Protect America's Serengeti

This map depicts the Ninety-five percent of Alaska's vast North Slope already open to oil exploration or development. Figures were calculated based on the Ecoregions of Alaska GIS data.

The last 5 percent ­ the Arctic Refuge coastal plain -- is often called "America's Serengeti" because of its aggregations of caribou and other wildlife.

Caribou
For centuries, a vast herd of caribou has traveled hundreds of miles from Canada's Porcupine River region to the coastal plain, where females give birth in the spring. The timing of and types of plant growth on the plain are particularly favorable for pregnant and nursing caribou. In addition, in the early summer there are fewer predators (such as wolves, bears, and eagles), so newborn caribou have a better chance of surviving their vulnerable first few weeks of life. After calving, the caribou gather in large concentrations along the coast, where cooling breezes help disperse insects that can drain more than a quart of blood a week from the calves and their parents.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has concluded that oil development in the coastal plain would cause a major decline or displacement of the Porcupine caribou. Industrial facilities, such as roads and pipelines, would force pregnant caribou and nursing mothers to move away from preferred habitat. The herd would be displaced to areas where there are substantially more predators, less high-quality forage, and significantly less relief from mosquitoes. Even a small reduction in the number of surviving calves -- less than 5 percent in a single year -- could have long-term effects, decreasing the size of the herd.

Drilling proponents discount the importance of the coastal plain because caribou remain there only briefly. This is analogous to claiming maternity wards are expendable because new mothers use them for only a short time. Advocates of oil development also point to the Central Arctic herd, which inhabits the Prudhoe Bay area, as evidence that oil and wildlife can coexist. Yet Alaska's Department of Fish and Game reports that pregnant caribou have dramatically shifted away from the oil fields, calving instead where there are no industrial disturbances. Their studies show that as oilfield roads and pipelines grew closer together in the Kuparuk oilfields in the Central Arctic, concentrated calving disappeared from this area and shifted to the south. Scientists say that the Porcupine herd, which is nearly seven times larger than the Central Arctic herd but relies on a calving area that is one-fifth the size, would be at a far greater risk from oil development.

Polar Bears
The coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge is the most important onshore denning area for the entire Beaufort Sea population of polar bears, which range along 800 miles of the arctic coast. Most of the year, these bears roam along the sea ice in search of seals and other prey. In the fall, pregnant females seek den sites in which to give birth and nurse their young. Denning polar bears are extremely sensitive to industrial activity. Females may abandon their dens if disturbed, which can be fatal for cubs unable to fend for themselves.

Muskoxen
Completely wiped out in Alaska in the late nineteenth century by hunters, muskoxen have been successfully reintroduced in the northern portion of the state. Approximately 325 animals now live year-round on the refuge's coastal plain. According to the Interior Department, oil development in the region would displace muskoxen from a large percentage of their preferred habitat in all seasons, which would reduce their population in the refuge.

Birds
During the brief summer season, more than 135 bird species gather on the coastal plain of the refuge for breeding, nesting, and migratory stopovers. Among the many species that use the area are snow geese, tundra swans, red-throated loons, snowy owls, eider ducks, scoters, long-tailed ducks, pintails, and a variety of shorebirds.

The coastal plain is the last 5 percent of Alaska's vast North Slope where oil exploration and development have not been allowed. It is the key to the ecosystems that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was designed to protect -- too fragile, and too valuable, to be sacrificed for a short-term, speculative supply of oil. (Text from: NRDC)

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