WASHINGTON — “Birds can’t vote they usually can’t file a lawsuit—however we are able to. That is an all-hands-on-deck second to defend the Arctic Nationwide Wildlife Refuge and defend America’s hen nursery from drilling,” mentioned David Yarnold (@david_yarnold), president and CEO of the Nationwide Audubon Society, after the Division of the Inside took the ultimate administrative step to open the Arctic Nationwide Wildlife Refuge to drilling.
Earlier this month Audubon received a federal court docket victory defending the Migratory Hen Treaty Act after a federal court docket invalidated the Division of the Inside’s new interpretation of the regulation that allowed corporations a free cross to kill birds. This regulation can also be key for safeguarding birds within the Refuge and all through the nation.
“On the darkest days I like to consider the perseverance of the Tundra Swan that journey in household teams from the Arctic Nationwide Wildlife Refuge over three thousand miles to spend their winter with us on the Potomac and the Chesapeake. They by no means hand over and neither can we. If we don’t look out for them and the 200 different hen species that depend upon the Refuge, who will?” Yarnold added.
Nationwide Audubon Society v. Bernhardt was filed in america District Court docket for the District of Alaska. The lawsuit argues that the Division of the Inside did not adjust to the Nationwide Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act, the Nationwide Environmental Coverage Act, the Alaska Nationwide Curiosity Lands Conservation Act, the Wilderness Act, and the Endangered Species Act, in addition to the Tax Act of 2017.
“The Division of Inside blocked scientific evaluate, dismantled its personal company processes, and ignored the considerations of Indigenous Peoples from throughout the Arctic to pander to politicians who’ve shut ties to North Slope oil corporations,” mentioned Natalie Dawson, govt director and vice chairman of Audubon Alaska. “Alaskans won’t be duped into considering oil and gasoline from the Arctic Refuge is a path to prosperity. We want political motion to deal with local weather change in our most susceptible communities, and funding in sustainable and regenerative economies like Indigenous-led cultural tourism within the Arctic, not a legacy of leaking effectively heads rotting out our permafrost and poisoning our world’s cleanest waters.”
“Drilling within the Arctic is a political victory with a value that’s too excessive to pay,” mentioned Nada Culver, vice chairman for public lands and senior coverage counsel. “Public lands are essential for the survival of so many species and are central to so many individuals’s lives, but this administration has dismissed their worth past potential income from fossil fuels improvement. As we’ve carried out for many years, Audubon will proceed to defend public lands in Alaska and throughout the nation for everybody who enjoys and depends on them, feathered or not.”
The Gwich’in Steering Committee, a voice for indigenous conventional looking communities, additionally filed go well with to problem the oil and gasoline improvement plan. Gwich’in individuals revere the Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain as a sacred place as a result of it serves as calving grounds for the Porcupine Caribou Herd, animals which can be important for meals and cultural custom in Gwich’in villages.
Greater than 200 species of birds, together with the Lengthy-tailed Duck, Snowy Owl and Northern Pintail, depend upon the Arctic Refuge. Many migrate by means of six continents and all 50 states to breed within the Refuge. The Refuge is an iconic American treasure on par with the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Yosemite. First protected by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, leaders from each events have labored collectively for generations to cease makes an attempt to open the organic coronary heart of the Refuge—its pristine coastal plain—to grease and gasoline drilling.
The Nationwide Audubon Society protects birds and the locations they want —in the present day and tomorrow —all through the Americas utilizing science, advocacy, training and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon’s state applications, nature facilities, chapters and companions have an unparalleled wingspan that reaches hundreds of thousands of individuals annually to tell, encourage and unite numerous communities in conservation motion. Since 1905, Audubon’s imaginative and prescient has been a world through which individuals and wildlife thrive. Audubon is a nonprofit conservation group. Study extra how one can assist at www.audubon.org and comply with us on Twitter and Instagram at @audubonsociety.
Contact:
Robyn Shepherd, robyn.shepherd@audubon.org
Matt Smelser, matt.smelser@audubon.org
Lisa Hardaway lisa.hardaway@audubon.org