Dear Momoko,
I don't usually write during the holidays. However, speaking out now is more crucial than ever.
I'm Meda DeWitt. I'm Tlingit, a traditional healer, and the Senior Manager for Alaska at The Wilderness Society. I live and work on the ancestral lands of the Dena'ina people—and every day, through my work to protect the Arctic, I carry forward the teachings of my Elders: our survival depends on how well we care for the Earth and each other.
However, right now, the Arctic is being treated like a sacrifice zone—and we're running out of time to defend it.
The Department of the Interior announced plans to open every acre of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling—reinstating canceled leases and clearing the way for a new sale before summer. And across Alaska, more sacred lands are in jeopardy: the proposed Ambler Road through Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, and millions of acres of the Western Arctic's "Special Areas"—unique habitats recognized for their exceptional ecological and cultural importance—now being targeted for development.
These are not isolated actions—they are a pattern of betrayal. They ignore science, disregard Indigenous sovereignty and treat living homelands as expendable.
That is why I'm asking for your help today.
This is such a critical moment for Alaska's landscapes that a generous donor has come forward to match every gift 5X, up to $1 million, through December 31. Will you make a tax-deductible gift today? Every dollar you give can go five times as far to stop drilling, uphold Tribal sovereignty and keep these lands a living sanctuary for generations to come.
In my culture, land is not property. It is a living relative. When we defend the Arctic, we defend family—the caribou, the Arctic Ice, the people and the balance that sustains us all. We are protecting the sacred.
And right now, as the Trump administration and its allies in Congress double down on forcing through their extractive, pro-polluter policies, we must all work together to stop them. Today your support goes FIVE TIMES FURTHER to power urgent legal action, grassroots organizing, scientific research and advocacy to fight back.
This land matters to all of us. It stores carbon, shelters wildlife, and holds ancient truths about balance and reciprocity. Protecting the Arctic is so much more than an Alaska issue—it's a planetary issue.
Please, make a year-end tax-deductible gift while every dollar you pitch in will be matched 5X to power our defense of the Arctic Refuge and all of our beloved public lands across the nation.
Together, we can keep the Arctic sacred and free.
Gunalchéesh (Thank you) for standing with us,
Meda DeWitt, MA., TH. (Jánwu Tláa, Tigigalook)
Senior Manager for Alaska
The Wilderness Society
