Monday, September 13, 2010

Take Action to Protect America's Western Arctic from Big Oil

Big Oil has the western Arctic in its sights, but we have an opportunity right now to ensure lasting protections for the area's exceptional ecological and wilderness values.

The 23.5-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, also known as the Western Arctic Reserve, is the largest tract of unprotected, relatively pristine public land in the United States. The wilderness values of the western Arctic rank among the highest on the continent. The reserve provides important habitat for many species of fish and wildlife, including threatened polar bears, brown bears, caribou, wolverines, beluga whales, walrus, spotted seals, waterfowl, seabirds, shorebirds and one of the densest populations of nesting raptors in the world.

Big Oil won't hesitate to turn this vast wilderness into a sprawling industrial complex if given the chance -- but we can make a difference.

The Bureau of Land Management has officially started a new planning process for the entire Western Arctic Reserve. This is a great opportunity to tell the Obama administration to protect the Arctic from dirty industrial fossil-fuel development. Please take action today.

Visit http://action.biologicaldiversity.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4777 to take action now.

Posted via email from #p

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