Brad Meikeljohn’s passion for wild places drives him and inspires him to lead a minimalist lifestyle. “Conservation runs through my entire life, and there has never been a point when I wanted more, more, more,” he says. After all, living with less means he can give back more. Motivated by a sense of urgency for the losses occurring in the natural world, he’s following the legacy of his grandmother who fought for women’s voting rights and a great uncle who stood up against McCarthyism. He’s currently working on a dam removal project to restore salmon to Alaska’s Eklutna River, and he has been instrumental in protecting more than 300,000 acres of wild lands and rivers in Alaska. His passion for preservation means he has also explored those wildly inaccessible landscapes via packraft, adventure skating, backcountry skiing and alpine climbing. “I am driven to make a difference even if it only lengthens the life of one warbler, one salmon or one bear.” Learn more about Meiklejohn’s first descent in Alaska: “Pile it on: A Packrafting First Descent in Alaska.”
