Protect the Arctic: Tell the administration not to strip protections from the Reserve!

Despite its name, the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (Reserve) is one of the most richly biodiverse public lands in our nation – and it’s also the largest! Arctic animals like polar bears, caribou, and migratory birds from every U.S. state depend on vital habitat in the Reserve to find food and raise their young.

But now, the Trump administration seeks to strip away protections for 13 million acres of the Reserve to massively expand oil and gas drilling exploration. Its vision of the Reserve’s future is a bleak, polluted oil field – putting profits for oil companies over the survival of Arctic wildlife.

The good news is that the public has a chance to comment on this disastrous proposal before it goes into effect. The administration needs to hear from you today!

Sign a public comment urging the administration to keep the protections Congress intended for the Reserve and not dismantle this precious American landscape for short-term profits!

Message

BLM-2025-0002-0001

Recission of the Manag...

Secretary Burgum,

When Congress transferred the management of the public lands in the western Arctic’s National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska (Reserve) from the Navy to the Bureau of Land Management in 1976, it highlighted the unique biodiversity and rich ecological values of the area and required “maximum protection” of the area’s “extraordinary surface resource values” like fish, wildlife, and habitat. Four years later, Congress authorized leasing and oil development with the directive to ensure that the Reserve’s ecological and cultural resources were protected. In short, the Reserve has always enjoyed  statutory protections for wildlife and wild resources.

In April 2024, Defenders applauded the Bureau of Land Management’s regulations safeguarding “Special Areas” identified for exceptional wildlife and cultural values in the Reserve. Rescinding this regulation would be a grave mistake.

Rolling back these regulatory protections in the Reserve that BLM put in place last year during the Biden administration will open some of the most sensitive habitat in the nation to drilling. With more than 2.6 million acres already under lease for oil and gas development in the Reserve, BLM must also protect its world-class fish and wildlife values, per statutory mandate. This means balancing the extensive industrialization of the area with the conservation of critical Arctic species like polar bears, caribou, and birds from around the globe. By strengthening protective standards and expanding Special Areas to include safe caribou corridors for migration, we can realize a vision of the Arctic as a place where wildlife and habitat are protected and Indigenous subsistence needs can be met.

The Arctic has been the traditional home for Alaska Native communities that have stewarded the land and maintained a subsistence way of life based on its living resources. This is made possible by the ecosystem’s ability to support critical habitat for a diversity of iconic wildlife, including migratory birds from across the globe, two caribou herds, including one of the largest in Alaska, and imperiled species like polar bears and Steller’s eiders. It is impossible to overstate the critical importance this region plays for millions of animals and the people who depend on them.

Caribou populations are on a staggering decline worldwide. Caribou have depended on the Reserve as a migratory corridor to facilitate insect relief and for natal calving grounds for thousands of years. And the Arctic depends on caribou. Year after year, decade after decade, caribou migrate across the Arctic landscape like clockwork. They bring food and nutrition to over 40 Indigenous communities and wildlife along their route. Arctic plants need the nutrients left behind by the thousands of caribou dropping rich manure as they migrate thousands of miles. Wolves, wolverines, bears, and humans all count on caribou in the Arctic to survive.

Arctic amplification is causing the Arctic to warm at four times the rate of the rest of the world, and it is particularly vulnerable to an already warming climate. We encourage the administration to manage oil and gas activities in the Reserve consistently with the congressionally-mandated maximum protections for fish, wildlife, and habitat.

We remind you that the Arctic is especially sensitive to development and that the great iconic species of the north, like caribou and polar bears, have never been more at risk of extirpation. Therefore, we urge you to retain the “Management and Protection of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska” regulations.

Sincerely,
{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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