A healthy environment is the key to a healthy tribe. We are meant to take care of our lands because they take care of us but when the lands around the tribe suffer, so do we. It is our job as the next generation to keep the legacy of our ancestors and preserve the lands that provided for us. I want to become an environmental scientist and advocate for the protection and preservation of Native lands. I want to give back by continuing the tradition of our ancestors by keeping our sacred gathering and hunting grounds; protecting our natural resources and making them easily accessible and safe to harvest. There are so many ways for me to give back to my people. With my degree I can become an environmental scientist and work at the Ketchikan Indian community and give back to my community every way possible. I will Advocate for no pebble mining or deforestation around salmon spawning streams to keep salmon populations safe for fishing. Preserve traditional shellfish gathering by testing for paralytic shellfish poisoning within clams. Test for bacteria like E. coli in water sources to keep swimming and drinking safe and healthy. Keep otters, seals, deer and other animal populations from becoming over-hunter or under-hunted by tracking their growth. Giving access to Alaska Natives to hunt those animals, keeping traditional foods accessible to many people. Give directly to my people by harvesting and handing out fish to those who can’t harvest themselves, like our elders that can’t go out fishing anymore. Keep access to beaches and forest to collect foods and medicines my ancestors relied on. Even running for tribal counsel and becoming a member to make environmentally conscious decisions to continue the preservation of our lands. I can also provide classes and teach the generations younger then me about traditional gathering and preservation of our lands. I want to give back to my community by saving the environment around us and I want to preserve the traditions passed down to me and continue passing them down. I want to keep contractors off Native and sacred lands, and keep the waters that my people rely on for food clean from pollution and bacteria and to keep the animal and fish populations safe from over harvesting. I want to give my people access to as many natural resources as possible and preserve our traditions with my environmental science degree.