Position Statement

We are artists who have worked in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for many years.

The landscape north of the continental divide of the Brooks Range is no "desolate wasteland," but quite the opposite—a beautiful and powerful place. We have worked for weeks at a time amidst this splendor: on the banks of the Hulahula, Canning, and other pristine rivers; in the shadows of the primordial Romanzof and Sadlerochit ranges; surrounded by caribou on the soft tundra of the Coastal Plain; in all seasons and in all weather.

Our work attempts to bring the fragile loveliness and overwhelming power of the Arctic Refuge to a wide audience. To some extent we have succeeded, for this work is now represented in permanent collections in all major museums in Alaska, and has been shown in exhibitions from Oslo to New York City to San Francisco. The magnificence of the Refuge may be too immense to capture in painted and photographic images, but we continue to try.

So far, U.S. military and industrial installations remain the sole wastelands in the otherwise flourishing Refuge. Interestingly, a DEW line site abandoned by the military at Camden Bay in the early '60s (depicted in several of Scott Hansen's works) was quietly cleaned up by the Army Corps of Engineers only recently, in anticipation of pro-drilling junkets such as those led by Sen. Murkowski in March 2001.

Please peruse the images we have collected here. Visit the artists' web sites. Visit the Refuge yourself, if at all possible. In short, experience the natural beauty of the Arctic Refuge in whatever ways are open for you. Weigh the value of this land, an exquisitely preserved wilderness ecosystem, against the environmental and economic costs of recovering—by many, many low-production wells covering a vast area—only enough oil to meet America's needs for less than a year.

The Refuge is worth any legislative action necessary to permanently protect it. We urge you to work to defeat any legislation that would open the Refuge to oil drilling.

Editorial by Douglas Yates from the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, March 28, 2005

Politicians were trophy hunting with vote on ANWR

The American way of life must be defended, says President Bush. Does this include driving a 300-horsepower vehicle eight miles to buy a gallon of milk? Shall we reinforce 100-mile-long freeway commutes, in heavy traffic, one person to a car? Is letting cars idle in parking lots the Alaska dream?

The Senate vote on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge confirms the obvious: The Bush regime's responsibility for the environment and human rights has left the building. Absent leadership that knows the root of the word "conservative," many Alaskans assume that greed and manipulation fills the void.

Except for the refuge's coastal plain, the entire North Slope is already open to oil exploration. The final 5 percent is some of the most biologically significant and productive in the Arctic; that's why it's part of a wildlife refuge. To demand the final 5 percent can only be laid at the feet of greed and ignorance.

With the carrot leading the horse, the people driving this issue will make money even if no oil is found. Using state dollars to fund oil industry lobbyists is no more than rattling a stick in a swill bucket, but it pays well. (Alaska's Rep. Don Young has accepted $874,000 from oil and gas companies since 1989.)

The cliff ahead indicates more than a technology gap. While automobile efficiency legislation and most strategies to reduce oil dependence go begging, the Bush regime prefers foreign wars and domestic rape to meet growing consumption. The arrogance of power is blind.

There is no other place like the Arctic refuge. Every biologist who's seen it says it's a treasure. The vast majority of Americans understand its singularity and oppose drilling. Upward of 62 percent say it should remain intact. They agree with many Alaskans that its unique habitat and remote grandeur are worth the price of conservation.

Most Americans make the connection between fossil fuel combustion, pollution and climate change. Few scientists dispute that warming conditions are directly related to burning gasoline. Oblivious, handmaidens to big oil, the Republican leadership denies reality while trashing the planet.

Look no further than the local ice carving festival for evidence. This latitude once assured organizers and artists a sub-freezing venue. Now, with each passing year, spring arrives earlier, leaving ice sculpture melting in March thaws. The exhibition is sponsored by major oil companies, a notorious irony.

Experts differ widely on how much oil might exist below the refuge. Based on current average estimates and consumption rates, researchers say that if oil is found, it would fuel America for less than a year. An amount judged insignificant by national security terms.

Disinterest from major oil companies, to the point of pulling funding for Arctic Power, the state's oil lobbying campaign, further downgrades the area's potential.

According to Republican insiders, refuge drilling is more about political trophy hunting than barrels in the pipe. House Majority Leader Tom Delay is reported to have said it's "about precedent" and sacrificing a "symbol." Inside opinion holds that once the symbol is toppled, public attitudes will shift, making it easier to exploit coastal Florida and California.

Fogged by rumors of more war and record oil prices, what passes for leadership in Congress ignores the people who depend on the land. Gwich'in villages on each side of the border have much to lose. Their culture and food source are tied to the annual caribou migration. In early June, at its northern limit on the refuge's coastal plain, upward of 40,000 caribou are born.

The moral dimensions of drilling have brought over 1,000 mainline religious leaders to the side of the Gwich'in. Along with Canada's government, the faith community elevates human rights into the debate. Unfortunately, that too may be denied. With less-than-legal budget tactics, the Republican leadership hopes to overcome with brute force what reason and compassion denied it for 24 years.

The American way of life will be redrawn by our response to increasing pollution and climate change. While most Republicans shrug responsibility to the future, we must not. Preserving the integrity of the Arctic refuge sets an ideal that aspires Americans to think beyond themselves. The clearest advice for holding a commons in trust comes from Aldo Leopold: "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, the stability, and the beauty of the biotic community. A thing is wrong when it tends otherwise."

Douglas Yates is a writer and photographer living in Ester. He is a member of Artists of the Arctic Refuge (www.arcticrefugeart.org/).