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This
is the 1002 Area, the land targeted by the Bush administration for oil
field development. Those eager to drill and pump call it a wasteland,
barren, that nothing lives here. Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) says it's
"ugly".
And yet
when you spend time on the coastal plain the facts are otherwise.
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Meanwhile...to
the west of the Canning River.
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The
coastal plain is home to dozens of species of wildlife. In fact, the refuge
hosts 36 fish species, 26 land mammals, nine marine mammals, and more than
160 migratory and resident bird species. The golden plover flies from Argentina
to nest here while the arctic tern travels the furthest, more than 10,000
miles from its summer habitat in Antarctica. The coastal plain is the biological
heart of the refuge. Along the channeled streams, a thick mat of sedges
and grasses provide food and shelter for songbirds -- rosy finches, bluethroats,
arctic warblers, crossbills and others. Perhaps as many as 300 grizzly bears
prowl both sides of the Continental Divide. Black bears favor the forested
south. Polar bears remain on the sea ice during the summer but females come
ashore in the winter to den in coastal snowdrifts. It is here on the coastal
plain that caribou calve their young. Most travelers who float or hike across
the area don't see the main herd which is now estimated at 130,000, but
are likely see groups of several hundred or smaller. Yet signs of caribou
are everywhere. Along streams, caribou hair reefs up like discarded garlands
on wet sand. The braided tracks of their 400-mile passage to and from wintering
grounds in the Yukon Territory, Canada are as old as time. On a change
of wind, the smell of caribou dung wrinkles the nose like a Chicago stock
yard.
In the last two years,
late-season snow forced females to drop their calves before reaching the
plains. Calf survival rates are down significantly. The role of the coastal
plain in the herd's productive capacity is integral to its success.
It's predictable that
opponents of the refuge's integrity try to minimize its value. Calling
the coastal plain ugly or a wasteland is an attempt to diminish its ecological
value. Biological analysis of the coastal plain's importance to refuge
continuity is ignored. No wonder oil
companies and their White House hirelings
boast that Congress will sacrifice the coastal plain in order to prolong
the sovereignty of automobiles. Yet when most people understand the values
at stake the issue resolves in favor of caution, protection. Alternative
energy development efforts and conservation advocates have demonstrated
that drilling and pumping the refuge is unnecessary. More oil can be saved
through developing wind, solar, fuel cells and hybrid cars than is likely
to be found under the coastal plain.
Few people visit the
refuge, but those who travel north are rewarded with gifts of solitude,
majesty and wonder. In an increasingly urbanized continent, few places
remain that offer these experiences. Loss of wildlands cannot be tolerated
if we wish to sustain ourselves as free people. The coastal plain nourishes
a pulse as vital as the beat of a poet's heart. We ignore its message
at our peril.
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