After nearly 30 years of service on Alaska Common Ground’s board, we are honored to announce Helen Nienhueser joins the ranks of Board Member Emeritus. Helen became a founding member of ACG in 1991. In 1995 she joined the board where she made myriad contributions to the mission – especially as it relates to state fiscal policy – up until she retired in 2024. Our designation honors Helen’s unwavering leadership and commitment to the organization, but her contributions to Alaska and Alaskans’ quality of life go far beyond ACG.
Helen moved to Alaska in 1959. She homesteaded in Eagle River, raised two children, joined the Mountaineering Club, and began working on the acclaimed Alaska hiking guide 55 Ways to the Wilderness in Southcentral Alaska, first published in 1972. The 55 Ways legacy lives on in Alaska Adventure 55 Ways, for which she wrote the foreword and her son and granddaughter carried on the writing.
Tireless in her public and community service through the decades, Helen helped establish Alaska Center for the Environment (now The Alaska Center), served on the boards of Alaska Conservation Foundation and Alaska Geographic, and on the Anchorage Parks and Recreation Commission. She co-chaired the steering committee that established Cuddy Family Midtown Park in Anchorage, and chaired the board which advised the State on establishing trails statewide.
During her 18-year career at the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Helen helped establish Alaska’s first land planning process, ensuring it included a robust public participation process from the beginning. She is also a recipient of Alaska Conservation Foundation’s 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award, the YWCA’s Women of Achievement Award, and was inducted into the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame.
The theme that runs throughout for Helen is one of citizen engagement. Alaska, Alaskans, and Alaska Common Ground are better off because of her tireless leadership and commitment to working together.