Members of Congress Applaud Proposed Wilderness Designation of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s Coastal Plain

March 23, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) today led a bipartisan congressional letter lending full support to a Wilderness designation for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a 1.5 million-acre stretch of land that is home to endangered species and is one of the last great expanses of true “wildness” in the United States. In a letter to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, Huffman and Fitzpatrick, joined by 78 other members of the House of Representatives, supported her recommendation of a Wilderness designation for the Coastal Plain, which would codify permanent protections for the area from damaging activities like oil drilling.

“Since it was first set aside over fifty years ago, the Arctic Refuge has stood as one of our nation’s most iconic wild areas and deserves our most enduring legal protections,” the members wrote.

“The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a pristine landscape with values unlike any other public lands in our nation. Its value to Alaska Natives to sustain their cultural and subsistence lifestyle, as well as, its wilderness, ecological integrity, wildlife, and recreational opportunities are unmatched. Therefore, we strongly support your recommendation of a Wilderness designation for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.”

Reps. Huffman and Fitzpatrick are the authors of the Udall-Eisenhower Arctic Wilderness Act, which would designate the Coastal Plain as wilderness. Huffman and Fitzpatrick’s letter was accompanied by a Senate letter led by U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.).

In January, the Obama Administration released a conservation plan recommending that Congress move to protect more than 12.28 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as Wilderness.

In addition to Huffman and Fitzpatrick, the letter was signed by Reps Henry C. Johnson, Jan Schakowsky, Donald Beyer, Louise M. Slaughter, Earl Blumenauer,  James P. McGovern, Ben Ray Luján, Niki Tsongas, Mark Pocan, Jackie Speier, Grace F. Napolitano, Adam B. Schiff, Rosa L. DeLauro, Luis V. Gutiérrez, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Matt Cartwright, Doris O. Matsui, Charles B. Rangel, John P. Sarbanes, Barbara Lee, Paul D. Tonko, Lloyd Doggett, Anna G. Eshoo, Daniel Lipinski, Mike Quigley, David Price, Ted Deutch, Jim Himes, Jim McDermott, Elizabeth Esty, Sandy Levin, Chris Van Hollen, Jim Langevin, Betty McCollum, Robert C. Scott, Raúl Grijalva, Jerrold Nadler, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Bill Keating, Dave Loebsack, Michael M. Honda, Mike Thompson, John Carney, Scott Peters, Tim Walz, Nydia M. Velázquez, Sam Farr, Beto O’Rourke, John Yarmuth, Peter Welch, Katherine Clark, John Conyers Jr., Lois Capps, Michael E. Capuano, Keith Ellison, Keith Ellison, Maxine Waters, Bobby L. Rush, Cheri Bustos, Marc Veasey, Zoe Lofgren, Janice Hahn, Janice Hahn, Alan Lowenthal, Chellie Pingree, Peter DeFazio, Julia Brownley, Jerry McNerney, Ted W. Lieu, Tammy Duckworth, Rick Nolan, Suzanne Bonamici, Gwen Moore, Suzan DelBene, Carolyn B. Maloney, Karen Bass, Mark DeSaulnier, Brenda L. Lawrence, and John Delaney.

The text of the letter may be found HERE or below:

March 19, 2015

The Honorable Sally Jewell
Secretary
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240

Dear Secretary Jewell:

We, the undersigned members of the United States Congress, write to express our sincere thanks for your recommendation of a Wilderness designation for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in your final Comprehensive Conservation Plan. Since it was first set aside over fifty years ago, the Arctic Refuge has stood as one of our nation’s most iconic wild areas and deserves our most enduring legal protections. We applaud the Administration’s efforts to take this important step toward the strongest possible protection for this vital ecosystem.

The area was first established as the Arctic National Wildlife Range on December 6, 1960 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower for its “unique wildlife, wilderness, and recreational values.” It is a sweeping landscape, bursting with wildflowers and framed by the awe-inspiring Brooks Mountain Range. Legislation to protect the Refuge’s Coastal Plain as Wilderness has been introduced every Congress for the past 25 years, but gridlock in Congress has made it difficult to protect this pristine landscape. Just this month, the Udall-Eisenhower Artic Wilderness Act was introduced in the House of Representatives for the 114th Congress.

Preserving the Arctic Refuge is necessary to allow the Gwich’in people to live off their ancestral lands, as they have since time immemorial. The Gwich'in rely on the Porcupine Caribou Herd, whose calving and nursery grounds are in the Arctic Refuge's Coastal Plain which they call “the sacred place where life begins.” Birds flock there to nest from every state in the union and six continents and grizzly, black, and polar bears all share the Refuge’s diverse habitat. Polar bears are especially dependent on the Coastal Plain to den and raise their young as they face diminishing habitat.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a pristine landscape with values unlike any other public lands in our nation. Its value to Alaska Natives to sustain their cultural and subsistence lifestyle, as well as, its wilderness, ecological integrity, wildlife, and recreational opportunities are unmatched. Therefore, we strongly support your recommendation of a Wilderness designation for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Signed,