Group touts ANWR as monument
An environmental group, the Alaska Wilderness League, has started an advertising campaign in Washington, D.C., to encourage President Barack Obama to designate the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a national monument.
Presidents, under the Antiquities Act of 1906, have the power to declare public sites or lands as national monuments. Such a designation can put the lands off limits to such activities as oil and gas development.
The Alaska Wilderness League, based in Washington, said it launched its ads on Nov. 10 and the campaign will run through the second week of December. The ads were to be placed in the city’s Foggy Bottom and Farragut West Metro stations, which are close to the White House, and on the sides of Metro buses.
“The ads feature a caribou calf — eyes full of wonder and hope — set in a warm and natural backdrop in the Coastal Plain in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,” the environmental group said in a press release. “The ads are emblazoned with the words: ‘Arctic Wildlife Monument. A Legacy Worth Protecting.’”
“As we face a significant change in the halls in U.S. Congress and the Arctic Refuge turns 50, this is a befitting time for President Obama to grant the Arctic Refuge the strongest possible protections and designate the Arctic Refuge as a National Monument,” said Cindy Shogan, Alaska Wilderness League executive director. “It is time to take the Arctic Refuge out of the energy debate and protect it for our children and grandchildren to enjoy as one of the last wild places in the country.”
—Wesley Loy
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