Stakes high for Arctic Wildlife Refuge

In 1968, Prudhoe Bay in Alaska became the largest oil field in North America. Will the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge follow suit?

By Environmental News Network staff

To understand the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, it's important to know that it occupies about 20 million acres in the very northeastern corner of Alaska. A portion of that territory, the coastal plain, has been big news since President-elect Bush began proposing it for oil drilling during his campaign.

The region is referred to as the 1002 Area, after a section number in the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980. The section authorized a study of the oil and gas potential within the plain.

The 1002 Area is considered to be one of America's richest crossroads for wildlife. It serves as a calving ground for an immense caribou herd and a place for half of the polar bears in Alaska to den. It is also where the eastern, western and Rocky Mountain flyways converge for birds that head to the Arctic.

About 130 migrating species in total treat the coastal plain as a hub. A number of other species, such as the musk oxen, live there year-round.

The diversity is so rich and the wildlife so plentiful that Bruce Babbit, outgoing U.S. Secretary of the Interior, has referred to it as America's Serengeti.

The ground is tundra; it turns brown and frozen during the harsh winter, then bursts forth in spring covered with wildflowers and new greenery. Mosquitoes also emerge in the spring, beginning a succession of hatches. "By the end of July, they come in sheer numbers, they're fast and they have good aim," says David van den Berg, owner of Arctic Wild, a tour company that conducts river trips in the 1002 Area.

Caribou roam the tundra of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Despite the bugs and other extreme conditions, humans survive on the plain. The only permanent human population in the entire refuge is found in Kaktovik, population 260, located in the 1002 Area on the coast.

The Inupiat Eskimo residents own shares, granted to them from native-rights settlements, in the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. The corporation would benefit from oil drilling in the 1002 Area. The mayor of Kaktovik, Lon Sonsalla, thinks that most residents support drilling, but he says of its prospects, "We're on a wait-and-see basis."

The Inupiat's neighbors to the south, the Neets'aii Gwichin, live in Arctic Village, which sits on the southern boundary of the reserve. The Gwichin people strongly oppose any oil development in the coastal plain, as their cultural tradition is linked to the caribou, which they believe will be endangered by development.

The last important element in the puzzle is the oil itself. "We're very sure that there is a certain small presence of oil and gas involved," says Kenneth Bird, Chief of Alaska Petroleum Studies Project, "and we're not as certain that there could be very, very large amounts."

Since the U.S. Geological Survey must use data from seismic tests to speculate on how much oil is present, the agency presents a statistical range of possible oil quantities. This is an issue, Bird says, because political groups "can pick off the number they like."

The amount of oil estimated to be underground and economically feasible to extract ranges from 3.2 billion barrels to 7.8 billion barrels. This oil is in smaller, more spread-out deposits than at nearby Prudhoe Bay, which has a single deposit containing an estimated 13 billion barrels. The many locations would necessitate multiple drilling sites instead of a single, massive site.

Scientists believe that the presence of oil operations could significantly disrupt the ecosystems around the 1002 Area. Tour operator van den Berg also sees it as a disruption of wilderness. "Even now," he says, "when you look across the flat benchland of the coastal plain, you can see a concrete-island drilling structure out in the sea."

Copyright 2001, Environmental News Network, All Rights Reserved

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Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
Kaktovik
USGS Petroleum Assessment
Director's remarks
NRDC
Arctic Village

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