awl-nyt - Protect The Arctic Refuge

T
hank you, President Obama, for doing the right thing by advancing
protections for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The Arctic Refuge is wild, spectacular, and it belongs to all Americans.
And yet, its very existence remains under constant threat from outside
interests that want to plunder it for shor t-term profit.
Preserving the Arctic Refuge sustains life. It is a matter of basic
human rights for the Gwich’in people who deserve to live off
their ancestral lands as they have for time immemorial. Birds flock
here to nest from every state in the union and six continents.
Polar bears especially depend on the Refuge to den and raise their
young, as they face diminishing habitat.
Thank you, Mr. President, for placing the Arctic Refuge among
those treasured lands, like Yosemite and the Grand Canyon,
worthy of protection for all Americans.
We hope Congress – after all these years – will heed your call.
John Luther Adams, composer
Cecil D. Andrus, former governor of Idaho, former Secretary of the Interior
Darren Aronofsky, filmmaker
Subhankar Banerjee, photographer and writer
Rick Bass, writer
Frances Beinecke, former president, Natural Resources Defense Council
Douglas Brinkley, author and professor of history, Rice University
Kenneth Brower, writer
Michael Brune, executive director, Sierra Club
Tom Campion, trustee, Campion Foundation
Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO, Defenders of Wildlife
Vicki Clark, executive director, Trustees for Alaska
Elisabeth B. Dabney, executive director, Northern Alaska Environmental Center
Kit DesLauriers, professional athlete and ski mountaineer
George Dyson, writer
Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, former member of Congress, Maryland
Tom B.K. Goldtooth, executive director, Indigenous Environmental Network
Dr. James Hansen, director, Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions Program,
Columbia University
Paul W. Hansen, executive director, The Murie Center
Carol Hoover, executive director, Eyak Preservation Council
David Houghton, president, National Wildlife Refuge Association
Lisa Jaguzny, CEO, Campion Advocacy Fund
Fred John, Jr., retired, US Navy
JohnPaul Jones, architect
Jared Leto
Alex Levinson, executive director, Pacific Environment
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, former U.S. Senator, Connecticut
Princess Lucaj, actor and speaker
Rue Mapp, founder, Outdoor Afro
Trip Van Noppen, president, Earthjustice
Collin O’Mara, president and CEO, The National Wildlife Federation
David C. Raskin, Ph.D., president, Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges
Robert Redford, actor and director
George Schaller, biologist and conservationist
The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop and primate,
The Episcopal Church
Florian Schulz, wildlife photographer
Cindy Shogan, executive director, Alaska Wilderness League
Ian Somerhalder, president and co-founder, Ian Somerhalder Foundation
Darby Stanchfield, actress and conservationist
Will Steger, Arctic adventurer and founder, Will Steger Foundation
John Sterling, executive director, The Conservation Alliance
Kieran Suckling, executive director, Center for Biological Diversity
Rhea Suh, president, Natural Resources Defense Council
Peter Van Tuyn, conservationist and environmental attorney
Kay Wallis, executive director, Gwich’in Steering Committee
Jim Whittaker, former president and CEO, REI; first American to climb
Mt. Everest
Jamie Williams, president, The Wilderness Society
Terry Tempest Williams, writer
David Yarnold, president and CEO, National Audubon Society