Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation responds to announcement of second lease sale of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Earlier this week the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) published the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program and announced that the second oil and gas lease sale of the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will proceed on January 9, 2025.

The ROD was the final step of the environmental review process that the Biden Administration ordered the BLM redo after concluding that the initial environmental review process under the Trump Administration was legally flawed. This process needed to be concluded before the BLM could “establish and administer a competitive oil and gas program for the leasing, development, production, and transportation of oil and gas in and from the Coastal Plain” of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as mandated by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.  

Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has immense human, cultural and environmental impacts and financial risks associated with it. Recognizing these risks, dozens of financial institutions, international insurers and investors have policies which preclude them from supporting it.

Oil and gas companies have also recognized that drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is bad for business. In fact, the first lease sale of the Coastal Plain had so little interest that no major oil companies showed up and it generated less than 1% of the revenue projected by proponents to support its inclusion in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to pay for the tax cuts made. Following this, two of the three entities which secured leases chose to cancel those leases and oil and gas companies with legacy leases in the area also chose to abandon their interests in the area.

Despite this, on January 9, 400,000 acres of the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will be available for oil and gas companies to bid on at a minimum bid of $30 per acre.

For decades the Gwich’in have warned what will happen if drilling is allowed to proceed on these sacred lands and no amount of money can justify what is taking place. Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation is calling upon our partners, allies, and friends to stand with us, the entire Gwich’in Nation, and the Porcupine caribou herd to continue to share our message that drilling in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge cannot proceed and that protections must be restored.

Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation will not give up until Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit is protected for our future generations.

‍

Quotes:

“Any company willing to participate in a lease sale of the Coastal Plain must know the significant reputational, legal and financial risks they put themselves in and that their intentions to destroy these lands are against the rights of the Gwich’in Nation, the will of the American public and the recommendations of all levels of Canadians Government. Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation will continue to stand up against the destruction of our sacred lands and will not tolerate the violation of our rights.” Chief Pauline Frost, Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation

‍

Media Inquiries:

Gyde Shepherd (he/him), Communications Manager
Executive Office, Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation
‍gyde.shepherd@vgfn.ca | (613) 804-4273