What happens in America's Arctic impacts everyone on Earth
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America's Arctic is 42+ million acres of public land and natural heritage in the far north of Alaska. It is America at its wildest and most pristine, home to polar bears, caribou, and migrating birds from all 50 US states and 6 continents. It is home to Indigenous cultures that have subsisted off these lands for the past 20,000 years. And it plays a vital role in our global climate and ecological biodiversity.
Protect The Arctic (PTA) is a global multimedia and impact storytelling campaign working to amplify and protect America’s Arctic. Conservation of polar regions is essential to global climate and biodiversity - impacting everything from the weather outside your door, to the food you have for dinner.
We leverage world-class media - including a comprehensive cinematic library - to elevate the American Arctic alongside a coalition of environmental advocates, Indigenous partners, brands, and influencers to connect people like YOU to information and opportunities for action.
And we get work done! In January 2021, PTA and partners mounted a record-breaking response to stop oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), submitting 6.5 million public comments to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and US Fish and Wildlife Service.
And in March 2023, you helped us rally 6.3 million comments asking the government to block the Willow Oil Project in the Western Arctic (NPR-A). We will continue to work to elevate America’s Arctic and connect audiences to timely actions to help safeguard one of our most spectacular and important natural places.
THE THREAT
There are currently aggressive efforts to open the ecologically sensitive and climate critical lands of America's Arctic to extractive fossil fuel development.
The climate crisis is already costing American taxpayers $150 billion annually, but the current Administration is pushing to deregulate oil and gas development and fast track infrastructure across the carbon-storing tundra. Exploiting Arctic public lands threatens wildlife, Indigenous cultures, and the stability of our global climate.
Wildlife
In the far north of Alaska, America's Arctic is a global hotspot for iconic wildlife, epic migrations, and vast areas of pristine public lands.
The American Arctic is intricately connected to global biodiversity and home to the most iconic American wildlife. Whales migrate through arctic waters, caribou navigate thousands of miles, and predators like polar bears, wolves, and grizzlies roam the tundra and mountain passes. Ancient muskoxen brave months of winter, and salmon follow the paths of their ancestors through labyrinths of rivers and streams.
Indigenous Peoples
The American Arctic has been home to Indigenous peoples for more than 20,000 years. Today, their descendants still live off the land, subsisting on traditional foods like caribou, salmon, whale, and seal.
The Gwich’in and Iñupiat peoples have lived throughout the north slope of what is now Alaska for countless generations. Their traditional practices and native cultures are intricately tied to the future of the land and wildlife. They protect and celebrate the land, wildlife, and history of this landscape. When America's Arctic thrives, so do the people who call it home.
Environmental Importance
America's Arctic plays a vital role in planetary systems impacting us all - from ocean currents to weather patterns, the Arctic is crucial for the planet's stability.
Arctic biomes are some of the most fragile on Earth and are already warming four times faster than the rest of the planet. But the region's environmental importance extends far beyond northern Alaska. Protecting our northernmost public lands is vital to our economy, national security, and long-term stability.
History
Protecting America's Arctic has been a bipartisan effort for decades. In the last 60+ years, both Democratic and Republican presidents have taken steps to protect its wildlife, wilderness, and history.
Despite efforts by President Trump to fast-track oil and gas development on Arctic public lands, the American public has long supported preservation of the Arctic Refuge (ANWR) and Western Arctic Reserve (NPR-A). Indigenous leaders, nonprofit organizations, and numerous authors, artists, educators, and scientists make up a rich coalition with decades of experience working to protect the Arctic.
our last great
wilderness
