In Alaska’s vast system of federally protected lands, polar bears, caribou and hundreds of migratory birds can find refuge from oil and gas and other development that has fueled former President Jimmy Carter’s lifelong commitment to environmental stewardship. Thanks to
Perhaps it was his childhood days hunting and fishing in rural Georgia, or the learned respect for the land that comes with being a farmer, but to his last days Carter was especially connected to the environment in Alaska. Defenders of Wildlife celebrates the life of President Carter, who never stopped fighting for the environment.
During his presidency, Carter recognized Alaska’s wilderness and wildlife resources, and understood that increased development could threaten these resources. In the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) of 1980, it protected more than 100 million acres (about the size of California) and protected hunting and fishing rights for rural Alaskans. A law to protect the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). . Anelka established thirteen national parks and sixteen national wildlife refuges, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Anelka spans more than 56 million acres of wilderness, 26 wild and natural streams, two BLM conservation areas, and two Alaska national forests. The lands covered by ANELCA represent more than 60% of our nation’s national parks, more than 50% of our nation’s congressionally designated wilderness, and more than 80% of our global national wildlife refuges.
President Carter called Anelka the most important achievement of his political career and “the most extraordinary piece of conservation legislation enacted by our great nation or by any nation.” And it is true. Entire ecosystems were protected under the act, and Alaskan wildlife and conservationists around the world owe Carter his dedication and foresight when protecting these wild lands.
Without these protections, logging, oil and mineral extraction and other development would have scarred and degraded many of these lands for future generations. Now, conservationists are fighting to protect Alaska’s unique landscapes from Trump-era threats that favor special interests over wildlife and other important natural resource values. Although protections are slowly being restored, such as a formal process to designate special areas in the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve and millions of Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Section D-1 acres to maintain protections, wildlife Pressure continues against defenders of extraction activities in Alaska. For example, we are working to restore protections in the Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain, and to keep oil and gas development away from its critical polar bear habitat. We also stand with Gauchin who are working to protect the porcupine caribou herd’s calving grounds in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge. On a small refuge in Southwestern Alaska, we are working with tribes to keep the road off a designated wilderness area of the Ezembuk National Wildlife Refuge, which contains one of the world’s most important wetlands. It is important to support the air population.
It is fitting to give President Carter the last word in honoring him for his achievements:
“Let us celebrate … the rivers and lakes harbor salmon, the gameways of caribou and grizzlies in the Brooks Range, the marshes, where our waterfowl summer – all these are safe now, now and, I pray all the time, come ”
