In the Tlingit language, there's a powerful concept called wooch een that means "we're all in it together." Picture a long Tlingit canoe cutting through the waters of Southeast Alaska, everyone paddling in unison toward the horizon. It takes every person in that canoe working together to move forward. That's exactly the spirit driving the work of Sitka Conservation Society (SCS) and their Sea Pony Farm Retreat Center.
For Andrew Thoms, Executive Director of SCS since 2006, this philosophy of collective effort is essential to the organization’s work. SCS has been stewarding the lands and waters around Sitka, Alaska since 1967, working at the intersection of environmental conservation and community development in the heart of the Tongass National Forest, the largest in the country at 17 million acres.
"Our community depends on the Tongass National Forest to a very high degree," Thoms explains. From commercial fishing fleets to sustainable forestry, the people of this region have built their livelihoods around the natural resources around them.
"We do work on both community economic development and conservation of ecosystems, and for us, those things aren't separate," Thoms says. While many organizations focus entirely on either development or preservation, SCS works squarely in both those areas, seeking a balance between using the resources around them with permanently protecting wilderness areas.
This balanced approach stems from deep Tlingit values that recognize humans as part of the landscape, not separate from it. "That really comes from the Tlingit values of living as part of this place that are a core part of our work – how we think about the past, the present, and the future, how we have a relationship with the land, how we bring up future generations."
One of SCS's most unique assets embodies these values perfectly: Sea Pony Farm, a remote retreat center on the edge of wilderness that was left to the organization's permanent endowment by one of their supporters. When Thoms first visited the property in summer 2019, he wasn't sure what to do with it. The responsibility of maintaining a remote property seemed daunting for a conservation nonprofit.
But stepping onto the land changed everything. "It was clear that it was a very special and magical place, and that the people who had left it to us were artists and had built the place with a lot of their heart and soul," he recalls. The previous owners had used local lumber, lived with a small footprint, and created art that shared the beauty of this remote place with the world.
Today, SCS operates the Sea Pony Farm as a retreat center for artists, writers, nonprofit leaders, scientists, and policymakers who need space to think, create, and plan away from daily distractions. Some residents have included Caldecott Medalist Children's book illustrator Sheit.een Michaela Goad, bestselling author, teacher, and climate strategist Dr. Katharine Wilkinson, and writer and filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat. Located outside a community of just 60 people in Pelican, AK, and accessible only by boat or float plane, the property offers something increasingly rare: true disconnection in service of deeper connection. Ultimately, this chance for leaders to pursue connection at a place set apart will propel community solutions, creativity, and human flourishing.
The Murdock Trust was able to support SCS in realizing their full vision for Sea Pony Farm by funding infrastructure improvements. The grant enabled installation of a rooftop solar system with new battery technology that now powers lighting, refrigeration, and essential equipment, creating a comfortable space for residents while serving as a living experiment to see if solar energy system might work for powering neighboring rural communities.
"The Trust funding is helping us make the investments that we need to make the property hardened for the Alaska environment, to make it last for a long time, and to give us the core necessities that the artists, the residents, the guests will need when they visit there," Thoms explains.
In the spirit of collective effort, of wooch een, the Murdock Trust's investment in Sea Pony Farm represents one paddle stroke among many, propelling the entire community toward a future where environmental stewardship and human flourishing move forward together. Thank you, SCS, for being a leader in this journey!