Help Save the Arctic Refuge
Patty A. New (s043103@jaguar1.usouthal.edu)
Mon, 6 Mar 1995 17:51:41 -0600
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Northeast Alaska is the
home of some two hundred species of animals. It is a mostly treeless
area of both incomparable beauty and ruggedness. The Fish and Wildlife
Service states that the Arctic Refuge is the "only conservation system
unit in North America that protects, in an undisturbed condition, the
complete spectrum of arctic and subarctic ecosystems."
Each year some 160,000 Porcupine caribou migrate hundreds of
miles to the 125 mile long coastal plain of the refuge. For centuries
this area has been the calving and post calving grounds of the caribou.
Strong winds off the Arctic Ocean sweep this small area relatively clear
of the hoards of suffocating mosquitos. Surprisingly, recent data
indicates that polar bears also need this coastal plain for denning purposes.
The Native American populations living along the caribou
migration routes depend on the Porcupine herd for food. There is no
industry in their remote villages and other food commodities must be
flown in, which makes the goods' cost prohibitive. These proud people
follow their ancestral traditions of caribou hunting.
Oil companies are, once again, pushing to drill in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge. Having been defeated numerous times in the
past, they now are optimistic of victory due to the fact that Alaska's
senators and only congressman have important committee chairs.
The facts are relatively simple. There is only a twenty percent
chance of finding economically recoverable oil in the coastal plain.
If it is there, a maximum amount equal to a 200 day supply at current
U.S. usage is all that could be recovered.
We don't feel that a 200 day supply of oil is worth the
destruction of the coastal plain. This small amount of oil is not worth
destroying centuries-old migration routes and the survival of native
cultures thousands of years old.
Please join us in our efforts to save the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge. Write your Congressman and Senators and ask them to
oppose drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.