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John,

One of the most remote and sensitive wildlife habitats in America is about to be destroyed.

The Bureau of Land Management is proposing opening up 18 million acres of the Western Arctic for oil leasing.[1] Drilling could flatten the dens of arctic foxes and cut off the annual migration of caribou.

Defend the Western Arctic from drilling. Submit your public comment by the Nov. 21 deadline.
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18 million acres is an impossibly large area to take away from wild animals and sell off to oil companies. The places proposed for drilling include special areas that were set aside to protect wildlife, such as Teshekpuk Lake and the Colville River.[2,3]

The Teshekpuk Lake caribou herd depends on its namesake, the largest lake in Alaska's Arctic. Baby caribou are born lakeside as ducks like the threatened spectacled eider glide along the water.[4,5]

The Colville River cuts through the tundra, creating high cliffs perfect for nesting birds like the arctic peregrine falcon. Millions of birds are born in the Western Arctic every summer, including along the banks of this river.[6]

Polar bears roam the islands of ice in the Chukchi Sea and massive groups of walruses hold court along the icy shoreline. Polar bears move back to land to build their dens under the frosty landscape.[7,8]

Every single one of these places is a critical wildlife habitat. And every single one could soon be sold for oil exploration.

Tell the Bureau of Land Management: Don't sacrifice critical arctic wildlife habitat for a little bit of oil.
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It would be a grave mistake to trade away the homes of irreplaceable caribou, polar bears, migratory birds, muskox, walruses, arctic foxes and on and on.

These animals depend on the beautiful, unspoiled natural spaces of the Western Arctic. We should at least spare some of this pristine and wild landscape for them.

We're calling on the Bureau of Land Management to not offer any oil leases on tracts in the 13 million acres of special areas already set aside for wildlife.

Add your voice: Tell the Bureau of Land Management to not allow oil leasing in special wildlife areas.
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Thank you,

Ellen Montgomery

1. Yereth Rosen, "Trump administration moves toward an Arctic Alaska oil lease sale despite the government shutdown," Alaska Beacon, October 22, 2025.
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2. "Alaska Oil and Gas Lease Sales: National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A)," Bureau of Land Management, last accessed November 11, 2025.
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3. Liz Ruskin, "Biden administration starts process to add or change 'special area' restrictions in the NPR-A," Alaska Public Media, July 12, 2024.
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4. Yereth Rosen, "Trump administration moves toward an Arctic Alaska oil lease sale despite the government shutdown," Alaska Beacon, October 22, 2025.
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5. "Spectacled eider (Somateria fischeri)," U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, last accessed November 11, 2025.
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6. "America's Arctic: Colville River Raptors," Cornell Lab of Ornithology, May 22, 2025.
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7. "U.S. and Russian Scientists Partner to Study Polar Bear and Seal Populations," NOAA Fisheries, May 17, 2021.
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8. "How many walruses are in Alaska's Chukchi Sea?," U.S. Geological Survey, August 15, 2024.
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