Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

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KEY FACTS
  • Size: 19.6 million acres, roughly the size of South Carolina. The 1.6 million acre coastal plain is considered its ‘biological heart’.
  • Protection History: Established by President Eisenhower in 1960 with bipartisan support as the Arctic Wildlife Range, with the purpose of protecting an entire ecosystem. It was expanded in 1980 under President Carter through the Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act (ANILCA) to create the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
  • Most Recent Protection: In 2015, President Obama transmitted to Congress a wilderness recommendation for more than 12 million acres within the Arctic Refuge, including the entire 1.6 million areas of the coastal plain. In 2019, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1146 which would repeal the mandate in the 2017 Tax Act to lease the coastal plain for oil and gas development.
  • Tax Reform Fallout: In December 2017, as a component of its tax reform bill, Congress opened the Arctic Refuge to oil and gas leasing and development.
  • Oil and Gas Development Threats: The Trump administration is aiming to hold its first lease sale as soon as possible, and aims for 3D seismic exploration as well.
  • Climate Change: Rising Arctic temperatures are leading to melting permafrost, receding sea ice, coastal erosion, changes in vegetation growth patterns, altered caribou migration routes, increased forest fires, shrinking lakes, and more.
  • Wildlife: The Arctic Refuge is home to polar bears, 200 species of migratory birds, arctic foxes, black & brown bears, Dall sheep, moose, musk oxen, caribou, wolves, wolverines and more.
  • Significance to Alaska Natives: The Gwich’in people call the coastal plain “The Sacred Place Where Life Begins.” Protecting the Porcupine caribou herd that calves each summer on the coastal plain is a matter of basic human rights for the Gwich’in.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is America’s largest wildlife refuge, comprising 19.6 million acres of one of the wildest corners left in North America. Its biological heart – the 1.6 million acre coastal plain – is home to countless species of birds and numerous land mammals, like caribou, musk oxen and polar bears. The place holds special meaning to the Gwich’in people, who today rely on caribou for their sustenance, as they have for thousands of years. For many adventurers, a visit to the Arctic Refuge is the wilderness experience of a lifetime. It is no wonder that the Arctic Refuge earned protections in 1960 shortly after Alaska became a state, which remained in place until December of 2017.

Today, for the first time in decades, the coastal plain faces potential oil and gas leasing, which would forever change this landscape. As the tax reform debate came to a close in 2017, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski slipped two pages of drilling text into the final bill, undermining decades of thoughtful management and protections. In an unprecedented mad dash, the Trump administration has moved to hold an oil and gas lease sale before the true impacts of Arctic Refuge development can be understood. The DOI most recently released the "record of decision" (ROD) for a lease sale in the Arctic Refuge. Please see below for relevant legislation, talking points, fact sheets and more on what we're doing to defend the Arctic Refuge.

Fact Sheets | Congressional Letters | Public Letters | Maps | Research & Reports


Recent Legislative Activity

  • H.R. 1 Tax Cuts & Jobs Act
    • The overhaul of the American tax code came with a provision that mandated two oil and gas lease sales in the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge.
    • This provision claimed that these lease sales would raise a total of $1 billion in revenue for the Federal Treasury


Talking Points

  • The Trump administration is cutting corners to expedite oil and gas development. Interior’s rushed process to lease the coastal plain in place of a measured, science-driven effort that provides for robust public input is a disservice to the American people. Leaked memos from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other Department of the Interior agencies suggest that the BLM’s data is lacking and outdated and identify at least 20 major studies that should be conducted before giving oil and gas the green light.
  • Indigenous voices in particular are being ignored. This is yet another example of the Trump administration disregarding Indigenous rights and public wishes in the rush to sell out our public lands to oil interests. Using a hurried, predetermined plan to complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) within one year and limit it to 150 pages is incompatible with protecting the wilderness and wildlife values of the Arctic Refuge or the subsistence needs of the Gwich’in people.
  • The Arctic is ground zero for climate change; temperatures in the Arctic are rising at twice the rate of the rest of the planet. Villages are eroding into the sea, permafrost melt is making infrastructure insecure and food sources are disappearing. Based on the total annual indirect GHG emissions from the oil produced in the Arctic Refuge (averaged over the 70 year life of the field), under DOI’s ‘high-end case’ scenario in the FEIS, would be approximately 61.8 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent, which is equivalent to the annual emissions of more than 13 million passenger vehicles.
  • Drilling in the Arctic Refuge is widely opposed by the American people. According to public opinion research commissioned by the Center for American Progress, two thirds of Americans oppose drilling in the Arctic Refuge, with a majority (52%) “strongly opposed.” And according to recent public polling done by Yale Climate Connections, a large majority of American voters (70%) oppose drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Those strongly opposed outnumber those who strongly support the policy by more than 4 to 1.
  • For more than five decades, the Arctic Refuge has been a symbol of what we want for our future – the preservation of a way of life, climate justice, and the protection wild places. Not only does the mad dash to develop the Arctic Refuge threaten the place today, but it also will greatly shape the legacy we leave for future generations.
  • Banks are adopting policies that would preclude them from financing drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Financial institutions understand drilling in the Arctic Refuge would be a toxic investment and too big of a financial risk to take. All six major U.S. banks (Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo), along with over a dozen international banks, have rejected financing for drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Congressional leaders have written letters to the remaining major U.S. banks urging them to take this stance as well.

Fact Sheets

Congressional Letters

Public Letters

Maps

Research & Reports


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