I recently attended a film screening and discussion in Moab about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and heard Bernadette Demientieff, Executive Director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee, speak. She said her people depend on the caribou that calve on the Coastal Plain for their cultural, spiritual and physical existence. They also suffer from effects of climate change. The Arctic Refuge is one of the largest remaining complete ecosystems in the world and belongs to all Americans. It was established to “conserve fish and wildlife populations, habitats” and for recreational purposes and to honor treaty obligations. The Trump administration wants to open the Coastal Plain for drilling. Destroying the refuge for six months of oil would destroy not only the ecosystem, but the lives of the Gwich’in people who’ve depended on the caribou for 20,000 years. This is another human rights issue.
