Preserve in reserve

Porcupine caribou herd females and calves along Jago River in coastal plain area proposed for oil drilling, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Photos by Pam Miller, Arctic Connections.

After many years, it was a sweet victory earlier this month when the Gwich'in Steering Committee saw Congress agree not to drill for oil in lands many Native people in Alaska consider sacred and ancestral.

But, committee organizer Luci Beach says the victory may be short-lived. Beach is headed back to Washington this month to continue to push for more permanent protections of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other lands.

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