NRCS Alaska Honors Two Outstanding Technical Experts for Women's History Month

NRCS Alaska honors two outstanding technical experts who have made a lasting impact on natural resources conservation in Alaska: Samia Savell, Southeast Alaska District Conservationist, and Karin Sonnen, State Rangeland Specialist.

NRCS District Conservationist Samia Savell retires after 23 years of service to Southeast Alaska

Samia Savell has devoted her federal career to natural resources conservation in Southeast Alaska, with just over 23 years of federal service to NRCS Alaska. As she celebrates her retirement on February 28, 2026, NRCS honors her decades of service and recognizes her invaluable contributions to establish an NRCS presence in the region and cultivate partnerships that will continue to conserve natural resources for generations to come.

Samia Savell works with private landowners on a forestry conservation project near Hoonah, Alaska, photo taken in 2017.

For over two decades, Samia was the face of NRCS for Southeast Alaska. She represented the agency in collaborations with state and federal agencies, Tribes and tribal entities, non-governmental organizations, and other partners. She ensured NRCS a seat at the table in multi-agency natural resources projects that resulted in NRCS conservation programs being implemented across the region.

Samia embraced her role with ingenuity and creativity, making Farm Bill programs designed for traditional farms in the Lower 48 work in the remote islands of the Southeast archipelago, with a focus on conserving traditional foods and wildlife habitat. Travel is a big part of the job!

Just one example is the Hoonah Native Forest Partnership, a collaborative, landscape-scale effort on Chichagof Island, Alaska, focused on balancing sustainable forest management, salmon habitat restoration, deer production, and local economic development. This partnership formed in 2015 and has achieved measurable outcomes to improve stream conditions in the Spasski Watershed including 12 bridges/culverts replaced or removed to improve fish passage and more than 1,300 acres of forest health and deer habitat improvement.

Samia has represented NRCS in the Keex Kwaan Community Forest Partnership, the Klawock Indigenous Stewards Forest Partnership, and the Southeast Alaska Farmers Summit, and she helped develop six watershed councils in the region.

"I find the greatest satisfaction in projects that involve collaboration with various partners and coordinating technical/scientific information with land management that is meaningful for landowners and communities," Samia said. "It's all about that Triple Bottom Line of balancing community interests, economic development, and natural resources stewardship."

Read more about Samia's journey:
Story Map: Samia Savell Women's History Month Profile

NRCS State Rangeland Specialist Karin Sonnen recognized as international expert in reindeer grazing and lichen ecology

Karin Sonnen is the State Rangeland Management Specialist for NRCS Alaska. She is well known throughout Alaska, the Arctic, and Sub-Arctic as an expert in reindeer grazing and lichen ecology. With 30 years of service to NRCS, her technical experience is robust and unparalleled. She is a role model for women in science professions and an advocate for women in agriculture.

Karin Sonnen finds her first Japanese glass fishing float on Umnak Island in the mid 2000's while doing rangeland assessment work to inform grazing management on the island.

Karin has travelled all over Alaska to remote rangelands to help communities study and map plant communities; and plan and implement grazing management approaches. She is known as an expert in reindeer grazing and lichen ecology and is often requested for consultation by NRCS staff, private landowners, Tribes, and staff from partner agencies including international entities.

"I have learned a tremendous amount about lichen ecology and reindeer grazing patterns, reindeer preferences, and shifts in plant and lichen communities as a result of different grazing pressures," Karin said. "The range ecology on the islands of Alaska and the different grazing ungulates - traditional cattle, bison, and reindeer - and management strategies for extensive grazing management have been fascinating to learn about. I learn something every time I go to the field; it keeps work interesting."

Just one example is a grazing management project on Sitkinak Island. The cattle on that island had been unmanaged for decades, and NRCS worked with the landowners to fence out devastated beach dune areas during summer months and allow grazing on lowland areas only in the winter months.

"The response those areas had was incredible," Karin said. "The dunes were revegetated to lush grasses and forbs which allowed for sand to accumulate. Dunes were re-developing in these areas, as they should be ecologically. The forage produced for the winter months was thousands of pounds per acre. It was so satisfying to see the difference our efforts made. I was able to set up some photo monitoring points and monitored them for years, and the results were stunning."

She has presented at two International Arctic Ungulate conferences, helping to plan one in Alaska and traveling to Norway representing the U.S. and NRCS at the other.

Some of Karin's other notable projects include mapping plant communities of St. George Island to help inform the island's capacity for reindeer; and similar mapping on Umnak Island using land satellite imagery technology which informed managing reindeer and cattle on 800,000 acres in the Aleutian Islands.

Read More about Karin's Journey:
Story Map: Karin Sonnen Women's History Month Profile

Press Contact: Tracy Robillard, Public Affairs Specialist
Phone: 907-982-3436
Email: [email protected]