The Arctic Refuge is one of the U.S.’s last wild places, and the coastal plain is its biological heart.

Representatives for the Gwich’in people have traveled repeatedly to Washington, D.C., to make their case directly to lawmakers. They have advocated for Arctic Refuge protections to the banks and investors that could potentially fund coastal plain development. And they have gone to the headquarters of companies primed to begin the process of seismic exploration to deliver their message in person.

The Trump administration sees none of this. It is rushing forward to force oil drilling on the Arctic Refuge’s coastal plain, willfully undercutting our nation’s bedrock environmental laws and disregarding science and the best practices for protecting the land, wildlife and the human rights of the Gwich’in people.

Fortunately, the fight is far from over.