The preservation of traditional Indigenous cultures and Alaska wild salmon has been a life-changing experience. Eyak Preservation Council‘s founders: Dune Lankard and Trio Founder Carol Hoover, formed the organization because of a tragedy; the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. Their nonprofit organizational formation and tenured work to preserve Eyak and Indigenous Alaskan cultures, and their dedicated team has helped preserve more than 1-million acres of wild salmon old-growth rainforest habitat. Headquartered in Cordova, Alaska, EPC’s strategic advocacy has halted clearcutting, destructive road-building, mining and oil and gas drilling throughout Alaska’s Prince William Sound and the Copper River Delta. A recent accomplishment has retired over 62,000-acres of coal and placed the conservation covenant in the Native Conservancy land trust.