When Alaskan politicians and the All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) industry colluded to pass SB 85 to open up 80,000 square miles of pristine public lands to ecological destruction, Britt Constantine went into action for the public good. A biologist and longtime conservationist, Britt recognized that the proposed SB 85 betrayed the public trust by sacrificing Alaska’s rightful legacy for all to the narrow interests of a few. Brit decided to fight this proposed assault on the environment through her organization, Alaska Conservation Alliance.
Britt plays a leading role in the growing movement of Alaskans who recognize that conservation actually supports lucrative industries, creates good jobs, and enhances the quality of life. As the legislative outreach manager for the Alaska Conservation Alliance, the state’s only environmental lobby, Britt advocates environmental responsibility in Alaska’s legislature. She coordinates a statewide strategic campaign called Defend Alaska Now, engaging communities in the legislative process by placing interns on the ground in Alaska’s regional centers. So, it isn’t surprising that when the tundra ATV issue first arose, Britt responded by dedicating countless hours of personal time uniting people statewide to challenge SB 85. Her commitment, time, and efforts succeed. Thanks to Britt, citizens of Alaska made their opposition heard in the legislature, generating the votes to shut down SB 85 for at least another year.
Britt has helped bring together many diverse political figures and perspectives to protect the environment. In 2005, the Defend Alaska Now team recruited a powerful Republican legislator to sponsor Alaska’s first Pesticide Right to Know Law. The team gathered support from a broad range of constituencies, including health workers, fishermen, Native-Alaskans, city councils, labor unions, and farmers. Signed in July, the Right to Know Law requires public announcements as to when and where chemicals have been sprayed. Energized by this victory, Britt and the conservation community redoubled their efforts to protect tens of thousands of jobs in the Alaska Seafood industry by fighting a proposed elimination of a ban on toxic waste in salmon spawning streams. Britt has effectively argued that any sellout of fundamental environmental protection law would violate the human rights of Native-Alaskans by allowing the contamination of their traditional food sources, including wild salmon.
Wife, mother, gifted academic, and scientist, Britt became an activist after graduating from college as a biologist at the young age of 18. She committed to preserving the environment not only due to her academic training, but also from a personal experience of a most intimate kind: When pregnant with her son, Canyon, Britt learned that industrial toxins in her body had been transmitted to him in the womb. Ever since, Britt has fought for clean air, water, and food as a matter of securing human rights for her son’s generation -- the inclusive and most precious of the state’s legacies, as it includes Alaskans from all walks of life.
To learn more about the Alaska Conservation Alliance, please visit www.akvoice.org
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