Protect the Western Arctic
Another Spectacular Piece of Alaska Under Attack
Like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to the east of it, Alaska's Western Arctic is a priority oil-drilling target for the Bush Administration. The Western Arctic's formal name, the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, gives no hint of the area's extraordinary wildlife, wilderness, and natural values and the Bureau of Land Management appears willing to sacrifice them.
The agency has issued a terribly lopsided draft environmental impact statement for oil and gas drilling on an 8.8-million-acre area. The draft ignores the special places of the Western Arctic and the wildlife they support. We ask your help in protecting them. The deadline for comments is April 2, 2003. Please take action by editing the letter below to reflect your own viewpoint, then clicking on "Send Message."
If you'd like to know more about the proposal, visit the BLM's web site at:
http://www.ak.blm.gov/nwnpra/
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: NPR-A DEIS COMMENTS
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the northwest planning area of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
From the foothills of Alaska's Brooks Range north to the Arctic Ocean, the Reserve encompasses a vast, largely pristine area of extensive coastal plain wetlands, rolling foothills, and wild rivers. Alaska Native communities depend upon the wildlife in this area for subsistence. Unfortunately this DEIS is a one-sided development plan that endangers the Reserve's special places and undermines responsible environmental safeguards where development would proceed.
Oil development should be off-limits in the areas most important for wildlife, wilderness and subsistence values. There are at least five special areas within the northwest planning area that should be permanently protected for their unique values: Meade River/Dease Inlet, Teshekpuk Lake, Peard Bay, Kasegaluk Lagoon, and Colville River.
I urge you to develop a common sense, middle-ground alternative for the northwest planning area of the NPR-A. We deserve a balance between energy development and environmental protection. That balance is best achieved by instituting stronger environmental safeguards and making oil development off-limits in the areas most essential for wildlife and subsistence use.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
March 10, 2003
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BACKGROUND: OVER AN OIL BARREL
On January 17th the Bureau of Land Management released a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for more oil and gas leasing in the northwestern part of the nation's largest remaining block of unprotected land, the sterilely misnamed National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
In the DEIS the agency proposes a one-sided development plan that would endanger the Reserve's special places and undermine responsible environmental safeguards. Of the three alternatives outlined in the DEIS, two propose development in all or nearly all of the northwest planning area. Drilling is the only priority in the document. Wildlife, subsistence, cultural and wilderness values that would be damaged or permanently lost get far less consideration by an Administration obsessed with energy resource development.
WETLANDS, WILDLIFE AND WILDERNESS
The Reserve's extensive network of wetlands supports a world-class population of golden eagles, peregrine falcons, and other birds of prey, along with millions of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds. Grizzly bears, wolves, caribou and moose roam the foothills. Beluga whales and spotted seals swim freely in icy coastal lagoons. Arctic poppies and cotton grass dance in the wind. There is more here, and of more enduring value, than oil.
At least five special areas within the northwest planning area deserve permanent protection because of their unique wilderness and wildlife: Meade River/Dease Inlet, Teshekpuk Lake, Peard Bay, Kasegaluk Lagoon, and Colville River.
The BLM seems to have confined its analysis to a too-literal reading of the area's name and ignored the splendid natural values that thrive within it. The point is not that no oil and gas development should occur. The point is that such development as does occur must respect the natural values of the place whose loss would echo for generations after the oil is gone. The agency should develop a common sense, middle-ground alternative that will provide protection for the most special places of the region and set in place strong environmental safeguards are for areas that are opened to development.
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HOW YOU CAN HELP: Take Action Now!
We need your help to transform the Bush Administration's latest plan to allow a massive drilling scheme in America's Western Arctic wildlands. Please take a few minutes to urge the Bureau of Land Management to exercise restraint and impose some sensible balance on the development of a final oil and gas leasing plan for America's Western Arctic. The deadline for comments is April 2, 2003. Please try to inject some of your own thoughts within the letter -- that gives your letter so much more impact.
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