Tsunamis: Monitoring, Detection, and Early Warning Systems
The Challenges of Creating a Global Health Resource Tracking System
Global Issues
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): Controversies for the 109th Congress
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) consists of 19 million acres in northeast Alaska. It is administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in the Department of the Interior (DOI). Its 1.5-million-acre coastal plain is viewed as one of the most promising U.S. onshore oil and gas prospects. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the mean estimate of technically recoverable oil is 7.7 billion barrels (billion bbl), but there is a small chance that, taken together, the fields on this federal land could hold 10.5 billion bbl of economically recoverable oil (at an oil price of about $35 in 2004 dollars). That latter level would be nearly as much as the giant field at Prudhoe Bay, found in 1967 on the state-owned portion of the coastal plain west of ANWR, now estimated to have held almost 14 billion bbl of economically recoverable oil.
The Refuge, especially the nearly undisturbed coastal plain, also is home to a wide variety of plants and animals. The presence of caribou, polar bears, grizzly bears, wolves, migratory birds, and other species in a de facto wilderness has led some to call the area "America's Serengeti." The Refuge and two neighboring parks in Canada have been proposed for an international park, and several species found in the area (including polar bears, caribou, migratory birds, and whales) are protected by international treaties or agreements. The analysis in this report covers first the economic and geological factors that have triggered interest in development, then the philosophical, biological, and environmental quality factors that have generated opposition to it.
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