Yukon chief seeks Trudeau's help to stop U.S. oil drilling in caribou habitat

Vuntut Gwitchin Chief Bruce Charlie hopes to discuss issue with Trudeau at November meeting

A 40-year battle over oil drilling in an Arctic wildlife refuge in Alaska could become the latest political irritant in a growing list of disagreements between U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

U.S. plans to lift a decades-old ban on exploring and drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are underway, with both the White House and Congress working on regulations and legislation to make it happen.

Trump campaigned on getting the U.S. to produce more oil on its own and his sights now are set on the refuge, a protected area in the northeast corner of Alaska which covers an area bigger than New Brunswick.

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Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation Chief Bruce Charlie says he plans to reach out to Trudeau in a meeting already scheduled for early November, hoping the prime minister will flex some international political muscle with Trump to keep it that way.

"We'll fight to the very end for this," Charlie told The Canadian Press in an interview from his office in Old Crow, Yukon.

Charlie called the refuge "the Serengeti of the Arctic," home to breeding grounds for Porcupine caribou as well as waterfowl from several continents, polar bears and wolves.


Much more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/yukon-chief-trudeau-us-drilling-caribou-1.4357155



Migrating caribou in the Porcupine River Tundra in the Yukon. A 40-year-old controversy about drilling for oil in an Alaskan wildlife refuge has resurfaced this month, prompting a northern First Nation to ask Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to intervene. (Rick Bowmer/The Associated Press)