Alaska Botanical Garden

Vision:

The Alaska Botanical Garden will be one of Alaska's leading organizations that fosters botanical and horticultural information.

Mission:

The Alaska Botanical Garden is a public garden dedicated to enhancing the beauty and value of plant material through education, preservation, recreation and research.

History:

Planning for the Alaska Botanical Garden started in 1983 as members of the AlaskaHorticultural Association considered the creation of an arboretum, and the idea grew. The organization was officially incorporated as an Alaskan non-profit in 1986, and beganthe process of developing a “Master Plan” to guide the creation of gardens and infrastructure elements. In 1990, ABG signed a land use agreement with the Municipalityof Anchorage. The Master Plan was revised in 2002. In 2003, ABG signed another long-term lease with the Municipality for additional adjacent acreage. Ten years after the initial planning, the first gardens were planted and the Grand Opening took place on July 25, 1993. Today, the Alaska Botanical Garden occupies about 110 acres between the Far North Bicentennial Park and Benny Benson School. Much of the land will remain in a natural state, with individual “gardens-within-the-Garden” interconnected by trails through the boreal forest.The Alaska Botanical Garden property has had many different occupants and owners overthe years. Once used by the Athabascan people, the land has since been under the federal,then state, and finally municipal administration. During the 1940s and 1950s, the area was used for maneuvers and training by the US Army, and the trails in the area were a part of theextensive “Bull Dog Trail” network that extended from Ft. Richardson to the Campbell Army Air Corps airfield in what is now Far North Bicentennial Park.