President Barack Obama will call on Congress to protect 1.4 million acres of Alaska's Arctic from oil and gas drilling, the Interior Department said on Sunday.

Obama will propose designating the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness. This classification is considered the highest level of federal protection under which oil and gas drilling is banned, according to The Washington Post.

The Interior Department will also work to eliminate drilling from parts of the Arctic Ocean and also put checks on oil and gas production in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.

The White House posted a video on YouTube explaining the administration's intention to protect the wildlife refuge.

"Alaska's National Wildlife Refuge is an incredible place -- pristine, undisturbed. It supports caribou and polar bears, all manner of marine life, countless species of birds and fish, and for centuries it supported many Alaska Native communities. But it's very fragile," Obama says.

The area set for wilderness designation includes 1.52 million acres of the refuge's coastal plain, 5.85 million acres of the Brooks mountain range and 4.92 million acres of the Porcupine Plateau.

This land has been a topic of conflict between Democrats and Republicans for 35 years. The refuge has significant petroleum reserves and also provides as a home and habitat for caribou, birds, polar bears and other Arctic wildlife.

Republicans argue this move is yet another example of Obama using aggressive forms of executive action.

"What's coming is a stunning attack on our sovereignty and our ability to develop a strong economy that allows us, our children and our grandchildren to thrive," Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the new chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement. "It's clear this administration does not care about us, and sees us as nothing but a territory ... I cannot understand why this administration is willing to negotiate with Iran, but not Alaska. But we will not be run over like this. We will fight back with every resource at our disposal."

Environmental groups applaud the effort to preserve the area's wildlife and natural resources.

"By recognizing the incredible wilderness and habitat values for species such as polar bear and caribou, the Fish and Wildlife Service has taken a tremendous step to preserve one of the wildest places in North America -- the Arctic Refuge -- for future generations," Jamie Williams, president of the Wilderness Society, said in a statement. "Some places are simply too special to drill, and we are thrilled that a federal agency has acknowledged that the refuge merits wilderness protection."

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