Help protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coastal Plain from oil and gas drilling

The Trump administration has opened a 30-day “Call for Nominations and Comments for the 2026 Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Lease Sale” period during which oil and gas companies are invited to indicate interest in bidding on public lands inside the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska—one of the wildest, most pristine places on Earth.

The 1.56 million-acre Coastal Plain is one of the wildest places on the planet. Oil and gas exploration and drilling there could destroy a globally significant wildlife refuge that is held sacred by so many, including the Indigenous Gwich’in people. The Coastal Plain is also the birthing grounds of the fabled Porcupine caribou herd and sustains iconic Arctic species such as polar bears, muskox, Dall sheep, and over 100 species of migratory birds.

As you may recall, the Obama administration formally recommended official wilderness designation for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge in 2015. Under federal regulations and policy, the Coastal Plain should now be managed as if it is indeed designated Wilderness. Such protection should have eliminated oil and gas leasing and drilling there.

After years of legal fights, public opposition, and repeated market failures, the Trump administration is once again trying to force drilling into one of the most iconic and ecologically important landscapes in America. It’s the same tired playbook we’ve seen before: rush a lease sale, hope corporations show up, and pretend there’s an economic case that simply doesn’t exist. 

Past Arctic Refuge lease sales have drawn almost no serious interest from industry. Major oil companies have stayed away. Investors have backed off. Bids have been sparse and underwhelming. Yet it wouldn’t be out of character for the Trump administration to try and coerce oil and gas companies to lease and drill in the Arctic Refuge just so the administration can claim a win.

That’s why it’s important for all of us to speak up now, to let the administration and the industry know that the public wants the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge protected, not leased or drilled!

This 30-day window is the only official opportunity for the public to weigh in before the leasing process moves forward. It’s our chance to make it crystal clear that the Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain is too wild and too special to be ruined by oil and gas development.

Please help us build the public record—yet again—for protection of the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge by submitting your comment by Thursday, March 5.