We Are the Arctic - Hardcover

We Are the Arctic is a 2016 Gold Nautilus Award WinnerWE ARE THE ARCTIC is a book on saving wilderness like no other a passionate appeal from 25 diverse American voices on the importance of saving arctic public lands from exploitation and unsustainable oil development. Through full-page images from ten leading conservation photographers, WE ARE THE ARCTIC showcases the vast beauty of this remarkable untouched wilderness.
In WE ARE THE ARCTIC readers are invited to explore a remote, life-sustaining place the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Alaska, along the wild edge of the Arctic Ocean. And remarkably, every citizen has a stake and a voice in what happens to this public land we share as an American birthright. The book is part of a timely grassroots campaign asking elected officials to provide the greatest protection for this special place before the close of 2016. Fifty thousand books have been purchased and are being distributed throughout America via this grassroots campaign. In this moment, we can decide if it should be kept as a natural life-sustaining treasure as it has been during the lifetime of this planet, or, exploited and spent for what is estimated to be six months of American oil consumption.
Contributors represent a diverse, fascinating range of perspectives, including veterans, Latinos, Native voices, members of the faith community, outdoor adventurers, African Americans, scientists, artists and a 12-year old activist. The book includes ways everyday citizens can become a vital part of supporting the strongest possible protection of the Arctic Refuge.

We are connected to every part of the planet, to places we may never see other continents, oceans, mountains, and people. The rain forests of the Amazon filter air on a global scale. Glaciers in remote mountain ranges around the globe hold and release clean water on which our lives and civilizations depend. Migrations of animals, birds, and insects define the cycle of life on Earth: whales giving birth in the lagoons of the Baja peninsula migrate thousands of miles to abundant Arctic waters to feed.
We are mothers who wake each morning driven by visions of possibilities. We are soldiers returning from conflicts, celebrating freedom, and seeking peace. Some of us are young excited and anxious about our civic inheritance, knowing that we can do better that our parents. Knowing that we must.
For some of us, respect of the teachings of our elders from hundreds of generations before us define our sacred relationship to the Earth bringing us life, and knowledge we humbly share.
The astonishing beauty and quest for understanding the mysteries and rhythms of the planet like migration and the seasons define our lives as adventurers and scientists, teachers, and poets.
We are different from each other, but we share a love for this planet. We pledge to ensure that the gifts that make our lives possible are not squandered. WE ARE THE ARCTIC.
Contributors to the book include Terry Tempest Williams, David Allen Sibley, Rue Mapp (founder Outdoor Afro), Princess Lucaj, Miho Aida, Paul Miller (DJ Spooky), Nick Jans, Karsten Heuer, Mark Magana (founder Green Latinos), Senator Harry Reid and more. Photographers include Florian Schulz, Art Wolfe, Amy Gulick, Paul Bannick, and more.