Rep. Jared Huffman Applauds Obama Administration For Move to Protect Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Press Release

Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) today applauded President Obama's Administration for moving to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, one of America's last untouched wild places. The Department of the Interior will release a conservation plan for the Refuge that will recommend additional protections for the Refuge. President Obama also announced that he will recommend to Congress that they protect more than 12.28 million acres of the Refuge as wilderness, the highest level of protection available to public lands.

"I want to thank the President for taking bold action to protect one of the most iconic wild areas in our nation, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge," Huffman said. "Preserving such an untouched and remarkable place is a gift to all Americans."

More than 7 million acres of the Refuge are managed as wilderness. However, 60 percent of the Refuge, including the Coastal Plain, does not carry that designation.

Huffman and Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) are the lead authors of the Udall-Eisenhower Arctic Wilderness Act, which would designate the 1.5 million-acre Coastal Plain as wilderness, codifying into law permanent protections from damaging activities like oil drilling.

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