Every year, sandhill cranes that have spent the summer on Alaska's northern Arctic coast, including the Arctic Refuge, embark on the long journey south to their wintering grounds. Their red caps and rusty gate-hinge calls make them an iconic part of Colorado fall as they pass through on their way to their winter homes. In the spring, golden eagles that have wintered in Colorado begin the journey north, some traveling all the way to the Arctic Refuge.

Even further south, American golden-plovers start one of the longest migrations in the world, beginning in grassland areas between Brazil and Argentina and ending on the Arctic Ocean shoreline, where 8 percent breed in the Arctic Refuge. On the way, these medium-sized shorebirds stop and rest in Colorado and can be seen at places like Cherry Creek State Park. Coloradans would be poorer for it if we did not get to enjoy these birds every year.

Last week, Colorado Sen. Mike Bennet introduced a bill in Congress to designate the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness. The coastal plain is the most biologically valuable portion of the Arctic Refuge, and it provides summer habitat for sandhill cranes, American golden-plovers and many more Colorado birds. In addition to being an essential nesting ground for birds from across the nation, the coastal plain of the Refuge hosts polar bears, musk oxen, wolves and is the calving grounds of the 197,000-animal Porcupine Caribou herd, a herd that is central to lives of the G'wichin Indians of northern Alaska and Canada


Like much of Colorado's most important habitat, the Arctic Refuge is under constant threat of development by the energy industry. A wilderness designation would protect the Refuge's coastal plain from oil and gas development, which would in turn help ensure that Colorado's birds have a place to go and that Coloradans have birds to see.

The more we learn about the world, the more we learn how interconnected we are. The next time you see an American golden-plover stopping by Colorado on its epic 5,000 mile journey to the Arctic, or see a golden eagle soaring over the Rocky Mountains, Audubon Rockies and Audubon Alaska urge you to appreciate both the birds and the work Sen. Bennet is doing to keep Alaska and Colorado's resources intact and wild.

Alison Holloran is executive director of Audubon Rockies, based in Fort Collins. Nils Warnock is executive director of Audubon Alaska, based in Anchorage.