As we look ahead to continue our efforts to build community towards a shared healthy, vibrant environment and worldview– we gain strength from our relationships, victories, and the knowledge that every voice makes a difference. Powerful images and stories combined with purpose and strategy remain the foundation for our work ahead.
A Momentary Win– Zero Bids During Lease Sale in the Arctic Refuge
In the final days of the Biden Administration, a second sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge legally mandated by the 2017 Tax Act, was concluded. On the January 6 deadline, no bids had been received, not even from the state of Alaska! This comes after the economic failure of the first lease sale in January 2021, which generated 0.54% of the revenues promised by Congress to support the Trump era tax giveaways that largely benefitted the most wealthy in our nation. The lack of interest in developing the Arctic Refuge from oil companies proves what we already knew, there are some places too special, sacred, and remote to put at risk with oil and gas drilling.
Though this was a win for the breathtaking and vast landscapes of the Refuge, we will remain vigilant because…
That was then, this is now
On day one of his second term, President Trump issued a broad mandate for increasing drilling in Alaska’s fragile Arctic landscapes. While his order seeks to exploit and industrialize lands across Alaska and America's Arctic, his executive order also calls for the Secretary of the Interior to take action to rescind protective rules and plans that were put in place to ensure that the people and animals of the Arctic thrive.
This is our new reality
The order directs the Secretary to reinstate previous Trump decisions – including increased leasing on the Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain. Will his mandate to “drill, baby, drill” in the Arctic Refuge find an audience when major oil companies and financial backers recognize that drilling in this region doesn’t make financial sense and is not worth the risk? No major company showed up to Trump’s first lease sale for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in January of 2021, and as noted above, no entities had the appetite to bid in the most recent congressionally mandated sale held under President Biden.
We will continue to work alongside our allies to protect the irreplaceable Arctic life and lands of Alaska against industrial-scale development. The protections that the Trump Administration is trying to undo are ones we have supported and advocated for decades to achieve. Many of the Trump tactics have been deemed unlawful and have already been challenged in court. We will continue to fight and do what Braided River does best: tell compelling and truthful stories through amazing images of life and land. We will provide ways we can have our voices heard, and make a consequential difference on how our shared public lands are stewarded.
This landscape is not the “blank white nothingness” politicians want you to believe.The beauty of this abundant life and land is astonishing and precious: this is the true story we can tell.
Our Tribute to President Carter
In 1990 President Jimmy Carter became the first president to visit the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, along with his wife Rosalynn. They joined Braided River author/adventurer/environmentalist Debbie Miller and her young daughters and her sister at their wilderness camp along the Okpilak River. President Carter wanted to meet the woman who wroteMidnight Wilderness: Journeys in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He wanted to be on the lands he worked so fiercely to protect.
As the month closes with appreciation and admiration for the many accomplishments of the late president, we’d like to add our own memories and accolades, as he is part of our “origin story.”
Our first book that paved the way for what was to become “Braided River” was with photographer Subhankar Banerjee: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land. As with subsequent books, it included a chorus of influential voices across disciplines and expertise– including an essay by President Carter. We are honored he agreed to work on this effort with us– also contributing to subsequent books including Arctic Wings: Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and We Are the Arctic. When the president met with Subhankar at an event the president hosted at the Carter Center, he told the audience that Subhankar was his hero– much to Subhankar’s embarrassment (“How can I be his hero? He is the hero!”)
An excerpt from the book:
“It will be a grand triumph for America if we can preserve the Arctic Refuge in its pure, untrammeled state. To leave this extraordinary land alone would be the greatest gift we could pass on to future generations. – President Jimmy Carter
A blog post with more of the story can be found here. Short tribute video here.
Southern Resident Orca Tahlequah: Grief and a Push for Action
Tahlequah, a southern resident orca also known as J35, first became public in 2018 for carrying her dead infant calf across 1,000 miles in the Salish Sea. On Christmas eve, Tahlequah welcomed a new calf into the world, only to have the calf die on New Year’s eve. We witnessed Tahlequah perform the same soul-wrenching ritual. Tahlequah’s story has evoked a strong sense of communal loss because of her profound showcasing of grief and strength, along with her calf being female in the face of the possible population extinction of her pod, now down to 73 members. In her most recent Seattle Times article, Lynda V. Mapes says, “Every time the calf slides off her head, Tahlequah has to make the decision to dive down and pick it up again before the waves carry the calf away.” And still, Deborah Giles with Wild Orca worries more about her mental than physical health.
As southern resident extinction becomes more pressing with climate change, we must harness our collective grief to push for action. Stay tuned for an upcoming event with conservation partners, artists, local scientists, and Indigenous peoples for just that. In the meantime, check out our Braided River title in collaboration with the Seattle Times and environmental reporter Lynda V. Mapes, Orca: Shared Waters, Shared Home. Follow her up-to-date reporting on Tahlequah in the Seattle Times.
Photo Credits
Top Photo: Florian Schulz, from the Protect the Arctic campaign
Second Photo: Debbie Miller