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. On day one, President Biden announced a temporary moratorium on all leasing activities in the Arctic Refuge.
  • 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 by mandating two lease sales.
  • Oil and Gas Development Threats: In January 2021, the Trump administration held the first ever Arctic Refuge lease sale. 3D seismic exploration on the coastal plain remains an imminent threat as well.
  • A Failed Lease Sale: The January 2021 lease sale failed to raise even 1% of promised revenues and received little industry interest. Only 9 of 32 available tracts were awarded, with two companies each receiving 1 tract, and the rest being awarded to the state of Alaska.
  • 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. Now for the first time in decades, the coastal plain faces the threat of oil and gas development, 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. The Trump administration held the first ever oil and gas lease sale on January 6th, 2020 in attempt to secure drilling rights before the incoming Biden administration. This lease sale was an enormous financial failure raising less than 1% of promised revenues, with the majority of the bids coming from a state-owned entity. On day one, the Biden administration issued a temporary moratorium on all leasing activities in the Arctic Refuge. However, legislation is still needed to repeal the Tax Act mandate and restore lasting protections to the coastal plain. 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 (115th Congress)
    • 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 cut 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 three times 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. Burning Arctic Refuge oil threatens to release 4.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent into the atmosphere, according to the BLM estimate that there are 10 billion barrels of extractable oil in the coastal plain. This is equivalent to the annual emissions from more than 1,100 coal-fired power plants and would contribute significantly to the climate crisis. Just the process of extracting oil and gas from the coastal plain alone would create an additional 26 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions throughout the lifetime of the program according to BLM.
  • 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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