THE CALVING GROUNDS

White Desert or Nursery of Life?

What stands to be lost if oil development in the 1002 lands of the Alaska Refuge goes ahead?

Not much if you believe pro-development Alaskan Senator Frank Murkowski, who commonly refers to Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the 1002 lands as a land of “snow and ice.”  But as the following list of attributes clearly shows, Murkowski’s desert is an arctic eden for wildlife and birds. The Arctic Refuge is, without a doubt, unparalleled in North America for the diversity of habitats and abundance of wildlife that it hosts within its boundaries.

• The coastal plain (i.e. the 1002 lands) of the Refuge is the core calving ground for the 123,000-member Porcupine Caribou Herd.  It offers energy-starved caribou cows and newborn calves three things that are critical to their survival:

  • 1.   protein-rich forage is unavailable elsewhere in their range at that time of year;

  • 2.   refuge from wolves and grizzly bears which tend to stay deeper in the foothills and mountains; and

  • 3.   cool breezes off the Arctic Ocean ice that offer relief from insects.

• The coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the northernmost destination of millions of birds from more than 130 species.

• The coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge comprises the most important onshore denning habitat for the entire Beaufort Sea polar bear population.

• Musk oxen, wolverines, foxes, golden eagles, and snowy owls gather on the coastal plain to hunt and den every year.