Where the Wild Things Are
In April 2020, Girl Friday started tracking the Trump administration's renewed focus on auctioning off oil and gas drilling rights in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). On December 3, 2020, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced that the controversial sale of oil and gas leases will take place on January 6, 2021. Indigenous activists, politicians, and conservation groups have been working hard to block this outcome for decades. Can we save ANWR?
ANWR's purpose.
On December 6, 1960, almost exactly sixty years ago, the National Arctic Wildlife Range was created through a public land order. Twenty years later, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) reclassified the existing range and formally established the purpose of ANWR. The refuge exists to conserve animals and plants, ensure a safe place for hunting and gathering, protect water quality, and fulfill international wildlife treaty obligations.
Sacred Gwich’in land.
When former President Jimmy Carter signed ANILCA into law in 1980, he helped to create the largest wildlife preserve in the United States. Within that protected area, there are 1.5 million-acres of coastal plain that the Gwich’in people consider to be sacred land. Thanks to persistent activists like Sarah James, a Neetsa’ii Gwich’in elder, ANWR has remained free of oil and gas drilling. For the Gwich’in, environmental protection is part of their identity. Sarah James told Alaska Public Media, "God put us there to take care of that part of the world."
Bipartisan support is needed again.
Since 2017, with a few notable exceptions, Democrats and Republicans have been on opposing sides in the ANWR drilling debate. But, historically there have been bipartisan efforts to protect this land. In a 2002 speech about ANWR, Republican Senator John McCain quoted Teddy Roosevelt by saying, "I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us."
Join the Sierra Club's letter writing campaign. The Trump administration has restricted feedback to physical letters that must be mailed to Alaska's BLM-office location. The Sierra Club created a writing guide, with suggested talking points, sample language, and contact information. They also include drafted social media posts that you can share with photos of your letter to encourage friends and family to share their thoughts as well.