Meet Defenders: Christi Heun cares for caribou

Meet Defenders is our monthly series that brings you closer to the experts! ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 

Defender, This month, we're highlighting the amazing work of Christi Heun, our Senior Alaska Representative! Christi is one of our premier defenders of wildlife in the north, working to preserve habitat for caribou, Alexandar Archipelago wolves, Sitka black-tailed deer and many more species that make their home in the state known as "The Last Frontier."   Introduction: "My name is Christi Heun, and I'm the Alaska Senior Representative at Defenders. I hail from many states and currently call Alaska home. I work on Arctic issues involving terrestrial mammals, especially caribou. Caribou have some of the longest migrations in the world, with the round-trip distances exceeding 745 miles, and protecting their essential travel corridors in the Arctic takes a lot of protections from infrastructure development like mining or oil and gas. I also work on protecting habitats for Alexander Archipelago wolves and Sitka black-tailed deer on the Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska. Large-scale clearcutting on the Tongass old-growth forests took place from the mid-1950s through the mid-1990s (although substantial logging went on before and after). Prince of Wales Island, home to about 40% of the Alexander Archipelago wolf population, was heavily clearcut. In the northern area of the island, forests have been reduced by almost 94%. I'm currently working on developing a habitat restoration project in some of these areas to speed up the recovery process from old growth clear cuts for the benefit of species like deer and wolves on Prince of Wales Island."

How did you get your start in conservation? "When I was a kid, I wanted to be Indiana Jones when I grew up. Much to my chagrin, my mom told me this was not a viable career option, so I started to consider alternatives. I figured out during my undergraduate studies at Colorado State University that the people just like me were all the folks studying forestry, wildlife, or natural resources management. We scored free pizza out of the dumpster (waste not, want not), and our idea of a wild college spring break was backpacking in the desert stumbling across rattlesnake nests…"   Click here to read more of our profile of Christi Heun! We hope you enjoyed this preview of Christi's eventful career protecting wildlife in Alaska! Read the rest of her profile and send a note to Christi and the Defenders team! Join us next month for more in-depth profiles of the people working tirelessly behind the scenes to save our wild world! Sincerely, Defenders of Wildlife Defenders of Wildlife 1130 17th Street NW • Washington, DC 20036 defenders.org Photo credits: Christi Heun - DOW | Caribou in Alaska - Dean Biggins/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service This email was sent to ignoble.experiment@arconati.us Please do not respond to this email. Click here to unsubscribe.