Dear Friend,

A federal agency wants to open one of our nation’s most unique wilderness areas to oil and gas exploitation. We need your help to push back and submit a public comment before the January 21st deadline.

The Western Arctic Reserve is the largest tract of wild and undisturbed public land in the U.S., providing vital habitat for hundreds of species, including migratory birds, brown bears, caribou, threatened polar bears, walruses, and beluga whales. Alaska Native communities across this region have sustained themselves for thousands of years with wild foods harvested from the Western Arctic Reserve’s lands and waters.

Right now, 11 million acres of the Western Arctic Reserve are protected from industrial development under a 2013 management plan. This plan also created additional protections for certain special areas in the reserve, including Teshekpuk Lake — an important calving area for the Teshekpuk Caribou Herd and an internationally recognized bird habitat that is vital for many imperiled species.

Yet this administration seeks to overturn the plan’s protections by opening millions of acres in and around Teshekpuk Lake to oil and gas development. This reckless effort to sell off additional areas of the Western Arctic Reserve to fossil fuel companies is being done without regard for the harm it will likely cause to this ecologically sensitive area, the people who live there, and our climate.

For decades, Earthjustice and its allies have worked to protect irreplaceable wildlife and other resources of the Western Arctic from the threats of oil and gas development.

America’s Arctic is already experiencing dramatic effects from climate change. It’s time to pursue a just and equitable transition away from fossil fuels — not double-down on their development in one of our most sensitive, wild places.

Sincerely,