One of the most biodiverse places on the planet, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is about to be sold off in pieces for oil drilling starting next month. In its 19.6 million acres, the refuge has coastal lands, boreal forests, and alpine tundra that inhabits gray wolves, musk oxen, caribou, polar bears, and hundreds of other species. These lands were granted with federal protections 60 years ago and play a huge part in the culture of indigenious Gwich’in people.
The Trump administration has enforced a plan to begin oil and gas lease sales in the refuge, and is currently moving seismic testing onto the plains. This type of testing has the potential to be detrimental to the landscape and the ecosystems that are built upon it. The refuge can not sustain human activity such as seismic testing or oil drilling, however, ever since the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, it has been leased to oil and gas development. Oil development would bring roads, airstrips, heavy machinery, noise and pollution, which would damage the refuge’s fragile tundra ecosystem and disrupt age-old migration and denning patterns for certain species.
Additionally, with the climate crisis already causing catastrophic issues on its own, the animals that primarily survive in the Arctic will suffer immensely with further habitat loss.
There is currently a petition to save the refuge, but they need 1.5 million signatures by January 6th in order for it to be enacted. The NRDC has also provided an informative draft of a letter for people to send to President Trump and Interior Secretary Bernhardt.