Take a deep breath. Try not to cry out in despair or doze off. This is about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and it's important.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is preparing a revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan for ANWR. The new plan includes a wilderness study for the coastal plain but virtually no consideration of oil and gas development. This one-sided approach should be of concern to all Americans and particularly to Alaskans.
ANWR was established in 1960. In 1980, the enactment of ANILCA doubled its size and set aside the coastal plain for study of oil and gas development potential. In 1987, the secretary of Interior issued the oil and gas study that ANILCA required and recommended that the coastal plain be opened to oil and gas activities. Only Congress and the president can act on that recommendation.
The coastal plain constitutes 1.5 million acres, or about 8 percent of ANWR's 19.3 million acres. Except for small areas around Kaktovik and Arctic Village, the rest of ANWR is either designated wilderness (8 million acres) or managed as such (9.8 million acres). With the reduced footprint made possible by current oil field technology, the actual area required to develop the oil and gas resources is a small fraction of the coastal plain. Accordingly, if development occurs, more than 99 percent of ANWR would remain untouched.
The federal government owns more than 60 percent of Alaska, some 222 million acres. Of this total, the National Park Service and USFWS manage approximately 120 million acres primarily for resource protection and fish and wildlife conservation. This highly protected area -- about half is designated wilderness and most of the rest has high wilderness characteristics and is minimally managed -- is roughly the size of Colorado and Utah combined. Full-blown wilderness designations in the U.S. (including Alaska's 58 million acres) total 110 million acres, an area larger than California. That's a lot of wilderness. Adding to it by designating the coastal plain as wilderness may be too much of a good thing.
An oil field producing 500,000 barrels per day would, at $100 a barrel, generate gross value exceeding $18 billion annually. That means thousands of jobs, huge tax and royalty revenues, more oil in the pipeline and a vital boost to the economy. Actual production from the coastal plain (if it ever opens) can't be known until drilling occurs but 500,000 barrels per day is a reasonable number given mean oil reserve estimates for the area. Even half that volume would provide enormous benefits. Prudhoe Bay peaked in 1989 at 1.5 million barrels daily.
In Alaska, of all places, how can we ignore opportunities afforded by oil? Without North Slope production, most of us -- teachers, public employees, merchants, health care providers, you name it -- would be elsewhere. Oil has provided the economic base that has allowed us to work here and, as the fruits of our own labor, to live the life we choose. It's not about greed. It's about opportunity for our children and grandchildren. Vilifying the oil industry may be fashionable but the people who make it tick are your neighbors. They share many of your values and will be the ones doing the work if the coastal plain is developed.
We now import more oil than ever, at terrible cost. Developing alternative energy sources and conserving are critically important but, like it or not, our economy, our neighborhoods, our lives depend on oil. More domestic oil production is needed as we transition our sources and uses of energy. We need jobs. Governments everywhere face budget shortfalls that threaten basic services. Coastal plain oil development won't solve all our problems but it can make a decent dent in them. Designating the coastal plain as wilderness will prevent that from ever happening.
Comments on the new plan may be sent to the USFWS by Nov. 15. You can do so online: Google "ANWR CCP" to find their website. Check out www.anwr.org, get informed and get involved.
Mark Lindsey worked for Nabors Alaska Drilling Inc. in Anchorage from 1988 to 1999. Subsequently, he provided contract services to a variety of companies before retiring in 2010. He and his wife Susan live in Anchorage.
By MARK LINDSAY