to a minimum. We are certified by Adventure Green Alaska, the state’s officially recognized sustainable tourism certification organization. We encourage and teach responsible wildlife viewing practices. Furthermore we are actively engaged in efforts to stop irresponsible resource development threatening Alaska’s most spectacular public lands.
As a small business, we understand the economic impact of tourism on both a state and local level. Because most of our adventures take place in rural Alaska, our clients’ dollars are spent locally and thus support local community businesses. From the fuel delivery person, to the air taxis we choose to transport our guests, to lodges and restaurants, we use local vendors for all of the support operations. This gives our guests a chance to learn firsthand about life in rural Alaska, and it also helps boost awareness about the challenges that face rural Alaska residents.
We firmly believe that the very nature of our trips represent the “gold standard” of Alaska tourism. It is a best practice to keep groups exceptionally small at 8 guests with 2 guides, and by totally immersing our guests in remote Alaska, we introduce them to the real spirit of the frontier, the notion of wilderness and wildness, and to the reality that their travel dollars have a direct benefit to the local community and rural Alaska at large. Alaska Alpine Adventures has been recognized as a true leader in the rural tourism model, and owner Dan Oberlatz has worked tirelessly volunteering his time on the board of directors for the Alaska Travel Industry Association (ATIA), the AWRTA board, and as a director of the Renewable Resources Foundation – an organization whose mission was to protect the viability of Alaska’s fish and game resources and the habitat on which they depend. His volunteer efforts with ATIA, AWRTA, and RRF help to underscore his work in promoting tourism as a viable and sustainable industry for rural Alaska and its indigenous cultures. In addition to time spent promoting rural ecotourism initiatives, Alaska Alpine Adventures also contributes significantly to conservation and humanitarian organizations with both monetary and in-kind donations that total 1% of gross revenue annually.
Alaska Alpine Adventures is firmly engaged in the ongoing battle to save the Bristol Bay, and thereby the largest sustainable salmon fishery on earth, from the irresponsible and short sighted proposed development of the Pebble Mine – an open pit mine the could be the largest on earth. Please visit our Stop the Pebble Mine page for video and information on how you too can help.
