The Trump administration is working to strip vital protections from more than 13 million acres of critical wildlife habitat in the Western Arctic. This region, the ancestral home of Alaska Native communities, supports an incredible diversity of life, including endangered whales, polar bears, migratory birds, caribou, and many other species.
The Special Areas Rule adopted last year safeguards five designated parcels of land with exceptional ecological and cultural significance, boosting biodiversity and upholding the rights and traditions of Alaska Natives. Undoing these protections leaves the area vulnerable to devastating oil and gas development.
Americans overwhelmingly support these protections, with more than 250,000 comments submitted in 2023 in support of strengthening the Special Areas Rule.
We are committed to ensuring these essential, commonsense protections remain in place.
Join us in demanding that our voices be heard.
Use the fields below to submit a comment letter to the Department of the Interior opposing their dangerous proposal to rescind critical protections for the Western Arctic.
There’s no time to waste.
Comment Letter
Dear President Trump and Secretary Burgum,
I write to strongly urge the Department of the Interior (DOI) to protect the Western Arctic from oil and gas development that threatens key areas and iconic species that depend on the land. I vehemently oppose striking down these critical protections for the Western Arctic.
The Western Arctic is home to endangered whales, polar bears, migratory birds, and America’s largest caribou herd, which is a vital food source for over 40 Indigenous communities. Taking away critical protections for more than 13 million acres in the Western Arctic would put this fragile ecosystem at risk of expanded oil and gas industrialization. Road-building, industrial traffic, and construction, as well as emissions associated with fossil fuel development, would disrupt caribou migration and worsen the impacts of climate change in a region already warming faster than anywhere else on the planet.
The Western Arctic is also the largest single unit of public lands in our nation, spanning nearly 23 million acres across Alaska's western North Slope. People from all over the world travel here to experience the diverse wildlife and pristine landscapes that cannot be found anywhere else. The American people greatly value keeping our public lands public, rather than selling them off to polluting corporations.
I urge the Department of the Interior not to repeal the Western Arctic rules that were put in place to protect millions of acres of public land, a diverse range of wildlife including endangered whales, polar bears, migratory birds, caribou, and many other species, and the traditions of Indigenous peoples who have stewarded and and lived in harmony with the land since time immemorial.
Signed,