For more than 20 years, the Gwich’in people of Alaska and northern Canada have fought to protect the 1.2-million-acre coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling. A film released today by Patagonia, The Refuge, tells the story of two Gwich’in women who oppose the drilling. They say the 169,000-member Porcupine caribou herd that lives in the refuge is the foundation of their identity. It is an important source of food for the tribe. The women worry that oil drilling in the refuge will hurt the herd because it will disrupt its main calving area. The land itself has been at the center of a fight over both oil drilling and conservation since the 1970s.

Whether the land will be protected or opened to drilling is a complicated matter. In January 2015, President Barack Obama asked Congress to designate the refuge “wilderness” so no drilling could happen there. That’s an unlikely designation given the current and future makeup of Congress. Some wonder whether President Obama could designate the area as a national monument under the Antiquities Act, but the Alaska Dispatch News recently reported on a rule in the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 that would require that Congress ratify an area of more than 5,000 acres within one year for a monument designation to take effect. Conservationists worry that the new Republican majority in the House and Senate, and a Republican president, could open up the area to drilling. Democrats can still filibuster, however, as the Republican advantage will be a narrow 52-to-48 margin (60 votes are required to overcome a filibuster). An op-ed in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner said another option would be for Republicans to sneak language for opening up ANWR into a budget reconciliation bill, which can’t be filibustered. Republicans tried to do that in 1995, but then-President Bill Clinton vetoed the bill.

Along with the film, Patagonia also released a petition on Care2 where concerned citizens can register their support of the Gwich’in people and their opposition to new ANWR drilling. In less than 24 hours, they have nearly reached their goal of 55,000 supporters.