Fifty years ago the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge came into existence, a milestone commemorated with stories, books, including one by Douglas Brinkley, which we featured yesterday, and events around the country. The anniversary provides a historic opportunity to designate the remaining 1.5-million acres within the refuge’s boundaries as wilderness area, protecting the last piece from energy development.
“For a quarter-century a debate has raged about the best use of the refuge’s unprotected northernmost section, the coastal plain along the Beaufort Sea. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report due for completion in 2012 may well shape the refuge’s fate,” we wrote in the November-December issue of Audubon.
Continue reading Provide Wilderness Protection in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
