[Peter Scholes, Alaskan Regional Wilderness Society]

An interview with conservationist Peter Scholes of the Alaskan Regional Wilderness Society.

00:15Copy video clip URL Camera set-up. Filming through a window overlooking an idyllic lake in Alaska. A boat crosses the water in the distance. Environmentalist Peter Scholes chats with videomaker Pat Lehman off camera.

01:05Copy video clip URL Scholes discusses his job with the Wilderness Society. 

02:00Copy video clip URL Filming an interview with NBC News in Anchorage. The need to deliver a “canned answer” to reporters. 

06:05Copy video clip URL Working with local volunteers on conservation-related issues. Preparing locals for a Congressional hearing on Alaska conservation issues. 

08:15Copy video clip URL Further explanation of the conflict between development and conservation in Alaska. The need to consider all uses of the land, not just industrial uses. The alignment of labor with industry in the conflict over conservation, fear of losing jobs exploited by companies spending money on anti-conservationist campaigns. 

11:25Copy video clip URL Discussion of a radio show, on which Scholes had a conversation about “Why be a conservationist?” 

13:07Copy video clip URL Scholes muses about why people become conservationists, and why he became one. “I’m mostly a low-consumer and I always have been. There’s just not a whole lot I want, not that many material things. I don’t have a family. I don’t need to make that much money. I make $10,000 a year and I save a reasonable portion of that. That’s pretty low income wages for Alaska. I really like what I’m doing. And I like what I’m doing enough that I don’t care that when I leave I don’t have a big bankroll. Doing it is satisfying.”

18:25Copy video clip URL The difference between communicating with local and national conservationist audiences. Being in a romantic relationship with a woman also working in conservation.  “You almost have to have a professional relationship as well as a personal, private relationship, and sometimes they get muddied up.” 

24:13Copy video clip URL Difficulties passing legislation in Alaska, and the negotiations, compromises, and revisions introduced to make bills more popular.  

27:40Copy video clip URL Different categories of Alaskan inhabitants: transplants who come to Alaska to make money but still think of themselves as being committed to their home state, and the Alaskan who came to the state to get away from the rest of the country. The latter group are people who want to see things stay basically the same in Alaska: “To them, Alaska wouldn’t be Alaska if it were like the other 49 states.” 

30:43Copy video clip URL Scholes’ vision for the future of Alaska. Hoping that the governor is voted out of office. The need to set places aside for preservation.