Celia Hunter
- Born
- 13 January 1919
- Died
- 1 December 2001 (age 82)
Celia Hunter was born in 1919 in Arlington, Washington. She grew up on a small family farm and this, along with her Quaker upbringing, gave her an appreciation of the natural world. She was also instilled with the importance of standing up for her values and following her dreams, even if it meant disregarding the traditional gender stereotypes of the time.
Hunter trained as a pilot during the second world war, serving as part of the Women Airforce Service Pilots. She became qualified to fly the most sophisticated planes that the Airforce had at the time, even though women were only allowed to fly restricted routes. At the end of 1946, along with her friend and fellow pilot, Ginny Hill Wood, Hunter flew to Fairbanks in Alaska.
She did not intend to stay there long, as she was only “looking for adventure” and did not yet consider herself a conservationist. However, after a semester at the University of Stockholm, 10 months cycling through Europe and hitchhiking back to America on a tanker, Hunter found herself back in Alaska, once more with her friend Wood.
The two decided to promote Alaska to tourists by setting up Camp Denali in 1952 as a destination with basic accommodation and access to sustainable leisure activities in the Alaskan wilderness. Hunter saw first-hand the changes that were taking place within the pristine wildlife habitats. This was to be the start of a long career conserving Alaska’s natural landscape.
Her first major contribution to statewide conservation came when she set up the Alaska Conservation Society (ACS) in 1960 to support the introduction of an Arctic National Wildlife Range, along with other campaigners including Margaret Mardy Murie. The campaign garnered support from Alaskan residents and President Eisenhower created the Refuge shortly before leaving office. It was later to become the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The ACS also fought Project Chariot, a proposal to use a nuclear bomb to blast a harbour in the northwest of the state. This prompted the first environmental investigation which showed that the area was one of the richest places for wildlife in Alaska. ACS also led many other campaigns including the removal of bounties on wolves and a campaign against the Susitna dam.
Hunter had gained the respect of many within the environmental sector and took a position on the Wilderness Society governing council in 1969. In 1976 she was made its president, becoming the first woman in America to head a national environmental organisation in the process. The work that she did with the Wilderness Society on the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (1980), which tripled the area of Alaskan land that had the highest protection status, can be considered to be her most important legacy.
In 1980, she helped to set up the Alaskan Conservation Foundation (ACF) which provided support for smaller conservation organisations.
Hunter was a pioneer of the conservation movement in Alaska at a time when environmental policy was given little thought or priority by the American government. She continued to make her opinions heard right up until the day of her death in 2001 when she was writing to Congress to protest against plans to drill for oil in Alaska.
This profile was written by a Biology: Changing the World volunteer.