America's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Brochure - Alaska ...

America’sArctic
National
WildlifeRefuge
“Wilderness is our most precious
resource, and once destroyed, is
gone forever. Save the Arctic Refuge
Coastal Plain for all creatures —
including man.”
Celia Hunter, matriarch of the Alaska conservation movement

America’s Last
Great Wilderness
THE ARCTIC NATIONAL
Wildlife Refuge is an
irreplaceable, unspoiled
wilderness and a home to birds,
grizzly bears, musk oxen, polar
bears and other wildlife. The
Coastal Plain of the Refuge is
the birthing and nursery grounds
for the over 120,000-strong
Porcupine Caribou Herd, one of
the hemisphere’s largest caribou
herds. The native Gwich’in
people, one of North America’s
last subsistence cultures, depend
upon the caribou for food and
as the foundation of their culture
and traditions.
On the
Front Lines
Drilling for oil in
America’s Arctic Refuge
would do little or nothing
to address America’s longterm
energy needs, yet
would exacerbate the
effects of global warming
in an area that is experiencing
some of most rapid
and severe climate change
on earth. According to
reports by the U.S.
Geological Survey, the
Refuge would likely yield
less oil than the U.S.
consumes in a single year,
and even oil industry
officials admit that oil
wouldn’t be available for
10 years. Within that time,
our nation could invest
in cleaner, cheaper, and
more efficient forms of
energy which would
reduce our dependence on
climate changing energy
source while helping to
ensure that Arctic wildlife
survives the impacts of
global warming.
The Coastal Plain of the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge
(also known as the “1002 Area”)
is perhaps the most well known
target of the oil industry and its
allies in Washington, DC.
Despite the relentless push by
industry advocates in Congress
to drill in the Refuge, a solid
majority of Americans respect
the beauty and fragility of
America’s only arctic ecosystem
and strongly oppose drilling on
the Coastal Plain.
Million Barrels of Oil / Day
Oil Drilling in the Arctic Refuge Would Have
a Negligible Effect on Oil Imports
40 -
35 -
30 -
25 -
20 -
15 -
10 -
5-
0-
2005 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 2050
Year
-
Total Estimated Domestic Consumption
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
• Imports
Estimated consumption
less total domestic supply
• Arctic Refuge
Coastal Plain
9.8 of 10.4 billion barrels
produced through 2050
• Domestic Supply
Estimated, without Arctic
Refuge Coastal Region
According to the
Department of Energy,
opening the Coastal
Plain of the Arctic
Refuge is projected to
reduce oil import
dependence by only
two percent in 20 years
Based on estimated domestic production and imports from AEO 2007 Reference Case

Teeming with L
BIRD
MIGRATION
The combination of sweeping
landscapes and rich biological
diversity found in the Arctic
Refuge, and especially its sensitive
Coastal Plain, is unmatched anywhere
in the circumpolar North. The
extraordinary diversity present on the
Coastal Plain is a result of geography:
the high mountains of the
Brooks Range curve north against the
Arctic Ocean and compress a full
complement of arctic and subarctic
landscapes and ecosystems into one
compact unit.
The Coastal Plain is home to more
than 180 species of birds as well as
numerous mammals, including polar
bears, caribou, musk oxen, wolves,
wolverines, moose, Arctic and red
foxes, black bears, brown bears and
Dall sheep. For many of these animals,
the Coastal Plain of the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge provides
habitat essential to their survival.
BIRD MIGRATION: From the Continental United States to the Arctic Refuge
Pacific
• Pacific (Black) Brant
• Snow Goose
• Sandhill Crane
Central
• Rough-legged Hawk
• Smith’s Longspur
• Northern Shrike
• Golden Eagle
Mississippi
• Red-throated Loon
• Northern Flicker
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• American Pipit
Atlantic
• Tundra Swan
• Lapland Longspur
• Peregrine Falcon
• Long-tailed Duck

ife
PORCUPINE
CARIBOU HERD
Wintering and Calving Ranges
Range Limit
Principal Wintering Range
Calving Range
•
High-density Calving Area
Migration Route
qSpring
“The caribou are not just
what we eat, it’s who we are.
They are our dances, stories,
songs and the whole way we
see the world. Caribou are
our life.”
Sarah James, Gwich’in
Polar Bears
Many of the Beaufort Sea's polar
bears den onshore during the winter;
over a third of the dens are in the
Coastal Plain of the Refuge. This
denning period is crucial to the
species' survival because the cubs
are not only born in the dens, but
also spend their critical first three
months of life there.
Caribou
In the summer, the Coastal Plain is
the birthplace and nursery grounds
of the Porcupine Caribou Herd,
which migrates hundreds of miles to
give birth and raise calves on the
Coastal Plain. Ocean breezes on the
Coastal Plain keep insects at bay, and
the level ground helps the caribou
spot wolves and other predators.
The caribou graze on the nutritious
summer vegetation that thrives on
the plain until the calves and mothers
are strong enough for the fall migration
back to their wintering grounds
in the boreal forests of Alaska and
northwestern Canada.
Birds
Millions of migratory birds also
depend on the Refuge's tundra and
coastal lagoons for nesting, molting
or feeding during the brief but
intense arctic summer. Many species
fly thousands of miles to get to the
Arctic Refuge, including tundra swans
from Maryland, peregrine falcons
from Florida, sandhill cranes from
New Mexico, and other birds from
every state in America. Through their
annual migrations, birds connect
this fragile arctic habitat to birdwatchers
and hunters throughout the
continental United States.
Native Peoples
The Arctic Refuge is an inhabited
wilderness. Two groups of indigenous
people — the Gwich’in of the mountains
and boreal forest and the
Inupiat of the arctic coast — hunt
and fish; gather plants, roots and
berries; and travel on these lands.
It is difficult to overstate the importance
of the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge to these Alaska Natives.
The Porcupine Caribou Herd, in
particular, is central to the culture of
the Gwich'in and the social, economic
and spiritual fabric of their lives.
The caribou provide the Gwich'in
with food, clothing, medicines, winter
survival gear, sleds, tools and more.
In addition, the Gwich'in stories,
songs and traditional culture are
deeply intertwined with the herd
and its migrations. The Gwich’in
call the Coastal Plain Iizhik Gwats’an
Gwandaii Goodlit: “The Sacred Place
Where Life Begins.”

ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
“…One of the world’s great
wildlife areas. The great diversity
of vegetation and topography
in this compact area, together
with its relatively undisturbed
condition, led to its selection
as…one of our remaining wildlife
and wilderness frontiers.”
Fred Seaton, Secretary of Interior under
President Eisenhower
Oil and Wildlife
Don’t Mix
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
wisely set aside much of the
area now in the Arctic Refuge,
including its Coastal Plain, to
protect wildlife, wilderness and
recreational values in 1960.
Congress later enlarged the
Refuge and clearly identified the
conservation of “fish and wildlife
populations and habitats in their
natural diversity” as one of its
major purposes.
Installing a massive, sprawling
industrial complex for oil
development on the Coastal
Plain of the Refuge would
devastate this pristine biological
treasure. Once we allow drilling,
there is no going back. Every
member of Congress has a choice:
uphold the will of the people and
protect this exceptional place,
or listen to industry and ruin
a pristine landscape forever.

Don’t Let
Big Oil
Despoil the
Arctic
Wildlife
Refuge
Some places are just too
special to drill — the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge is,
without a doubt, one of those
places. Only Congress can ensure
the protection of the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge. We have
a solemn duty to permanently
protect our nation’s precious natural
places as our legacy and gift to our
children and grandchildren. In the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,
we can protect the most complete
and important assemblage of Arctic
and subarctic ecosystems in the
world. This priceless bit of
America’s Arctic will be a gift, not
just to America, but to the world; a
legacy not just for our time, but for
all time.
HELP CONSERVE THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
First, call or write
your senators &
representative.
This is the most important step you
can take. Urge them to keep drilling
out of the Arctic Refuge and to
permanently protect the Coastal
Plain as Wilderness.
Capitol Switchboard:
202-224-3121
Senator
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Representative
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Next, tell your
friends.
Your elected representatives need
to hear from as many of their
constituents as possible. Ask your
friends and relatives to write
letters and make calls voicing their
feelings on the Arctic Refuge.
Then,tell the world.
You can educate your community
and highlight the important role
your elected officials play by writing
and placing a letter to the editor in
your local paper. Look up your
local newspaper at www.usnpl.com
and find out how you can submit
a letter.
If you care about the fate of the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, we
need your help both now and over
the coming months. Together we
can stop any assault on America's
Last Great Wilderness and secure
permanent protection for the
Coastal Plain — the biological
heart of America's Arctic.
122 C Street NW, Suite 240
Washington DC 20001
www.AlaskaWild.org
“…There, in those Arctic valleys, there is room for pure unadulterated adventure and learning,
for present and future generations. That is one reason for protecting the Refuge.”
Margaret E. Murie, Conservationist and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient