It's been a long time since I've been here, but I think this place should be part of an executive order for permanent protection from oil and gas development. It's winter now, dark and cold, but very much alive in the winter, and in the summertime, which is when I visited. It's the equivalent of the greatest national parks in the world. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge needs permanent protection from any sort of development, and that means being used as a staging area for off shore oil drilling as well. Polar Bears den onshore here. It is also the calving ground of the internationally shared Porcupine Caribou Herd that uses this area every summer for breeding. Millions of birds breed here.
I hope I can go visit again soon and hopefully I won't have to stand in front of the bulldozers.
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