The 23 million-acre Reserve is home to incredible array of migratory waterfowl, grizzly and polar bears, caribou, wolves, and wolverine as well as beluga and bowhead whales, walrus, and several species of seals.

Please share this exciting news and thank Secretary Salazar for protecting critical wildlife habitat in the western Arctic by sharing this image on Facebook.

1. 

   The "Border Bill" threatens to ignore environmental laws which protect important wildlife species like brown bears. (Photo: Steve Hillebrand for USFWS Headquarters/Flickr)

   Representative Bishop’s (R-UT) Border Bill (H.R. 2578) creates a 100-mile zone along U.S. Canadian and Mexican borders which will allow U.S. Border Patrol to regulate land while ignoring 16 essential conservation and environmental laws. If you live along the 100-mile buffer zone, call your local representative’s office and let them know what hiking, fishing, and hunting you could be missing out on  should the bill pass.
2. The House will also be looking at the Strategic Energy Production Act (H.R. 4480), a package of strategic drilling bills that jeopardizes access to public lands while undermining leasing reforms intended to safeguard air, water, fish, and wildlife in these drillable areas. The underlying message is drill, drill, drill, anyplace, anywhere, anytime. Additionally, the bill will expedite drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska without considering important wildlife areas for caribou and migratory birds.
3. On the Senate side, Senator Inhofe’s  (R-OK)  Congressional Review Act Resolution (S.J.Res. 37) would undo the EPA’s Mercury & Air Toxics Standards for power plants and would block the agency from reissuing similar safeguards. These standards and safeguards are designed with the public in mind for they protect the public from power plants’ mercury and toxic air pollution. (In case you missed it, here’s Sen. Inhofe’s attempt to misrepresent NWF’s statements on the rule, now that’s a headline that should be bogus)
4. 

   Farm Bill amendments are threatening the Clean Water Act's ability to protect America's important waterways. Alger County, Michigan (Photo: James Marvin Phelps/Flickr)

   The drama surrounding the Farm Bill continues in the Senate. Currently, the bill is bogged down with over 300 amendments, many of which wreak havoc on the environment. Attacks are most evident on the Clean Water Act.  Amendments (S.A 2165 and S.A. 2177) by Senator Barrasso (R-WY) and Senator Paul (R-KY) prohibit the Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA from finalizing and implementing pending Clean Water Act guidance. The Rubio Amendment (S.A. 2261) by Senator Rubio (R-FL) would block EPA’s ability to hold the state of Florida to Clean Water Act numeric nutrient standards. Far from benefiting the American public, these amendments would further damage an already precious resource.

What can you do to oppose this week’s heavy-handed attacks on our environment? Look up your Senators and Representative’s numbers or e-mails. Urge a NO vote on all of these anti-environmental legislation (bills and amendments are listed here for reference). And remember, your voice counts! I’m off to give the offices of Senator’s Stabenow and Levin and Representative McCotter a call—you should get cracking too.

Last week, a group of five dedicated folks from all across the country made the trek to Washington, DC to answer just those questions. They were making the case to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that what happens in the Arctic affects wildlife across the country.

Watch this short video to hear their powerful stories:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Encompassing 23.5 million acres, the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska is the largest single unit of public land in the nation and provides habitat for caribou, grizzlies, polar bears, wolves, and millions of migratory birds–including tens of thousands of ducks and geese highly valued by sportsmen throughout the nation.

For the first time ever, BLM is considering a new management plan for the Reserve to determine which of these lands and waters will be developed for oil and gas leasing, and which will be protected. This planning process provides a unique opportunity to ensure that future development in the Reserve is properly balanced with conservation of the area’s exceptional wildlife habitat, particularly the four Special Areas with outstanding wildlife values in the Reserve.

A big thanks to Ray McCormick of the Indiana Wildlife Federation, James Tyson of the Colorado Wildlife Federation, Debra Lee of the Conservation Federation of Missouri, Joe Wilkinson of the Iowa Wildlife Federation and Joel Gay of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation for helping show the Bureau of Land Management that there is widespread public support for a balanced and responsible decision in the Reserve.

The BLM has just announced they are extending the public comment period deadline to June 15! If you haven’t spoken up yet, you still have a chance to join tens of thousands of wildlife advocates across the country that have already taken action.

Help protect Alaska’s caribou by urging the BLM to protect crucial habitat in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.