Whitehorse, Yukon—CPAWS Yukon is deeply disappointed—and angered—by the U.S. government’s assertion that it will open the entirety of the coastal plains of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas leasing and development. As an environmental organization, Canadians, and long-time allies with the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, we at CPAWS Yukon stand with the Gwich’in people in strong opposition to this decision, which was announced last week by U.S. Secretary of the Interior and long-time oil-and-gas advocate Doug Burgum.  

This announcement is a slap in the face to the inherent rights and sovereignty of the Gwich’in, for whom the Arctic Refuge and the Porcupine caribou calving grounds it contains are sacred. For decades, they have proudly, tirelessly, and honourably led the fight to protect the lands, waters, and animals of the Arctic Refuge against the indisputable destruction oil and gas development would bring to this irreplaceable, ecologically abundant landscape. The decision insults the will of the American people, violates both the domestic treaty right of the Gwich’in and the broader human rights of Indigenous people laid out in Article 25 of UNDRIP, and disregards America’s accepted duties to the Canada-US Porcupine Caribou Agreement, further disrespecting the sovereignty and independence of Canada as a nation and longstanding trading partner.  

We find the U.S. decision to unilaterally decree the Arctic Refuge open to oil and gas leasing at a time of collapsing international esteem, free-falling markets, and accelerating climate crisis—and to do so the heels of the embarrassing failures of two previous lease sales—to be a complete and total departure from economic, political, and environmental common sense.  

Nevertheless, CPAWS Yukon remains committed to standing beside the Gwich’in in the fierce and unwavering defense of the Arctic Refuge and the sacred calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou. The only acceptable oil and gas extraction on the coastal plain is none, and we won’t stop fighting until the Refuge is protected. Now and forever.  

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Contact  
Laurence Fox, Campaigns Coordinator, CPAWS Yukon 
lfox@CPAWSYukon.org| 867-393-8080 x 3