Carter calls for Arctic refuge protection

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

August 24, 2000
Web posted at: 4:06 PM EDT (2006 GMT)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) -- President Clinton should grant permanent protection to a narrow section of Arctic coastline in Alaska, completing the job started by a sweeping conservation law passed in 1980, former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday.

"The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge should be declared, without further delay, a national monument," Carter told a luncheon audience at a ceremony hosted by the Alaska Conservation Foundation.

The former president urged environmentalists to write letters to Clinton, a fellow Democrat, encouraging him to use his powers under the 1906 Antiquities Act to make the declaration.

"We are just as interested as he is in the legacy he leaves behind," Carter said.

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It was the first time Carter had publicly declared his support for giving monument status to the refuge's coastal plain, which is prized by environmentalists and the area's Athabaskan Indians for its wildlife, but coveted by the oil industry for its potential petroleum riches.

Carter was in Alaska for celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the sweeping environmental legislation he signed just before leaving office.

The law put 106 million federally owned acres in Alaska into national parks, wildlife refuges, designated wilderness areas and other protected reserves.

Carter said although he considered the act one of his top legacies, it left one significant task undone -- protecting the coastal plain wedged the steep mountains of the Brooks Range and the Arctic Ocean.

The former president put in a plug for Democratic presidential contender Al Gore, saying he "would like to see a president who is an environmentalist and a vice president who has not just received $20 million from the oil companies as a retirement present."

The reference was to Republican vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney, who received a $20 million retirement package from Halliburton when he quit his job as chief executive to join George W. Bush's Republican ticket.

Bush and Cheney support oil drilling in the refuge, while the Democratic candidates oppose drilling there. In Alaska, politicians of both parties generally favor oil development in the refuge.

Oil revenues fund two-thirds of Alaska's state government operations. Residents pay no state income or sales taxes and receive an annual dividend from a state-owned trust fund created with oil wealth. Last year's dividend was $1,770.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
National Parks and Conservation Association
Wildlife Conservation Society
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
U.S. Geological Survey

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