Book Description

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) consists of 19 million acres in north-east Alaska. It is administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in the Department of the Interior (DOI). It is a 1.5 million acre coastal plain on the North Slope of the Brooks Range that is currently viewed as one of the most likely undeveloped US onshore oil and gas prospects. According to the US Geological Survey, there is even a small chance that taken together, the fields on this federal land could hold as much economically recoverable oil as the giant field at Prudhoe Bay, found in 1967 on the coastal plain west of ANWR. That state-owned portion of the coastal plain is now estimated to have held 11-13 billion barrels of oil. The Refuge, and especially the coastal plain, is home to a wide variety of plants and animals. The presence of caribou, polar bears, grizzly bears, wolves, migratory birds, and many other species in a nearly undisturbed state has led some to call the area America's 'Serengeti'. The Refuge and two neighbouring parks in Canada have been proposed for an international park, and several species found in the area (including polar bears, caribou, migratory birds, and whales) are protected by international treaties or agreements. The analysis in this book covers, first, the economic and geological factors that have triggered new interest in development, followed by the philosophical, biological, and environmental quality factors that have triggered opposition to it. The book begins with a review of the nature and issues of the ANWR.