By Chad Brown, Founder of Love Is King
How many diverse perspectives must we embrace to fully grasp the urgency and magnitude of safeguarding the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? This question resounds not only in environmental circles, but deep within the soul of those who have witnessed firsthand the sacred interdependence between people, wildlife, and land.
The Arctic Refuge is more than untouched wilderness—it is a living archive of Indigenous heritage, ecological wonder, and cultural resilience. To stand in solidarity with the Gwich’in Nation—especially in Arctic Village, where the echoes of tradition beat strongest—is not merely symbolic. It is a responsibility. Their sacred relationship with the Porcupine caribou migratory path isn’t metaphorical—it’s spiritual, practical, and generational. Any disruption to this rhythm due to industrial intrusion threatens biodiversity and desecrates a way of life built upon reverence, resourcefulness, and belonging.
Under the banner of Love Is King’s Operation ROAM, a diverse cohort of organizational leaders, business executives, and storytellers ventured into Arctic Village not to extract stories but to receive them. This journey was not a retreat—it was a pilgrimage. Entering with humility and reverence, participants became students of a land that teaches through silence, resilience, and beauty.
Welcomed into homes and lives, they encountered a form of hospitality unlike any other—one rooted in survival, kinship, and sacred responsibility. For the Gwich’in, these values are not abstract notions; they are embodied truths, passed down through generations whose lives have been inextricably tied to the caribou and the shifting breath of the seasons. In the Arctic Refuge, every mountain, river, and breeze carries memory—of ancestors, of migrations, of ceremonies held beneath endless skies.
It is here that the spirit of the land reveals itself not as backdrop but as central character—alive, watchful, and deeply entwined with the well-being of its people. Love is king Operation ROAM participants did not just hear stories; they were enveloped by them. Story became sound and scent and landscape. It lingered in the way firewood was stacked, in shared meals of moose and bannock, in quiet glances toward the horizon.
To receive these stories was to carry a responsibility—not just to retell them, but to protect what makes them possible. The Gwich’in have fought for decades to safeguard the Arctic Refuge from industrial incursion, recognizing that its integrity is essential for cultural survival and ecological balance. In bearing witness, LIK – Operation ROAM became a thread in that ongoing tapestry of protection, a bridge between communities and a pledge to uplift the voices who’ve long stood at the frontlines of conservation.
Love is king 2025 Operation ROAM Team 2 Starting from left to right –
Rozalind Marie Darby Multnomah County Public Guardian & Conservator Office | Elizabeth E Havstad (Liz) CEO – Hip Hop Caucus | Dr. Alexa White PHD Managing Director and COO – Hip Hop Caucus | Tracey L. Scruggs VON TV / National Safety Council & Midway Broadcast Corp. / Executive Producer | Jesse L Richards International Director OF Development – WorldOregon
There were no passive observations—only deep listening. Shared caribou stew. Laughter warmed by fires. Honest reflection under an endless sky. When asked, “What do you hear, see, or feel that resonates with you?”, one member offered:
Another LIK ROAM Leader, moved by Gwich’in hunter Charlie Swayne, reflected:
And in one haunting moment, a voice emerged from within the silence amongst the leadership group:
As if the land itself had taken human form, that lament pierced the circle—a call to action and an invitation to shoulder the weight of its protection.
Gwichin Tribal member. – Cheyenne
Gwichin Elder – Giddieon
Even as these transformative efforts unfold, the Trump administration has rekindled its pursuit of fossil fuel expansion in Alaska—specifically targeting the Arctic Refuge for drilling. Recent visits by Interior and Energy Secretaries signal a renewed push for a $44 billion pipeline and the revival of canceled leases within the refuge.
This isn’t mere policy—it’s an existential threat to Indigenous sovereignty, ecological stewardship, and the survival of the Porcupine caribou herd. By encouraging foreign investment and reviving industrial momentum, Washington D.C. is attempting to break ground in one of the last wild frontiers on Earth.
Yet despite this looming threat, the movement remains undeterred. From Arctic Village to advocacy hubs nationwide, the resistance is rooted in lived experience, communal strength, and intergenerational wisdom.
Love Is King has cultivated something rare—a model where advocacy is built not from above, but alongside those most affected. Through immersive expeditions, media training, and creative justice storytelling, they forge networks of guardians—united by reverence and responsibility.
Alaska Wilderness League amplifies this momentum with policy expertise, national visibility, and deep commitment to Indigenous partnership. Together, they honor the stories passed down and defend the ones still unfolding.
We safeguard rivers still rich with salmon, lands still echoing with the steps of caribou, skies still unbroken by industrial noise. We honor the Gwich’in. We become stewards. And in that choice—we remember who we are.” – Chad Brown
