Our Ocean Once Again

Seascape of floating pack ice in an open lead in springtime, Chukchi Sea, offshore from the arctic village of Barrow, Alaska. Photo by Steven Kazlowski.

Shell Oil has had its eyes on the Arctic for over five years now. Hundreds of meetings and billions of dollars later, this summer was supposed to be Shell’s year to finally drill in the Arctic Ocean. 

Thankfully, a series of embarrassing safety setbacks have held Shell back. The announcement that the company would abandon plans to start drilling this year came just days ago, and people across the country and in Alaska are elated.

Here is the response from Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, a resident of Barrow, Alaska, the countrys northernmost village, on the top of the world on the Arctic coastline. Rosemary is an Inupiat mother and grandmother who has been fighting for the health and safety of her people for decades. 

-- Fran Hunt, Director of the Resilient Habitats Campaign

Rosemary Ahtuangaruak's Story

Shell's drilling program means a lot more to my family and my village than to most people in the world. Shell's cancelled attempt to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean's Chukchi and Beaufort Seas came on the eve of our fall whaling season with many successful hunts. The whaling season means more to my people than anything else, and as our whaling crews are still on the hunt we celebrate the great news that Shell will not drill for oil this summer.

A polar bear, Ursus maritimus, swimming in the Beaufort Sea in late summer, off the coast of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. Photo by Steven Kazlowski.

World War II and the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Monument

Desert Bloom near Sierra de Las Uvas Mountains, courtesy Lisa Mandelkern 

Many national monuments in the West feature unique landscapes, archaeological sites, and wildlife.  The proposed Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument near Las Cruces, New Mexico has those-- the Butterfield Stagecoach Trail, the Gadsden Purchase boundary, Billy the Kid’s Outlaw Rock, and numerous petroglyphs and pictographs.  It also includes WWII era aerial targets, a unique feature that resonates with veterans and historians alike. 

Chimney Rock Receives Much Needed Protection

Colorado's Chimney Rock is a spectacular rock formation and archaeological site that thousands have fought to protect over the years. Today, we received the great news that this special place has received permanent protection as a National Monument.

Arguably the most important cultural site on our nation's national forests, Chimney Rock has been a spiritually, ecologically, and culturally significant site for more than 1,000 years and remains of great importance to modern Pueblo Indians.

"Chimney Rock itself is one of two striking sandstone spires protruding from atop a majestic butte, 1000 feet above the Piedra River valley, where the ancestors of today's Hopi, Zuni, and other regional tribes raised their crops 1000 years ago," said Lauren Swain, a Resilient Habitats activist with the Sierra Club.

"Each year, over 9000 visitors tour the elaborate complex of dwellings, which were home to over 2000 people from 850 - 1125 A.D."

Also amazing about Chimney Rock? From the Chacoan tribe's Great Pueblo, the full moon can be viewed rising up between the twin rock spires every 18.6 years -- called the Major Lunar Standstill.

Today's designation will ensure for the first time that the houses, ceremonial sites and other Ancestral Puebloan archeological sites that cover the area have clear protections. Until today, the Chimney Rock 4,100-acre archaeological area lacked any protective designation to provide permanent support for and protection of its sites and resources.

"Chimney Rock's spectacular natural setting and its significance as an ancient astronomical 'observatory' make it fascinating to visitors and priceless for present and future archaeological study," said Carol Stansfield, teacher and longtime Colorado Sierra Club member.

A Community Gathers to Protect the Rio Grande del Norte

photo coutesy Rio Grande del Norte Coalition 

Imagine a deep canyon of 200 feet dropping down to the Rio Grande, a river that is the lifeblood of New Mexico. Imagine this stretch of wild and scenic waters, which serve as a crucial flyway for migrating birds such as ospreys, hummingbirds and herons. Above the gorge eagles and falcons nest in the cliffs, and stretches of sagebrush give way to snow capped mountains.