To the Editor:

Re “Interior Dept. Proposes Drilling Within Arctic Refuge, Angering Environmentalists” (news article, Sept. 17):

In June 2016, five fellow veterans and I were fortunate enough to visit the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Over the course of two weeks, we canoed the Canning River for a hundred-plus river miles to the Beaufort Sea. Since I left the Army, the refuge and our spectacular public lands have provided me with a space to rediscover myself and my purpose.

With the recent announcement that the Interior Department is trying to open the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge to seismic exploration, I must share what I witnessed there.

The one-time seismic exploration that was completed in 1985 in the coastal plain caused lasting damage. Three decades later, the otherwise pristine landscape remains scarred with seismic trails that stretch for miles across the tundra and cut through the heart of America’s last truly wild frontier.

I call on all Americans to join me in defending this fragile place from the Trump administration. To Congress: Please defend against any efforts to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.