The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

1
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Protected
but there are oil reserves there And the
Prudhoe Bay oilfield is nearly exhausted.
2
The debate is about the environment
(conservation) Compared with the economy
(exploitation) About local , national and even
global interests
But You cant eat the scenery
3
The Arctic Tundra is a treeless plain by the
Beaufort Sea Here you can see patterned ground
made by the seasonal melting of the upper ground.
4
Is this place really so special?

Outdoor enthusiasts think it is and are against
drilling for oil
Depending on whom you listen to, ANWRs coastal
plain is either a bleak, buggy land of misery
deserving no special protection or a precious
piece of Americas natural history.James Balog
5
In summer the hollows fill with midge infested
swamps.
Like Alaskas Prudhoe Bay (pictured above), ANWR
may soon bear the scars of modern oil extraction.
6
Do the nature lovers overstate the threats to the
environment?
The oil companies love photos like this -  some
environmentalists had feared that the pipeline
would disrupt normal wildlife migrations. It
turns out, however, that not only does the
pipeline not bother the local wildlife, but some
of the critters like to scratch their backs on
the supports.  
7
There are risks to endangered species if drilling
is allowed Shouldnt we cut back on fossil fuels
anyway to slow Global Warming?

Polar bears, the largest bear and terrestrial
predator, find prime habitat in Alaskas Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge.
8
What local people are affected?
The Inupiat of Kaktovik, Alaska
The village of Kaktovik in 1995
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Tool for survival Kaktovik whaling captain
Charlie Brower displays the harpoon he uses when
his village goes after its quota of three bowhead
whales in the fall (Autumn).
Kaktovik is next to the Beaufort Sea and within
the northern boundaries of the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge.
They tend to support the development they want
the money from the oil companies
10

The Gwichin Tribe live inland
Adeline Raboff, is a member of the Gwichin tribe
11
They are Caribou hunters
Some of their land is Taiiga forested with pine
conifers
12
Arctic Village home of the Gwichin Native
Americans
13
The Gwichin object to the proposed oil
development because the fear the caribou will be
disturbed
The Gwichin have the inherent right to continue
our own way of life and this right is recognized
and affirmed by civilized nations in the
international covenants on human rights.
14
Back in mainland USA Some right wingers back
their government And the oil industry And the
troops in Iraq And hate the other protesters who
try to stop ant progress.
15
Environmentalists also campaign in Washington DC
16
The gist of the sales pitch was "we haven't
spilled much oil up here, we haven't spilled much
along the pipeline, the Exxon Valdez was someone
else's fault ... oh, and we're starting to run
out of oil up here, so could we please please
PRETTY please be allowed to start exploration in
the wildlife refuge next
The Oil Industry has been persuading people for
years to try to get permission to drill in ANWR
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A Website in favour! www.anwr.org/index.html
A neutral view http//arcticcircle.uconn.edu/ANWR/
How are you affected?
A website against http//www.savearcticrefuge.org/

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• Your task Agent since you are forced to accept
  it is to
• produce a report on ANWR called To Drill or
  Not To Drill
• use any medium writing, poster, PowerPoint,
  movie etc.
• use the 6 headings in the iDG as your guide
  or writing frame
• You have TWO weeks of homework for this
  task.

To get you to do your homework .. Thats
M.I.4!! GeogOnline Briefing Over