Biden and Trudeau must act on commitment to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

In February 2021, my small fly-in-only community of Old Crow, Yukon, more than 100 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, breathed a sigh of relief. At that time, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and United States President Joe Biden announced the Roadmap for a Renewed U.S.-Canada Partnership following their first bilateral meeting. Within the Roadmap, the American president and the Canadian prime minister finally acknowledged the importance of the calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and committed to working together to help safeguard these lands. But further action is urgently needed to cancel the remaining drilling permits, and to pass legislation to permanently protect the Arctic Refuge. The Gwich’in are a caribou people. Vadzaih (caribou) provide nourishment for the culture and body of our people. Our communities—home to more than 9,000 people—span the extent of the migratory route of the Porcupine caribou herd in what is now known as Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Alaska. Each spring, the Porcupine caribou migrate through the homeland of my people, the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, past our small community and across the river after which the herd was named, to their calving grounds in Alaska, the place we call Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit (The Sacred Place Where Life Begins). Each fall, the herd returns to our homeland, fattened and healthy. As I write this, pregnant caribou are preparing for this journey so that they can nurture the future of the last large, healthy, migratory caribou herd on the planet, and in doing so, nurture the future of my people. Pauline Frost is Chief of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation in Old Crow, Yukon. Photograph courtesy of Pauline Frost The Gwich’in Nation has been leading efforts to protect the Arctic Refuge from oil drilling for decades. While we have been stewards of the land for millennia, it was in 1988 that our Elders called for the Gwich’in of Alaska and Canada to gather for the first time in more than a century. Pressure from certain members of U.S. Congress and lobbying efforts for oil and gas development in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge represented a profound threat to our people and our way of life. In 2017, drilling in the Arctic Refuge became legal through passage of then-president Donald Trump’s tax bill. This, and everything that followed up to the final days of the Trump administration, left us the closest we have come to the destruction of these sacred lands and the decimation of the caribou. After decades of advocacy by the Gwich’in Nation to share our way of life and to share the consequences of oil drilling in this sensitive arctic ecosystem—including the inevitable impacts to the food security, health, culture, and way of life of our Nation—our voices were heard. The commitment Biden and Trudeau made in the Roadmap to safeguard the calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd acknowledged our concerns and, in doing so, honoured our way of life, our Elders, and our future generations. Today, we are fortunate that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge remains free from oil rigs. The prime minister and president’s commitment has helped in maintaining the health of these sacred lands. But everything that has happened since February 2021 has only offered short-term protection. Further action is needed to follow through on the commitment made to truly safeguard these lands. The remaining suspended oil and gas leases, which cover more than 350,000 acres of the Arctic Refuge, must be cancelled. And legislation must be passed by U.S. Congress to restore protections to the Arctic Refuge so that a second lease sale does not occur. Biden’s visit to Ottawa last week was a reminder of the vital, collaborative role Canada and the United States must continue to play in protecting the Porcupine caribou herd and the Gwich’in way of life. While our Nation is small, we are vocal and we are proud. We will continue to hold the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States accountable for the commitments they have made and the actions they must take. The protection of vadzaih is critical to the physical, cultural, and spiritual survival of our people—we have no other choice but to protect it at all costs. Pauline Frost is Chief of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation (People of the Lakes) in Old Crow, Yukon, part of the Gwich’in Nation whose traditional territory spans the extent the migratory route of the Porcupine caribou herd in what is now known as the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Alaska. The Hill Times

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Biden and Trudeau must act on commitment to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

The remaining suspended oil and gas leases, which cover more than 350,000 acres of the Arctic Refuge, must be cancelled.

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