Glenn Hurowitz, WILD PAC

Glenn Hurowitz is the associate director of WILD PAC, a political action committee that works to elect leaders at all levels of government who will champion protection of America's wilderness and public lands.

Last night, WILD PAC put the fun in fundraising. We hosted an event for more than 50 people on Park Avenue, at the home of renowned New York hostess Patti Kenner. With wine, hors d'ouevres, and organic cotton T-shirts donated by Patagonia, glitz combined with, well, more glitz to raise a lot of money to elect pro-wilderness leaders across the country.

The star of the evening, however, wasn't the caribou, the polar bears, or even the politicians, but rather, Ruth Gruber, a 90-year-old journalist, author, and adventurer who spoke charmingly about her new memoir, Inside of Time: My Journey from Alaska to Israel. Gruber riveted the audience of glitterati and wilderness lovers with tales of her adventures among Eskimos and naval officers in the Arctic north. She started her career as a globe-trotting journalist, but on the verge of the outbreak of World War II, she found herself meeting with Harold Ickes, FDR's interior secretary, who urged her to become his personal representative to Alaska, a key area in America's wartime defense plans. Gruber told of the rumors that swirled around her trip to the Arctic north (including, among others, that she was a spy sent to teach birth control to Eskimos), and her successes in helping the people of the Arctic.

Of course, the Alaska Gruber knew is not the same Alaska that exists today. Oil companies have exploited Alaska's North Slope, turning much of the fragile tundra into a wasteland, and logging companies have felled many of the oldgrowth trees in the Tongass National Forest -- the world's largest temperate rainforest. Gruber said she wants to preserve the beauty that remains in Alaska, and she displayed a very deep understanding of the role of money in politics. With every adventure tale she told, she concluded with "and that's why we're here for WILD PAC tonight."

The truth is, our event wasn't all about glamour and schmoozing. It was also about gaining ground on the industries that are destroying our public lands (and using political dollars to grease the wheels of Congress and the Bush administration to allow them to do so). In the last two election cycles, the oil, coal, timber, and other extractive and polluting industries contributed more than $80 million to candidates. In contrast, the entire environmental community only spent about $10 million on elections. From this perspective, it's no surprise that many politicians ignore Americans' overwhelming demand for strong protections for wilderness and public lands.

At WILD PAC, we're working to level the playing field. Events like the one last night are raising much-needed money for pro-wilderness champions. We'll never be able to match the extractive industries dollar for dollar -- but we can out-organize them on the ground using the contributions that we do get. For example, WILD PAC will use the contributions from last night's event to hire organizers who will mobilize the conservation community on the campaign trail and recruit hundreds of volunteers.

With political pundits anticipating that George W. Bush will raise more than $250 million for his re-election effort, much of it from polluting and extractive industries, the conservation community will need to work harder than ever to fight the influence of the extractive industries' campaign dollars. With more events like last night's, we'll be well on our way.