Leave No Trace: Adventure Green Alaska Prioritizes Sustainability

Living in Nature

For Michael and Victoria Rego of Wrangell Mountains Wilderness Lodge, located in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, sustainability was already a way of life, so joining AGA seemed like a natural step.

“Because we live in a park that is 100 miles from groceries, we reuse everything we possibly can,” says Michael Rego, noting that they have also updated the lodge with renewable energy sources including solar panels, a wind turbine, and biomass heaters.

“We wanted to make it sustainable because we recognized the value in having visitors come over and over again without taking from the environment,” adds Victoria Rego of the property, which was once a hunting and fishing lodge. “We recognize this area’s incredible scenic value and the opportunity it provides for tranquility, silence, and reconnection with the natural world. But that only exists when it’s taken care of, when you don’t take anything physical away from it.”

The Regos also work to educate guests on the importance of the tribal lands of the area, sharing ethnographic accounts that the National Park Service published in partnership with local tribal entities.

“Our guests appreciate learning about the areas here that are culturally significant, both in the past and at present,” says Victoria Rego. “There are still active Indigenous groups who use this area, and we make sure to educate guests on areas they would be best to avoid and areas where they can share in what’s made this place so special to the original Athabaskan people.”

Sustaining the Goose

For Howard Carbone, owner of Alaska Nature Guides, making sustainability a priority is not only “the right thing to do,” it’s also good business.

“I learned early on to leave places better than you found them. And if we take care of the places we go, we will continue to attract visitors long into the future,” he says. “We can continue to contribute to a diversified economy, and when we retire, we can pass the business down to our kids. If we don’t, we’ve killed the goose that laid the golden egg.”

The company, which provides guided hikes around Talkeetna and Denali State Park, helps the state park system by doing trail maintenance and picking up litter. Alaska Nature Guides has adopted a section of the Parks Highway for the past twenty years. It also supports the community and local economy by sourcing supplies locally whenever possible and contributing to community organizations.

“We try to improve the place for everyone who uses it—not just tourists but Alaskans as well,” says Carbone, who worked as a ranger in Denali National Park and Preserve before starting his business.

A Growing Market for Sustainable Tourism

According to the Sustainable Travel Report 2023 from booking.com, which collected responses from more than 33,000 travelers around the world, the majority of those who travel are looking to do so in a more sustainable manner, with approximately 76 percent of respondents hoping to travel sustainably over the next twelve months. The survey also found that many travelers are looking into more ways to reduce their impacts while traveling, from reusing linens to turning off air conditioning in their hotels and other accommodations.

Alaska Wildland Adventures has witnessed the trend firsthand. “The segment of this market has definitely grown; not only does research back it up, but anecdotally we’ve seen our business grow every year from the year before. We let people know our ethics and how we operate, and, if anything, it seems that people are attracted to that,” says Hoessle.

“At first, I was surprised by the research showing how many people wanted to do the right thing, even if that means they need to pay more for sustainable practices,” he adds. “But that information is validated by what I’m experiencing as a business. And that’s a very ripe market we can serve.”

While some travelers seek out sustainable businesses on their own, others work with tour operators that prioritize using sustainable businesses, according to Simpson. “The Alaska experience is very conscience-driven; people are very much aware of the choices they’re making, where they’re going, and the businesses they are working with,” she says. “Travelers are mindful of wanting to support the environment and small businesses that operate sustainably.”

She notes that AGA’s membership reflects this trend. There were 26 certified businesses when ATIA began administering the program; today there are 125.

The Regos, for example, are among the operators working to connect with more travelers who value sustainable options.

“It seems like, for many of our guests, their preferred travel practices align with the idea of being green,” says Michael Rego. “They are already connected with the concepts of recycling, sustainability, and conservation, and they appreciate our efforts in this direction.”

“It’s more than just slapping a green leaf on a printout in a hotel room or asking guests to reuse towels, like some of the bigger hotel chains do,” adds Victoria Rego. “We are conservation-minded in everything that we do.”

The Rewards of Sustainable Travel

As times have changed, so has the cost of becoming a sustainable business. In some cases, sustainability efforts can save tourism businesses money.

“When we first started doing this in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, it cost more to have recycled content for brochures, and you really had to search it out. We did it because it was important to us,” says Hoessle. “Now with the electronic age, we don’t publish brochures; we just get online. We used to send a lot of advance material, and now that’s done digitally. We can reduce costs as well as protect the environment at the same time.”

He adds that with the lodge’s solar array and hydropower, it rarely has to use a gasoline-powered generator for extra power. “We’re running off of renewable resources, which saves us money and time,” he explains. “Every gallon of gas we use has to go many miles to get to this lodge, so we’re saving on fuel and the transportation of fuel. We save money by being environmentally responsible.”

Responsibility sometimes entails keeping tourists away. AGA businesses work to make sure the areas they represent don’t become “over-touristed.”

“We’ve been carefully marketing and are very thoughtful about how much traffic we bring to the area; we want to maintain and preserve the tranquil aspect of it,” says Victoria Rego. “Denali, on the other side of the range, has been loved to death. Now there are lotteries to access it because there is so much traffic, tour buses, and crowds of people. We don’t want to see that happen here, so we’ve worked with the National Park Service to align our practices to preserve what makes this park special.”

Preserving Alaska’s wilderness helps attract more visitors and employees as well, according to Carbone.

“A lot of businesses have a hard time finding employees, but being part of AGA helps us to attract guides who have a passion for the outdoors and who are responsible and professional people themselves,” he says. “While it’s important that our clients know we are part of AGA, it’s even more important for everyone we work with to know, because it demonstrates that we care about the state we all depend on.”

Carbone says AGA sends a message about what’s important to Alaskans and to visitors. “People come to Alaska not for its museums and cathedrals, but for the wildlife and scenic beauty—the unspoiled nature,” he adds. “They want to know that the businesses they use are helping to take care of that and not detract from it.”