To bring that about, Babbitt will endorse legislation introduced tomorrow by Congresssman Bruce Vento (D-MN) at a press conference in Room 2220 of the Rayburn House Office Building at 2:30 p.m. In addition to Secretary Babbitt and Congressman Vento, Congressman David Bonior (D-MI), Congressman Michael Forbes (R-NY) and Bill Meadows, President of the Wilderness Society, will speak in support of the bill, which already has more than 100 cosponsors.
"In each Congress since the 1980s, the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge has come under constant legislative threat by oil and gas development advocates," Secretary Babbitt said. "The only sure way to protect this magnificent caribou calving ground forever is to designate it wilderness, like much of the rest of the Refuge. We cannot allow the kind of devastation caused by the Exxon Valdez oil spill on March 24, 1989, to occur on or near the coastal plain. Enacting Congressman Ventos bill will put an end to this threat to the most biologically important part of the Arctic Refuge once and for all.
WHO: Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, Congressmen Bruce Vento, David Bonior, Michael Forbes and Bill Meadows, President of the Wilderness Society.
WHERE: Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2220
WHEN: Tuesday, March 23, 2:30 p.m. EDT.
WHY: Environmental damage to the fragile arctic ecosystem still remains 10 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge needs wilderness protection to protect caribou calving areas and vital habitat for tens of thousands of migrating wildlife species.
