IMMINENT OIL SALE MUST BE STOPPED TO SAVE ALASKAN WILDLIFE AND WETLANDS
By Eleanor Huffines, The Wilderness Society
It is part of the largest single block of wild public land left in the United States. It is home to millions of waterfowl and tens of thousands of caribou. It is one of the most remarkable wetlands on the planet.And it belongs to you and every other American. Yet on September 27, all this could change. That's when the Interior Department plans to lease this spectacular landscape - called the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area - to the highest bidder.
A broad and diverse range of groups have already voiced their opposition to the administration's oil and gas drilling plan. Hundreds of hunters and scientists, conservationists and Alaskan Natives - they've all made it clear that opening Teshekpuk to oil and gas is the wrong move. And thousands of regular citizens, mobilized by The Wilderness Society, have joined the fight. Those wishing to add their support can click here.
Even other federal agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Environmental Protection Agency, have weighed in with concerns. Moreover, within the past few weeks, members of the US House and Senate have written to Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Interior, to ask that Teshekpuk Lake be protected from oil drilling. Conservation groups filed suit against Interior's plan in May, and the case is pending.
So far, the Interior Department has shown little evidence that it has given any weight to these concerns, opting instead to take its direction from the oil companies. At The Wilderness Society, we are redoubling our efforts in the coming weeks to ensure that Secretary Kempthorne pulls these leases from the table. Only with increased public pressure can we stop this misguided drilling plan and protect the critical wildlife habitat around Teshekpuk Lake.
Coming on the heels of the latest revelations about oil company negligence in the Prudhoe Bay oil fields, the Interior Department's plans to expand the Alaskan oil fields into the sensitive wetland habitat around Teshekpuk Lake in Alaska is particularly disturbing.
We still have time to talk sense into Secretary Kempthorne, as long as concerned citizens continue to speak out. Click here to write a letter today.
The Teshekpuk region, which has long been recognized for its extraordinary ecological value, has a long history of special protections. Why? The vast and remarkable complex of wetlands provides essential nesting grounds for countless waterfowl, shorebirds and songbirds. The wild, unbroken habitat sustains 45,000 caribou. And seven Native communities rely on these caribou for subsistence harvests every year.
The introduction of oil and gas rigs to Teshekpuk would mean disturbing every part of its ecosystem. Habitat would be fragmented, fragile systems altered, key species threatened.
Past Interior Secretaries have recognized the importance of protecting the region by declaring certain portions off-limits to development. And there is ample precedent for postponement: In the Clinton years, Secretary Bruce Babbitt scrubbed a Beaufort Sea lease sale to gather more information, including data on cumulative effects.Dirk Kempthorne should do the same now.
But the current administration wants to reverse that tradition. That's why The Wilderness Society's campaign is so important. We invite the public to help us convince Secretary Kempthorne that our public lands must be protected. Click here to see for yourself how special Teshekpuk is, and tell the administration that the American people will not let this important habitat be sold.
As the new Interior Secretary, Kempthorne has the perfect opportunity to signal an era of environmental stewardship. He has every reason to postpone the sale: the continued opposition from the public, Alaska Natives and wildlife professionals.
The area around Teshekpuk Lake should remain what it is today: an irreplaceable, unbroken, core wildlife habitat for caribou, molting geese and millions of other birds and mammals and a place where generations of Alaska Natives have hunted, fished and pursued their subsistence ways of life.
Eleanor Huffines is the Alaska Regional Director of The Wilderness Society.
recommend
Facebook
Twitter
bookmark 
email
print
Comments: 13
I've placed this artcle as Lead Feature in the Renewed Activist.
is there any way you can let your gather network and group members know about this artcile and ask them to click on the link to send a letter? I think this is one of the most timely and important actions of seen posed on Gather.
People frequently do read their email notifications...Hopefully, that will suffice...
i agree, Ted, it is a very important issue.
It is the LEAD FEATURE in The Renewed Activist.
Thanks for your interest.
I used the link to respond
I will most certainly participate in this action but I have a question that may make me appear a bit ignorant. When you say, "The Interior Department plans to lease this spectacular landscape - called the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area - to the highest bidder," - do you mean to tell me that this is the standard practice for the sale of land? Isn't there usually legislation to prevent the sale of protected lands? Did we miss this legislation or was it never created?
And if certain regions are not specificed in legislation, is it up for grabs for the Dept. of Interior to sell?
However, this is not a final decision on the matter and both sides have until the 15th to respond to the judges concerns.
An article on the judge's preliminary ruling can be found here: Court Blocks Drilling in Alaskan Wetlands
-David
Any public land under the jurisdiction of the BLM (see map here) which isn't protected by any sort of designation (i.e. a National Wildlife Refuge, National Park, National Landscape Conservation System etc.) can be nominated by the drilling industry for a lease sale. Keep in mind that the land itself is not being sold, just the rights to drill there. Once a piece of land is nominated, the BLM can decide whether or not to allow a lease sale to take place. Under the current administration, the probability of a piece of land nominated by industry being approved by the BLM has increased. Check out this factsheet to see a step-by-step breakdown of the leasing process.
In case of Teshekpuk Lake, the area was off-limits to leasing until January 2006. Previously, President Reagan's Secretary of the Interior James Watt (not the usual champion of wild places) had put 200,000 acres of land just north of the lake off limits to leasing. President Clinton's Interior Secretary, Bruce Babbitt, went even further and closed nearly 600,000 acres to leasing through the creation of the Teshekpuk Lake Surface Protection Area. Earlier this year, however, the BLM abruptly decided to open up the entire area to leasing.
Thanks very much for the updated information. Indeed, since this article was originally written there has been a preliminary decision issued by Judge James Singleton, Jr. in favor of the protection of Teshekpuk Lake. We've posted our release to Gather and it is available here: Preliminary Court Decision Would Bar Leasing in Critical Wetlands at Teshekpuk Lake.
Although a final decision will not be made until later in the month, this is good news for those concerned with the protection of wild American lands.