Pres. Clinton Urged to Declare Arctic Refuge a National Monument
9/20/95
OVERVIEW & SOURCE
The Wilderness Society reports on efforts to encourage President
Clinton to declare the 19 million-acre Arctic Refuge as a United
States National monument. The Alaskan coastal plain provides
habitat for more than 200 wildlife species, including polar bears,
wolves, caribou, the shaggy muskoxen, and many migratory birds.
This is one of the last true wildernesses remaining in the US, and
every effort must be made to insure that it is not trashed for a
couple decades of economic returns, and then left as a wasteland;
as has happened repeatedly under the western development model.
This item was posted in econet's en.alerts conference. For
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system, send any message to .
g.b.
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
/** en.alerts: 88.0 **/
** Topic: Say Yes to Arctic Monument **
** Written 1:33 PM Sep 18, 1995 by tws in cdp:en.alerts **
Contact: Ben Beach (202-429-2655)
COALITION OF CITIZENS GROUPS URGES PRESIDENT
TO DECLARE ARCTIC REFUGE A NATIONAL MONUMENT
WASHINGTON, Sept. 18--A broad coalition of citizens groups today
called on President Clinton to proclaim the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge's coastal plain a national monument in order to
prevent oil drilling there.
"This is one of our greatest natural treasures," said Wilderness
Society President Jon Roush, "but Congress is now about to turn it
over to the oil industry without allowing an open debate. Seventy
percent of Americans oppose oil drilling in the refuge, and a
national monument designation is the most certain way to make sure
the public interest prevails over special interests."
Today's event was organized by the Leadership Council for the
Arctic Wildlife National Monument. The council includes
environmental leaders, Native Americans, religious groups,
children's organizations, and others.
Located in the northeastern corner of Alaska, the 19 million-acre
Arctic Refuge is the largest of more than 500 national wildlife
refuges. The biological heart of this sanctuary is the coastal
plain, which runs along 125 miles of Arctic Ocean coastline. It is
bordered on the south by the Brooks Range, which lies about 25
miles inland.
The coastal plain provides vital habitat for more than 200
wildlife species, including polar bears, wolves, the shaggy
muskoxen, and numerous migratory birds. Best known is the
152,000-member caribou herd that, for centuries, have migrated
hundreds of miles each spring to bear its young on the coastal
plain. They are central to both the diet and culture of the
Gwich'in Indians, who live in villages in both Alaska and Canada,
where the caribou spend the winter.
"For the Gwich'in Indian people, this is a question of human
rights," said Sarah James, a tribal leader whose village is just
south of the refuge. "The Gwich'in are caribou people. Oil
development in the Arctic Refuge would hurt the caribou and
threaten the future of my people. This is cultural genocide. It
is time for President Clinton to step in and protect the caribou
birth place."
One of the long-time leaders in the effort to protect the refuge
was former U.S. Congressman Morris K. Udall (D-AZ), who authored
the landmark 1980 Alaska Lands Act. His son Bradley, a Colorado
engineer, is part of the coalition and said, "My father's long
legislative career had many highlights. But he always considered
preservation of Alaska's natural treasures and the protection of
the Native Alaskans to be the crowning jewel of all his
congressional achievements.
"If he were able to be with us today," said Udall, "I'm sure my
father would join us in supporting a presidential declaration
and would be calling on his many friends and colleagues in the
Congress to support any presidential action fulfilling his pledge
to protect the Arctic Refuge." During the 1992 campaign, Clinton
said that he was committed to maintaining the coastal plain in
its natural condition.
Drilling cannot occur in the refuge unless Congress gives its
blessing. Previous efforts to pass such legislation have failed,
most recently in 1991. But the reconciliation bill now moving
through Congress includes a provision authorizing drilling.
This provision will be dealt with by the House Resources Committee
tomorrow and the Senate Energy Committee Wednesday. Both panels
are chaired by Alaskans allied with the oil industry and are
strongly oriented toward exploitation of public lands.
The intergenerational aspects of the issue were highlighted by
Tessa Hill, president of Kids for Saving Earth Worldwide (KSE),
her daughter Karina, and several Washington, D.C., members of the
group. "Children are very worried about the health of our planet
and what will be left of the wilderness and the precious species
who live on it," Hill stated.
Karina, 12, said, "Kids for Saving Earth Worldwide kids and all
kids need you, President Clinton. Please help us!" It was her
brother Clinton who founded the group before dying of cancer at
the age of 11. Karina also asked that the President take the KSE
promise, as Vice President Gore has. The group plans a campaign
to mobilize children in 3,500 elementary schools that have KSE
clubs.
"They are throwing away part of our natural legacy and doing it as
part of a mammoth bill so that the wildlife refuge is not debated
on the floor of the House or Senate," said Roush. "For what, at
best, would be a 90-day supply of oil, our children and
grandchildren are being deprived of the chance to experience this
extraordinary part of the planet. We're lucky today's
congressional leaders were not in power 120 years ago when
creation of Yellowstone National Park was debated."
The president's authority to proclaim an area a national
monument derives from the Antiquities Act of 1906. Franklin
Roosevelt invoked it in 1943 to protect Jackson Hole and add it
to Grand Teton National Park, while Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy
Carter used it to protect Alaskan lands that were in jeopardy.