After a long life of service, Walt Parker passes away at 87

Walt Parker
Walt Parker

Walt Parker, 10 year council board representative for the Oil Spill Region Environmental Coalition, seems to have made a contribution to just about everything Alaskan over the years. He’s had a hand in urban planning, education, transportation, fisheries, telecommunications, and land use planning, and the oversight of oil and gas operations all over Alaska and the Arctic.

Much of the major federal legislation involving Alaska, including the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act of 1973, the National Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, known as the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the Alaska National Interest Lands and Conservation Act of 1980, and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 has Parker’s fingerprints on it.

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Iver Malutin, Kodiak advocate, passes away at 82

Iver Malutin
Iver Malutin

Iver Malutin, former council board member representing the Kodiak Village Mayors Association, passed away June 25 at the age of 82.

Malutin was on the council board from May 2008 until he resigned from the board in January 2013.

In addition to the citizens’ council, Malutin volunteered on a number of other boards and commissions, including an appointment by Governor Frank Murkowski to the Alaska Commission on Aging, where he worked to promote collaboration between stakeholder agencies to improve health care services for Alaska’s elderly. Other volunteer positions included advisory boards and committees for fisheries, subsistence lifestyle, Kodiak, and Native Alaskan traditions.

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Walt Parker and Iver Malutin

Walt Parker and Iver Malutin on a beach in Seldovia, September 2010
Walt Parker (left) and Iver Malutin (right) on a beach in Seldovia, September 2010. Photo by Linda Robinson.

On Wednesday, June 25, the council lost two members of our family, Walt Parker and Iver Malutin. Walt was 87, and Iver was 82.

Walt served as a board member representing the Oil Spill Region Environmental Coalition for the past ten years.

From the Anchorage Daily News website: Longtime Alaska resources and transportation consultant Walter Parker dead at 87 -and- Remembering man of many hats who profoundly shaped Alaska

From Cordova Times: WALT PARKER – A giant in Alaska’s history

Iver represented the Kodiak Village Mayors Association on our board from 2008-2013. Kodiak’s KMXT Radio has a nice piece about Iver: Remembering Iver Malutin

Sound loses tireless environmental defender

Stan Stephens
From Stan Stephens’ journal on April 18, 1989:
“Today is absolute confusion. They found a lot of oil north of Perry Island in Wells Passage. Equipment is starting to break down. So there are less and less skimmers working. The oil is getting so spread out they cannot handle it. Here is a whole month gone by without a real understanding of those in charge how big Prince William Sound really is. I’m dedicating the rest of my life and spare time to the protection of the environment.”

Prince William Sound lost a passionate and dedicated defender on September 21, when Stan Stephens, Valdez resident and council board member since the organization started up in 1990, passed away. Stephens was 78.

Born and raised in Minnesota, Stephens was an Alaska resident since 1961. Arriving in April of that year, he first camped on vacant property, later purchasing the land and building his home in the North Pole area. Married in 1964 to Mary Helen, they raised their family of three daughters in North Pole.

Stephens was the owner and operator of Stan Stephens Glacier and Wildlife Cruises based in Valdez. The company, originally named North Star Marine Charters, began sport fishing charters in 1971 and over the years evolved into the sightseeing company it is today.

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