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Cruise West launches annual Mardy Murie Alaska Conservation Cruise
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Cruise West launches annual Mardy Murie Alaska Conservation Cruise
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Cruise West launches annual Mardy Murie Alaska Conservation Cruise
Cruise West, in association with the Mardy Murie Film Project, is celebrating the 100th birthday of the woman who has been called the "Mother of the American Conservation Movement," by launching an annual Mardy Murie Alaska Cruise. This year's cruise departs Whittier on Prince William Sound on August 21, 2002. Robert Redford calls Mardy Murie "a national treasure." She grew up in frontier Alaska and was the first woman to graduate from the University of Alaska and lives today on the family ranch in Grand Teton National Park. She has received major conservation awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor, for her "steadfast and inspiring efforts to safeguard America's wilderness for future generations." The Mardy Murie Film Project was created in 1991 by a group of film makers and other artists who feel a strong connection to Mardy Murie's life and what it stands for. The project's works include the film Arctic Dance: The Mardy Murie Story and a companion picture book, a national photo archive, and an educational film archive, all based on Marie's life. The Mardy Murie Alaska Cruise aboard Cruise Westıs Spirit of Oceanus will cross the Gulf of Alaska and follow the Inside Passage via Skagway, Haines, Juneau, Metlakatla (a Tsimshian native village) and Prince Rupert, ending in Vancouver, B.C. Wild areas visited besides Prince William Sound include Glacier Bay National Park, Tracy Arm Fjord, Misty Fjords National Monument, and Frederick Sound (for whale viewing). Cruise West, a Seattle-based firm that specializes in small-ship close-to-shore voyages in Alaska and other West Coast destinations, will donate $500 per passenger to the Mardy Murie Fund at the Craighead Environmental Research Institute, to further Marie's work. All travelers on the August 20-31, 2002 Mardy Murie Alaska Cruise (including a pre-cruise hotel night in Anchorage August 20) will receive a 25 percent discount on published cruise rates, which begin at $5,589 for the 11-night voyage. The 114-passenger Spirit of Oceanus, an all-suite ship, carries Zodiac launches for exploration by small groups in locales such as Tracy Arm and Misty Fjords. Bonnie Kreps, director of Arctic Dance: The Mardy Murie Story and co-author with Charles Craighead of the picture book, will be on the cruise to show the film and talk about Marie's adventurous life. Debbie S. Miller, Alaska Wilderness League Board Member and author of Midnight Wilderness: Journeys in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (for which Marie wrote the introduction), will present a slide show about the Arctic Refuge and talk about Olaus and Mardy Murie's central role in establishing the refuge For information about the Mardy Murie Film Project and Mardy Murie's life, go to: www.arcticdance.com (Source: Cruise West) |
