For Immediate Release – November 18, 2025
Fairbanks, AK – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to utilize the Congressional Review Act to overturn the Biden-era Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil and gas leasing program. This action by Congress follows on actions by the Trump administration to lease the entire 1.5 million acres of the Arctic Refuge’s Coastal Plain to the oil and gas industry. This is the most destructive leasing program possible, which will allow for the leasing and development of the calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou herd.
This leasing program that the Trump administration is seeking to implement blatantly ignores the impacts that leasing and drilling would have in the Arctic Refuge, and to our Gwichi’in communities. The Gwich’in people oppose this effort and see this as a deliberate attempt to undercut the standards and laws that are designed to protect this sacred landscape and the healthy environment that all Americans depend on.
“The Gwich’in Nation continues to be frustrated by Congressional decision-makers who are pushing to exploit the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge for oil and gas drilling,” said Kristen Moreland, executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee. “This action from DC is an insult to the Gwich’in and ignores the realities that we face as Indigenous people who rely on the caribou for our food, culture, and spiritual connection to the land.”
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For Media Inquiries:
Genae Lako, 303-918-6290
Kristen Moreland, Executive Director, 907-328-9634