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FAR FLUNG TRAVEL
STORY
FAR
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FLUNG
TRAVEL
Worth Protecting
The region first became federally protected in 1960, ordered by
Fred Andrew Seaton, Secretary of the Interior under President Dwight
D. Eisenhower. In 1980, Congress passed the Alaska National Interest
Lands Conservation Act, and an expanse of 1.5 million acres of the
coastal plain was added. That region is known as “1002 area” (named
after the section of the act), and congressional authorization is required
before oil drilling in this area can commence.
The question of whether to drill for oil in the ANWR has been an
ongoing political controversy since 1977. Much of the debate over
whether to drill in the “1002 area” of the ANWR rests on the amount of
economically recoverable oil as it relates to world oil markets, weighed
against the potential harm oil exploration may have upon the fragile
habitat and the wildlife that occupies it, in particular the calving grounds
of the Porcupine caribou herd. The remaining 10.1 million acres of the
refuge are designated “minimal management.” That means this portion
of the refuge remains untouched.
There are currently no roads within or leading into the refuge.
However, there are a few scattered Native American settlements. On the
northern fringe is the Inupiat village of Kaktovik (population 258), and on
the southern boundary the Gwich’in settlement of Arctic Village (population
152). Generally, the 1,500 or so visitors who venture into the ANWR each
year gain access to the refuge by bush plane, but it is also possible to
reach the refuge by boat or by walking (the Dalton Highway passes near
the western edge). The refuge supports a broad variety of flora and fauna –
more than any other protected area in the Arctic Circle.
Along the northern coast of the refuge, the barrier islands, coastal
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