ACTION ALERT!
NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR THE ARCTIC REFUGE
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2000
Colleagues,
If we ever gave out awards for the most beautiful and yet most
constantly threatened wild place in America, the 1.5 million acre
coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska would
easily be among the top five. We have been fighting off threats to it
for over thirty years, and we are asking your help now in an effort to
make it safe forever. Read on!
What makes this area so very special is not just its magnificent
scenery, where great Arctic mountains rear up right behind the plain,
often only 10 or twenty miles from the sea. Nor is it special just
because of the incredible concentrations of wildlife--polar bears,
wolves, musk oxen, caribou, millions of migratory birds that gather on
the plain every summer, all to feed and rear their young.
What makes the coastal plain here so unique is the juxtaposition of
both wildlife and incredible scenery into one magnificent whole, the
likes of which simply cannot be experienced anywhere else in North
America. If there is anything in North America approaching the "feel"
of the great Serengeti plain in Africa, it is right here, in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge.
The problem is that the oil industry thinks there is oil underneath the
coastal plain, and they have been pressing hard, through their
congressional allies, to open it up to them. They are after it, even
though the best estimates are that any oil there--if indeed there is
any at all--would amount to no more than about six months of American
oil consumption annually. Requiring a 2-3 mile per gallon increase in
fuel efficiency on our SUVs would save more oil than the Refuge might
ever produce.
But they keep trying, and so far it has been the Clinton Administration
which has stood steadfast against all attempts of pro-oil Senators to
attach riders to open up the famous coastal plain. If they ever
succeeded, we can all kiss goodbye to this unique wilderness, because
it would be replaced with a giant raucous mess of pipelines, drill
pads, haul roads, searchlights, and noisy compressors.
That's why we're asking you to join with your friends and take part in
tomorrow's NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR THE ARCTIC REFUGE.
Brock Evans
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From the Endangered Species Coalition powered by GREEN,
The GrassRoots Environmental Effectiveness Network.
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NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR THE ARCTIC REFUGE
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2000
Call the White House and urge President Clinton to designate the
coastal plain of the ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE a NATIONAL
MONUMENT
Call Toll Free: 1-888-750-4897.
Join the movement of Arctic activists throughout the country and make
some noise for the Arctic Refuge!
* DO IT to permanently protect America's Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge
* DO IT because the coastal plain is the last 5% of Alaska's Arctic
Slope that is off limits to oil drilling
* DO IT to protect one of the last subsistence cultures on earth - the
Gwich'in - who would be severely impacted by drilling
* DO IT because the coastal plain is the biological heart of the Arctic
Refuge, home to polar bears, musk ox, wolves, caribou and millions of
migratory birds DO IT because there are 500 oil spills a year in
Prudhoe Bay and we know drilling can cause tremendous damage
* DO IT for the benefit of future generations - the Arctic Refuge is
our last great wilderness.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1. Activate your group's EMAIL ACTION list: SEND A LETTER TO THE
PRESIDENT FROM
www.saveourcaribou.org 2. Inundate the White House with PHONE CALLS: Get cell phones donated
from a local company, or set up a table near pay phones and draw
attention with signs, costumes and music.
Use the TOLL FREE number: 1-888-750-4897.
For more Day of Action Ideas, more information and additional
materials, contact Parisa with the Alaska Wilderness League at 1-800-
322-5205 or
Parisa@alaskawild.org For more information and to take a "virtual tour" of the Arctic Refuge
check out our website:
www.alaskawild.org BACKGROUND: The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is home to a vast array of
wildlife including polar bears and the 129,000-member Porcupine caribou
herd. The refuge is under constant threat from oil companies, but a
National Monument designation would permanently protect the biological
heart of the region, the 1.5 million-acre coastal plain of the refuge.
The Arctic Refuge serves as the staging area for hundreds of thousands of
migratory birds, and important denning habitat for polar bears. The refuge
also plays an integral part in the lives of the Gwich'in people who depend
on the caribou who migrate to and from the refuge for both their survival
and cultural identity.