Native Alaskans, wildlife win big with Biden’s cancellation of oil and gas leases in Arctic refuge

In this undated photo, Porcupine caribou migrate onto the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. In a move that angered Republicans, the Biden administration canceled seven oil and gas leases Sept. 6, overturning sales held in the Trump administration’s waning days. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP, file)

The Sacred Place Where Life Begins. That’s what the Gwich’in people call the coastal plain of Alaska where they live.

The Porcupine caribou that the Gwich’in have relied on for tens of thousands of years for their subsistence way of life migrate hundreds of miles each spring to give birth to their calves there. So that Gwich’in name rings true.