BREAKING: New Research Details Threats to Mammals Found in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, courtesy of USFWS

Increased protection for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is critical to the survival of some of the refuge’s most charismatic wildlife, according to new research released today by Defenders of Wildlife. According to the report, 16 of the refuge’s 38 mammals are extremely or highly vulnerable to climate change – including the polar bear, Arctic fox, lynx and caribou – and could face serious risks as the Arctic landscape continues to transform.

The report comes just as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) releases its draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Among the management alternatives being considered in the plan is a wilderness recommendation for the refuge’s coastal plain. A wilderness recommendation by FWS would be a meaningful step toward ultimately securing a formal wilderness designation, which can only be made by Congress. The enhanced protection afforded by such a designation, including a prohibition on oil and gas development and other industrial activities that would disturb the area’s wilderness character, are critical to avoiding even greater peril to the survival of species on the refuge due to  climate change.

“Recommending the area as wilderness, and protecting its wildlife and natural habitats from dirty fossil fuel development, provides an opportunity to strengthen the refuge and buy valuable time to sustain its threatened wildlife.”

Jamie Rappaport Clark, executive vice president of Defenders of Wildlife, said, “With the vast array of wildlife it supports, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of the crown jewels of America’s landscape. But it is also one of the places where the climate is changing at a faster pace than anywhere else on the continent. For many of the refuge’s highly specialized mammals, shifting conditions could make survival extremely difficult if not impossible.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service faces the daunting task of preserving the ecological values of this refuge under siege. And that’s before the complications and damage posed by dangerous oil and gas drilling have even come into play. Recommending the area as wilderness, and protecting its wildlife and natural habitats from dirty fossil fuel development, provides an opportunity to strengthen the refuge and buy valuable time to sustain its threatened wildlife. The administration should put the well-being of the Arctic Refuge’s vulnerable wildlife and natural resources before the interests of Big Oil and pursue a wilderness recommendation.”

Defenders’ climate science team used the Climate Change Vulnerability Index, an analytical tool developed by NatureServe, to assess the ways mammals in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will be impacted by a warming world. In addition to their findings, the summary of the report, Climate Change and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Which Species Are At Risk?, offers recommendations on how to protect the refuge and help its wildlife adapt to the changes anticipated in the future.