Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is in Danger: Take Action Now.

Sign On To Protect The Refuge

The best thing you can do to make a difference right now is call your US Senators. Call the Senate Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. From now until October 6, 2017, please also also sign a faith-rooted advocacy letter. Creation Justice Ministries will deliver your signature to your Senators and the Trump Administration.

Why We Care

For more than 10,000 years, the Gwich'in people have lived in harmony with the land we know today as Alaska and the Yukon. In 1960, some of the most ecologically rich parts of the Gwich'in peoples' ancestral homeland were set aside for protection and named the "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge." Since protections were established for the 30,000 square mile area, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has been under perpetual threat of losing its conservation status. That is because a provision of the Refuge's establishment stated the Coastal Plain area of the Refuge could be opened up at any time for oil exploration and drilling through an act of Congress.

For decades, faith communities have stood by the Gwich'in to help them defend the Coastal Plain from oil exploration and drilling. Gwich'in people call the Coastal Plain "the sacred place where life begins." The Coastal Plain is the birthing ground of the porcupine caribou herd, on which Gwich'in people depend for food and for spiritual wellbeing. Many Gwich'in people integrate traditional Gwich'in beliefs with Christian faith, and are active in the Episcopal Church. The Gwich'in have appealed to the Episcopal Church and other people of faith to stand with them, and we have answered their call. Learn more about Creation Justice's ongoing efforts at www.creationjustice.org/arctic.

The Federal Budget Process:
An Imminent Threat

The threats of drilling on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge have recently increased.

Without notifying the public, the Trump Administration is taking steps to allow oil exploration in this sensitive part of God's creation for the first time in 30 years. In a series of memos, the Department of the Interior has proposed to allow seismic studies – previously deemed unlawful – to assess the available oil within the Refuge. Seismic testing would provide more data, but it would irreparably scar this landscape and disturb wildlife in the area. This testing is a first step toward full-blown drilling which would destroy the ecological integrity of this pristine area which the Gwich'in people have depended on for food, cultural, and spiritual sustenance for as long as anyone can remember.
 
Meanwhile, in Congress, there is a big push to include a provision to open the Refuge in the 2018 budget process. The provision passed out of committee in the House. We urgently need all people of faith and good conscience to contact their US Senators and urge them to keep Arctic Refuge drilling out of the federal budget.

Listen to the voices of the Gwich'in people, who are opposed to oil drilling, and struggling for their survival.