ALASKA ADVENTURES!

The time has come to let all of you out there know that I am heading to ALASKA! I am planning an Adventure Service Expedition on the Yukon River. Me along with a few others will be heading to the Headwaters in Canada at the end of May to float to the Bering Sea 2000 miles across Canada and Alaska. The jurney will take roughly four months. We will be doing service along the way in the different communities and on the banks of the Yukon. Here is a little preview of what we will be doing:

Yukon Service Expedition is a nonprofit group created by outdoor guides of many sorts, dedicated to the protection and preservation of the priceless Yukon River wilderness, along with the communities along its shores. In order to help raise awareness and provide needed environmental and community assistance to this unique area, our group will be embarking on a service expedition. During the summer of 2009, its members will be paddling the Yukon Passage in Alaska from its headwaters in Skagway, Canada to its end in the Bering Sea (2000 miles). Along the way, we will be performing environmental service focused on alleviating the shores of the Yukon River from invasive species in order to preserve its natural ecosystem. We will be documenting our experience in order to help raise awareness of the threats and needs of the Yukon River and thus inspire further work. We will also be connecting with the local communities along the river to educate and involve them in this cause. Along with educating the communities about us and our environmental goals we will be performing a variety of services in the communities to help fill any needs they may have. Yukon Service Expedition’s ultimate goal is to create an organization that will provide an annual service expedition similar to this in order to continue the preservation and protection of this priceless resource.

My hopes are that this trip will go well and we will be able to continue our work on the Yukon in the furture. I hope to create and establish a well needed non-profit orginization that will not only involve the people in Alaska but also colleges throughout the world. I hope to bring under graduate and graduate students on Adventure Service Expeditions where they learn outdoor skills, leadership (emphsizing on Service Leadership), and environmental needs for the Yukon. This would be a great trip for Biology students and recreational managment/leadership students to learn more about the land we live in and how to create solutions for the problems that we are faced with. I feel that this trip will open many doors for my future and I am excited about the new challenges that I will be faced with.