Seismic Exploration Explained: Why the Arctic Refuge Is at Risk
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of the last truly wild places left on Earth. Every spring, caribou travel hundreds of miles to give birth here. Polar bears dig dens in the snow to raise their cubs. Millions of birds migrate from all 50 states to nest on its tundra.
This isn’t just Alaska’s backyard. It’s our backyard. A living, breathing sanctuary that connects us all—and right now, it needs us to step up.
For the Gwich’in people, the Refuge is sacred. Their culture, food, and spirituality are intertwined with the Porcupine Caribou Herd, which returns to this land year after year. Protecting the Refuge means protecting their way of life—a relationship with the land that has endured since time immemorial.
And yet, this irreplaceable place is once again under siege. As soon as this winter, we could see one of the most damaging threats back on the table: seismic exploration.
What is seismic exploration?
Before oil companies can drill, they need to explore. Their method? Seismic exploration.
To figure out where to drill, companies send dozens of 90,000-pound “thumper trucks” along with a convoy of bulldozers and support vehicles rumbling across the fragile tundra. That’s like driving a truck that weighs the same as roughly nine elephants across fragile permafrost and ice—it’s a recipe for destruction. Each truck thumps a giant metal plate on the ground, sending sound waves deep below the surface, where they bounce back to create a map of underground oil reserves.
Now imagine dozens of these trucks driving back and forth across frozen tundra and permafrost, in a grid so tight that the same stretch of ground gets crisscrossed again and again.
Back in the 80s, when seismic testing was lighter and less intensive, it left some scars on the tundra that are still visible today. Now, companies want to use heavier trucks, denser grids, and sprawling support camps. We expect the damage to be more widespread, more permanent, and more destructive than ever.
And it’s not just the trucks. Seismic crews bring everything with them: tractors, fuelers, incinerators, airstrips, and hundreds of workers living in mobile camps. The footprint isn’t small. And with the Arctic warming faster than anywhere else on Earth, snowpack is thinner and less reliable, making it very difficult to avoid damage—even in so-called “ideal” conditions.
Why is this allowed?
In 2017, Congress forced the Refuge open to oil and gas leasing by sneaking a provision into the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. That’s how we ended up with the first failed Refuge lease sale in 2021. And during the second lease sale at the beginning of this year, not a single oil and gas corporation put in a bid. The writing is on the wall: Arctic Refuge drilling is simply bad business.
In a previous push for seismic exploration in 2021, contractors and subcontractors missed their window because they couldn’t secure permits from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in time. Part of the problem was their own delay—they clumsily submitted requests late in the process. Then came the flood of public response: more than five million comments that the agency was legally required to review. With the clock ticking and that many voices weighing in, the companies ran out of time and the permits never went through.
Despite earlier blows and obvious public disapproval, the bureaucratic processes keep grinding on. Right now, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) is once again trying to push seismic exploration forward.
What else is at stake?
Protecting the Arctic Refuge isn’t just about keeping tire tracks off tundra—it’s about protecting life itself. Every creature here depends on the delicate balance of this landscape, and seismic exploration could put it all at risk.
- Polar bears: The coastal plain is the most important denning habitat for polar bears in the U.S., and seismic testing threatens more than 96% of it. A single thumper truck can crush a hidden den under the snow or scare a mother into abandoning her cubs. In a warming Arctic where polar bears already face shrinking sea ice, losing safe denning grounds could push them closer to the brink.
- Caribou: The Porcupine Caribou Herd—hundreds of thousands strong—travels thousands of miles each year, one of the longest land migrations on Earth. Their journey leads them back to the Refuge to give birth and raise their young on the coastal plain. It’s the safest, most nourishing place for calves to survive. Disrupt that, and you threaten the entire herd. For the Gwich’in people, who call this place “The Sacred Place Where Life Begins,” this isn’t just an ecological loss. It’s a cultural and spiritual one.
- Other wildlife: Musk oxen, wolves, millions of migratory birds—from tundra swans to sandpipers to snow geese. These animals don’t just belong to Alaska. They’re part of a web of life that connects every corner of the continent. If the Refuge is disrupted, the impacts ripple across flyways, ecosystems, and communities thousands of miles away.
This isn’t theoretical. It isn’t decades away. The threat is here, and the damage seismic exploration causes is immediate and lasting. The choice we face is clear: defend the Refuge now, or risk losing one of the last truly wild places left on Earth.
What can we do?
As Kristen Miller, Executive Director of Alaska Wilderness League, put it:
“This is worse than a public land sell-off—this is immediate, on-the-ground destruction. If the Arctic Refuge isn’t off-limits to oil and gas, then nowhere is. This is a moral failure, a climate disaster, and a betrayal of the public trust.”
The good news is we know what works. When agencies last tried to greenlight seismic testing, more than five million people spoke up. That massive turnout stopped the trucks in their tracks. We can do it again. No matter who’s in charge in Washington, public engagement matters and agencies are required to listen.
We’re already collecting comments so we’re ready the second the window opens. Add your voice, share the facts, and help us make it clear: seismic exploration has no place in the Arctic Refuge.
We urge you to TAKE ACTION NOW and join us in fighting seismic exploration and defend the Arctic Refuge.
We’ve also put together resources on seismic threats and polar bear impacts that you can use and share.
Together, we can keep seismic exploration out of the Arctic Refuge—for the wildlife, for the Gwich’in, and for future generations.