The other ANWR - Updates - Brief Article

Now that oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) has at least temporarily been put on hold, environmental organizations are shifting their attention to the 23.5 million-acre National Petroleum Reserve (NPRA) in northwestern Alaska (see Ask E, July/August 2003). The Reserve is home to the state's largest caribou herd, one of the densest populations of birds of prey in the world, several threatened or rare species of waterfowl, and the indigenous Inupiat people, as well as five to 13 billion barrels of oil. ConocoPhillips already has a lease and 13 exploratory wells on 1.4 million acres of the Reserve.

BLM Alaska State Director Henri Bisson says, "We can safely explore [the northeast] without significant impact to sensitive wildlife." Last March, however, the National Research Council concluded a two-year study of oil and gas activities on Alaska's north slope that suggests the opposite. According to Eleanor Huffines of the Wilderness Society, "There am biological and cultural hot spots in the NPR-A that need protection." CONTACT: The Wilderness Society in Alaska, (907)272-9453, www.wilderness.org.

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