For Immediate Release – April 17, 2026
Fairbanks, AK – Today, the Bureau of Land Management announced the first lease sale on the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will take place on June 5, 2026. The leasing program that the Trump Administration adopted late last year opens the entire 1.56 million acres of the Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain – an area sacred to the Gwich’in and vital calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou Herd. The Gwich’in Nation has for decades opposed any development of the Arctic Refuge, and continues to stand together and oppose this action by the Trump administration.
Time and again, the Gwich’in have called attention to the fact that any drilling in the calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou herd would negatively impact our subsistence and violate our rights as Indigenous people. In other parts of Alaska, caribou health and herd numbers are already being negatively impacted by development, and a recent herd count shows a significant decline in the Porcupine Caribou Herd–making it clear that the animals are vulnerable to additional pressures in their migration route and, particularly, in their calving grounds on the Coastal Plain.
“The Gwich’in Nation remains committed to be a voice for the caribou, and to fight oil and gas development in the Arctic Refuge,” said Kristen Moreland, executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee. “We condemn these efforts by the Trump administration to exploit the calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou herd for short-term gain, and we know that the majority of Americans stand beside us in opposing development in this cherished and irreplaceable landscape. We have been raising our voices and fight for the protection of this sacred land and our way of life for decades–and we are not backing down now.”
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For Media Inquiries:
Genae Lako, 303-918-6290
Kristen Moreland, Executive Director, 907-328-9634