5-Day Trip in June 2026

Pastor Andrew is leading a 5-Day Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Trip from June 19-25 with four other faith leaders representing diverse traditions across the US. A grant to EarthKeepers 360 funds this opportunity to learn about the history, conservation efforts and status, and current issues facing the Arctic Refuge and public lands in America’s Arctic as a whole.

Recognizing Pastor Andrew’s work in EarthKeepers 360, the Campion Foundation asked Pastor Andrew to lead this activity for faith leaders. One of the missions of the Campion Foundation is to ensure that public lands are conserved for generations to come.

The trip is organized by the American Lands Project (ALP), a 501(c)3 public charity based in Seattle, WA, which works to build connections between policy-makers and our country’s irreplaceable public lands and waters. ALP believes public lands are places of abundant beauty and abundant opportunity. They believe if you experience them, and hear the connection people have to these places, you can’t help but appreciate their importance to our country.

Arctic Refuge Trip Itinerary

Participants learn about the natural history, human history, land management status, past conservation efforts and current issues facing the Arctic.  The ALP describes the itinerary as follows:

Guests will fly to Fairbanks, Alaska where we will rendezvous with our fellow trip participants, meet our guide from Arctic Treks, and spend a night in a local hotel after enjoying dinner and getting acquainted. Ideally, we’ll be joined at dinner by a local Indigenous or conservation leader educated in the current issues facing America’s Arctic, including current proposals to open the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge to oil and gas development.

The next morning we will fly on a chartered aircraft approximately 2.5 hours north of Fairbanks over the Brooks Range to a landing strip where our air taxi service (Coyote Air) will meet and ferry us to our basecamp site located on or near the coastal plain. The coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge has been the calving grounds for the Porcupine Caribou Herd for thousands of years and serves as an important destination for nesting birds from around the world. Here we hope to see caribou on their migration, as well as multiple species of songbirds, raptors, and possibly grizzly bears, wolves, foxes, muskoxen, or even a wolverine.

We will spend four nights at our basecamp, affording ample opportunities for hiking, bird watching, wildlife viewing or simply enjoying the 24-hour sunlight and benefitting from the knowledge of our guides. Our guides at Arctic Treks can provide sturdy 4-season tents for all guests, as well as sleeping bags, sleeping pads, camp chairs, rubber boots and bear spray. Additionally, our trip guide will prepare all meals to keep us fueled for adventure each day, from the comfort of a sturdy cook tent where we can enjoy meals or time together protected from the elements.

On the fifth day, our air taxi returns to transport us back to the original landing strip, or possibly the landing strip at Arctic Village, a Gwich’in village located just south of the Arctic Refuge, where we may have the opportunity to interact with village leaders. Our charter aircraft for the flight back to Fairbanks will meet us there. We are typically back in Fairbanks in time for showers and a final dinner together at a local restaurant. The return flight and dinner provide an important opportunity to reflect upon all we have shared and learned together.

Guests will depart Fairbanks the next morning, or if desired, extend their trip with additional time on their own in Alaska.