Board of Trustees Welcomes Peter Mjos

Pete Mjos and Karen Ruud in Kachemak Bay.

Anchorage physician Pete Mjos is joining Trustees for Alaska’s Board of Directors this month. He arrived in Alaska in 1973 to work with the US Indian Health Service. His department chief at the time was the chair of the Alaska Chapter of the Sierra Club. Pete became a regular at weekly Sierra Club presentations held at the Anchorage Museum during the summer months.

After transferring to Ketchikan his involvement jumped from attendee of Sierra Club meetings to president of the Tongass Conservation Society. It was pre-ANILCA and in Alaska, anti-environmentalism was rampant. As a federal employee, Pete felt a bit freer to express support for the protection of Alaska’s most glorious natural landscapes. Later he sat on the Board of the Alaska Chapter of the Sierra Club.

As an advocate of health, Pete recognized the growing problem of childhood inactivity and obesity, especially in Alaska. He joined the Board of the Anchorage Junior Nordic League where he served for ten years. During his tenure the program became the largest youth cross country ski training program in the country. He designed, funded, constructed, and lighted several ski trails in Anchorage. In addition he has served on the Mayor’s Task Force on Obesity and the Anchorage Board of Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move, Cities, Towns, and Counties.

Pete is past president of the Anchorage Citizen’s Coalition and past president of Rogers Park Community Council. He currently sits on the Board of Trustees of The Nature Conservancy of Alaska and recently joined the Board of Directors of Cook Inletkeeper.

“For many years we have been supporters of Trustees for Alaska,” Pete said in his application to join the Board, “trusting that Trustees, as the premier Alaska environmental defense organization, will uncompromisingly defend our natural resources and all that depend on them.”

We are grateful to be adding someone with Pete’s history of community service and dedication to conservation to Trustees for Alaska’s Board of Directors.