Students lobby for preserving Alaska

Natasha Laptik / staff photographer Sophomores Megan Wertz, sitting left, and Lindsay Owens, sitting right, present information to students to get them involved in Alaska action week.

While Alaska is on the opposite coast of the United States, JMU students should be concerned with the drilling and logging processes there, according to students involved in Alaska Action Week.

Alaska Action Week is from Feb. 23 to 27 and is a national campaign of lobbying, with a central focus on Washington, D.C. The campaign uses letter writing, phone calling and protests to show senators that they need to pass legislation promoting saving Alaska's wildlife preserves.

"We are attempting to collect letters to send to Sen. [John] Warner to persuade him to support bill Senate Bill No. 0543, which would place the land in the [Arctic National Wildlife Refuge] under permanent protection," sophomore Megan Wertz said.

Wertz is part of a group of students who took on this project for their school of communication studies class.

"I have been concerned about … the environment and wildlife, so I thought [ANWR] would be a good topic to work on," Wertz said.

This SCOM class set up an information table filled with fliers and booklets of information about Alaska Action Week on the commons Monday. It also gave sample letters to students so they can write their own to Warner, urging him to use his job position to help save Alaska's wildlife preserves.

"Over 60 percent of our protected land is in Alaska," said senior Joe Ciarallo, who is part of the Alaska Action Week group. "I think this is the most pristine wilderness we hav,e and it is damaged by logging and drilling.

"These are protected lands with resources that are not just for Alaskans, but for all Americans," he added.

Junior Melanie Parker agreed that students should want to protect the land because it is theirs. "The land we are trying to protect is [America's] land … everyone has a say of what happens to it."

There are various reasons why people are lobbying to save Alaska's preserves.

The land also is home to the Gwich'in tribe. This tribe depends on the herds of caribou to survive, acccording to Wertz. However, these caribou are starting to get wiped out and, thus, the Gwich'in tribe is beginning to disappear.

In addition to helping the Gwich'in tribe, the Alaska Wilderness League is trying to preserve the rain forest and wildlands, according to the Alaska Wilderness League Web site, www.alaskawild.org. There are many different species of plants and animals it wants to keep thriving.

While this is a large project, students can help change the current conditions. The letters and lobbying can make a difference, Ciarallo said.

"Students here don't realize how much persuasion [they] can have," Ciarallo said. "We should exercise our democratic right and vote [for changes]."

There will be a presentation from the Alaska Wilderness League March 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the College Center Grand Ballroom.

For more information or to write a letter to a senator, contact Wertz at wertzme, or visit the Alaska Wilderness League Web site.