Alaska's Western Arctic
Good News!
Court Suspends Teshekpuk Lake Oil and Gas Lease Sales
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>> Read the Sierra Club's Press Release
Slideshow! See images of Teshekpuk Lake by acclaimed photographer Subhankar Banerjee.
"While the battle over drilling the [arctic] refuge raged in Congress, the Bush Administration leased vast tracts of land to the west and offshore waters to the highest bidder."
- Joel K. Bourne, Jr., writing for the May 2006 issue of National Geographic magazine in the cover story, "Selling Alaska's Frontier"
 National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska
Stretching across Alaska's vast North Slope, the Western Arctic is home to thousands of migratory birds and mammals as well as numerous Native Alaskan cultures. At the heart of the North Slope is the 23.5 million acres National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A). The NPR-A is the largest block of wild public land in the United States.
History of the NPR-A
The Reserve was established in 1923 by President Warren Harding and was designated for use by the military during emergencies. In 1976, Congress passed the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act, which turned management of the NPR-A over to the Department of the Interior with the requirement that "maximum protection" be given to surface values. Congress also directed the Secretary of the Interior to create special areas in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
The following year, Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus designated 1.7 million acres of fragile wetlands surrounding Teshekpuk Lake as the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area. This designation meant that the wildlife, subsistence and cultural values must receive maximum protection under any future development scenario. Until recently, it was enough to protect these pristine places.
Since 1977 the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area has been recognized for its incomparable wildlife habitat resources by both Republican and Democratic administrations. In 1983 the Reagan administration closed 200,000 acres north of Teshekpuk Lake specifically because of its value to molting brant and other geese. Fifteen years later, in 1998, the Clinton administration created 857,859-acre a Teshekpuk Lake Surface Protection Area. Of this area 588,998 acres were completely closed to leasing.
In January of 2006 the Bush Administration announced their plans to open the entire Northeastern region of the NPR-A, including the historically protected areas around Teshekpuk Lake. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has tentatively scheduled an oil and gas lease sale for September 27, 2006.
Teshekpuk Lake
The Teshekpuk Lake region is one of the most important and sensitive arctic wetland complexes in the Northern Hemisphere. The Teshekpuk Lake Special Area is home to the 45,000-head Teshekpuk Lake Caribou Herd, 60,000 molting geese a year, and the entire breeding population of Steller's eiders. Hundreds of species of birds migrate from six different continents in order to spend part of the year in Teshekpuk Lake.
Valued by local Alaska Natives for subsistence, national sportsmen, conservationists, and naturalists, the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area is a critical part of America's Arctic and natural heritage.
Oil and Gas Lease Sales Planned
In response to a request for comments on the proposed Teshekpuk Lake lease sales, more than 215,000 citizens spoke out in favor of protecting and preserving the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area. National sportsmen's groups, ornithologists and even members of Congress have voiced opposition to opening this part of Teshekpuk Lake.
Additionally, the mayor of the North Slope Borough – the largest municipal government entity on Alaska's North Slope – spoke openly about the threat to Alaska Native communities' subsistence resources and cultural values – which are protected under the 1976 Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act.
Some places are too valuable to destroy for any amount of oil or money. It's time for Americans to stand up to Big Oil and to urge the Bush Administration to cancel its plans for oil and gas leases in the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area. Over 95% of Alaska's North Slope is already open for oil and gas exploration and development.
For more information please contact Betsy Goll at betsy@sierraclubalaska.org or call 907-276-4044 or visit www.savetlake.org.
www.sierraclub.org/arctic
http://www.sierraclub.org/wildlands/wildlandsatrisk/teshekpuk.asp
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