ConocoPhillips Shareholders Vote to Protect Alaskan Wilderness 3rd Year in a Row

To the north of the Arctic Circle and beyond Alaska's Brooks Range mountains lies America's Arctic – the final frontier in American conservation. From Point Hope on Alaska's far western edge, to the pristine coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the east, this land—and the seas that surround it—are our single most endangered national treasure.

America's Arctic wilderness is under siege from local and global forces being shaped by human actions: Oil and gas drilling are combining with global warming to wreak havoc on this vast beautiful landscape.

The Arctic's rolling tundra and wild rivers, wetlands, ponds, deep lakes and sparkling coastal waters are home to a stunning array of wildlife. Nearly 200 species of birds visit and nest on the region's tundra and wetlands. Caribou, muskoxen, wolverines, grizzly and polar bears roam the vast expanse of land while walrus, bowhead and beluga whales ply the arctic waters. These creatures have roamed the far north for centuries. But now they are facing danger. All across their Arctic home, rapid climate change is altering their fragile habitat and the push to drill for oil is mounting.

Places in Danger

Find out more

• Read our most recent Alaska Report
• Global Warming: The Greatest Threat to America's Arctic


• Big Oil in America's Arctic
  
• The Gwich'in: A Way of Life
  
• The DespOILed Arctic
  
• The Great Polar Bear: Helpless in the Face of Global Warming
  
• There is a Better Way: Smart Energy Solutions

Walrus and polar bear photos courtesy Steven Kazlowski/www.lefteyepro.com.