Even if well-planned and executed, oil exploration and development would have significant and lasting impacts on the environment of the Coastal Plain. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers the 1.5 million-acre Coastal Plain area to be the "biological heart" of the entire 19-million acre refuge. This area -- where the oil industry wants to drill -- is the center of wildlife activity in the Arctic Refuge and its most productive area, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Coastal Plain is a critical part of our nation's preeminent wilderness.
        The Department of the Interior estimated that 12,500 acres would be directly impacted in a web of roads, drill pads, processing facilities and airports extending over hundreds of square miles, not in a compact area.

Affected Wildlife
Unlike the Prudhoe Bay area, the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge is the nation's most important polar bear denning habitat on land. It also hosts up to 300,000 snow geese readying themselves for their southern migration, and it provides critical calving habitat for the international Porcupine River caribou herd.
        Female polar bears may abandon their dens if disturbed, and early den abandonment can be fatal to cubs unable to fend for themselves. Most maternity den sites are never known, and therefore cannot be avoided. The U.S. has committed to protection of polar bear denning habitats under international treaty.

Winter oil exploration could easily displace the musk oxen from their preferred winter habitat. The Department of the Interior predicts muskoxen numbers will drop by 25 to 50 percent in the face of oil development on the Coastal Plain.

The Coastal Plain is the primary birthing ground for the cows of the Porcupine herd. Oil development will disrupt this centuries old migration pattern, and will also affect the Gwich’in tribe that depends on the caribou herd for subsistence. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that the reduction in calf survival of as little as 5% would be sufficient to cause a decline in the population of the Porcupine caribou herd.

More than 130 species of birds are known to nest and feed on the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge. Some of these birds are migratory, traveling to the Arctic Refuge from as far away as Asia, Antarctica, and the Chesapeake Bay. The rich vegetation of the coastal tundra also attracts numerous shorebirds, waterfowl, loons, songbirds, raptors, and thousands of snowgeese. Many of these birds are extremely sensitive to noise and other disturbances; production facilities built on the Coastal Plain could end bird migrations and nesting patterns that have existed for generations.

Global Warming
Greatest amount of warming is expected in the polar regions of the Earth. It is expected that the average temperature will be 3 degrees ferenheit warmer in 2030 due to global warming. This increase in temperature will cause an increase in the amount of melting sea ice. This is not good because the sea ice cools the Earth when the sun's rays reflect off of it. With less sea ice, the ocean will get warmer by absorbing more heat. Global warming also affects the life span of plants and animals, which is assumed to have a direct relation to the amount of CO2 between the air and water. Warming will alter the patterns, and scientists are unsure how the ecosystems will react and how it may affect the future climate.

Fact Sheet on ANWR from Natural Resources Defense Council

For an in-depth analysis of the impact the oil industry would make on wildlife in the ANWR visit the website of the Alaska Wilderness League

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Arctic National Wildlife Refuge web site