The Trump administration dealt a blow to the National Wildlife Refuge System by removing protections from the Arctic and Izembek National Wildlife Refuges.
During what Defenders of Wildlife dubbed “Selling Out Alaska Day,” Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum opened the entirety of the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge to oil and gas leasing, threatening the most important onshore polar bear denning site in the country. Burgum also announced that the Department of the Interior has moved forward with a land exchange within Izembek to facilitate road construction between King Cove and Cold Bay – a move that illegally transferred land out of the Refuge and Izembek Wilderness Area.
“The administration is not content to bulldoze the White House; no, it must defile America’s most cherished landscapes by bulldozing a road through the heart of one of Alaska’s untouched refuges,” said Nicole Whittington-Evans, Defenders of Wildlife senior director of Alaska and Pacific Northwest programs. “We cannot stand by and idly watch as two of our largest national wildlife refuges are sold out to private interests that threaten to degrade treasured biodiversity hotspots and imperiled wildlife habitat.”
For nearly 80 years, Defenders of Wildlife has worked to protect and restore America’s wildlife at risk of extinction, advancing a vision of a future in which wildlife thrives, sustained by broad public support and a resilient network of healthy lands and waters. With a network of more than 2 million supporters, Defenders is an advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard wildlife for generations to come. To learn more, please visit https://defenders.org/newsroom or follow us on Instagram @defendersofwildlife.
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