(Posted November 4, 2002)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- An award-winning photographer and activist who is walking across the United States to focus attention on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWAR) and other areas of Alaskan wilderness will make a stop at Juniata College to premiere a multimedia presentation, "Wildlife of the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge" at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8 in Alumni Hall in the Brumbaugh Science Center on the Juniata campus.

The event is free and open to the public.

Ken Madsen, a writer, photographer and conservationist, is walking through Huntingdon on his way to Washington, D.C. as part of a project to focus attention on oil exploration in the ANWAR and other wilderness areas. The day after his presentation, at 9 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 9, Madsen will invite Juniata students and members of the surrounding community to walk from Ellis College Center on the Juniata campus to Blair Park on Route 22 as he sets off for the nation's capital.

"Many of these Alaskan areas are some of the last pristine wilderness left in the country," says Douglas Glazier, professor of biology at Juniata. "Oil exploration in these areas is a national issue and people interested in wildlife conservation here in Pennsylvania will find this presentation interesting."

Madsen, who was instrumental in the campaign to establish the Tatshenshini-Alsek Wilderness Park in Alaska, also will be walking with a native Alaskan member of the Gwich'in people, Norma Kassi. Madsen and Kassi will speak at the 7 p.m. presentation.

"The Arctic Refuge is a sacred place for the Gwich'in people," Kassi, a Gwich'in leader, says in a press release. "The Gwich'in are caribou people and we depend on the herd for for our culture and subsistence needs."

Madsen started his journey in Seattle on Aug. 23 and will reach Washington, D.C. on Nov. 16. "As we travel across the country, we are inviting Americans to walk with us," Madsen says. "They can demonstrate that they are in favor of cleaner, more efficient energy solutions."

The presentation will feature Madsen's photography scored to contemporary music.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.