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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

Pres. Clinton Urged to Declare Arctic Refuge a National Monument

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

September 20, 1995

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

further information on EcoNet membership, a nonprofit online

system, send any message to <econet-info@igc.apc.org>.

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.

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