A bill to allow drilling in the Arctic Refuge was suddenly pulled from the
House floor just prior to the expected vote. It is sadly ironic that at the
very time an incomparable abundance of life is bursting forth on the
coastal plain, members of Congress were again considering opening the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil development. If development were to
be allowed it would have a serious impact on the people of the Gwich’in
Nation and spoil an exceptional national treasure.

Tying the Arctic Refuge to yet another sham of a plan is not going to help
the price of gas. This latest scheme was yet another ill-conceived attempt
to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development.
Rather than Congress wasting time or bowing to corporate special interests,
the real issue of the United States over-dependence on oil must be
addressed.

Right now in the biological heart of the Arctic Wildlife Refuge an
explosion of arctic flora is on display. Birds from every state in the
union and four continents have migrated to the Arctic Refuge for nesting
and staging. The caribou cows are nursing their calves after a long
migration from south of the Brooks Range near Arctic Village and from
Canada. Each year, approximately 40,000 calves are calved and or nurse
there protected from predators and able to find relief from insects.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, “The Refuge coastal plain
is very important to calving success and calf survival in the Porcupine
caribou herd. [And that] The Refuge contains the greatest wildlife
diversity of any protected area in the circumpolar north.” The National
Academy of Sciences in a recent study on cumulative impacts concluded this
herd is more sensitive to disturbance than the caribou herd near Prudhoe
Bay.

According to the Gwich’in Nation this is Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit,
the Sacred Place Where Life Begins. The Gwich’in Nation calls upon the
leaders of Congress to make decisions based on wisdom and vision regarding
the Energy Bill, not sacrifice our culture and the resources we rely on.
Improving the fuel economy to 40 mpg would save 15 times more fuel than
might be economically recoverable from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Drilling in The Sacred Place Where Life Begins would neither affect the
price at the gas pump nor reduce the United States’ dependence on foreign
oil. Six months of oil 10 years from now is not worth putting such an
important area at risk or gambling with the future of Native people or the
wildlife.

During the first Gwich’in gathering to take place in over 100 years in
Arctic Village, Alaska, the elders and leaders took a stand to oppose oil
exploration and development in the coastal plain of the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge. Their decision to oppose development was based on ancient
wisdom that the calving and nursery grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd
was sacred and should be respected not desecrated for short term gain.
Since that decision in 1988, common sense, scientific and economic evidence
has continually proven that the Gwich’in Nation’s decision to fight for
permanent protection of the refuge coastal plain was a wise decision.

Recently, U.S. PIRG published a study, “Going Nowhere: The Price Consumers
Pay for Stalled Fuel Economy Prices.” The study refers to the recent
analysis by the Energy Information Administration (EIA): “that drilling in
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would not have any impact on world oil
prices, noting that [a]ssuming that world oil markets continue to work as
they do today, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries could
countermand any potential price impact of ANWR coast plain production by
reducing its exports by an equal amount.”

We have been blessed by the Creator to be a part of the Gwich’in Nation and
to live in a land that is incomparable in beauty and bounty. Yet, some do
not see the beauty and see no reason to protect it. To those, we say look
with your heart. Those who understand will continue to work to protect it
and the people who rely on its bounty.

Luci Beach, executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee is from
Ft. Yukon, Alaska.