Now, the coastal plain is covered with new snow. The deep snow has driven polar bears to set up their dens, and moose and muskoxen must use their mighty hooves to graze the vegetation below. And the mighty Porcupine Caribou Herd has once again headed south.

Spring will come again to the coastal plain, and the sunlit plain will burst with life in the land of the midnight sun. Summer's long arctic days will again coax rich sedges and grasses from the tundra, a nutritious feast for some 130,000 hungry caribou that migrate from their wintering grounds in Canada to their calving grounds on the coastal plain.

Attracted by the possibility of a square meal after a long winter of hibernating, grizzlies will amble down from the foothills. Wolves, arctic foxes, wolverines, even golden eagles will converge on the coastal plain in search of food for themselves and for their young.

Millions of birds, migrating from across the United States and points beyond, will return to the coastal plain in the spring. Oldsquaw, eiders, snowgeese, tundra swans, and more than 120 other species will once again use the coastal plain for feeding, resting, and nesting.

The Gwich'in Indians, who call northeast Alaska and northwest Canada home, again will turn to the Porcupine caribou herd for food, clothing, shelter, medicines, tools, and more. For the Gwich'in, their very survival depends on the caribou.

It is a dance of life and death that has been going on for tens of thousands of years.

To contact your Senator or Congressman online and let them know you want them to protect this beautiful land, click on the Take Action on the right margin.