Above is a map of northern Alaska showing the Prudhoe Bay oil reserve.

Oil reserves in Prudhoe Bay were discovered in 1968 in northern Alaska. The US Department of the Interior conducted an environmental impact statement of the proposed Trans-Alaska Pipeline System in 1972 and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act that allowed construction was signed by President Nixon a year later. The objective of the Act is to lessen American dependence on foreign oil and to increase availablility and access to domestic oil sources in order to provide more crude oil for domestic use.

The 48-inch diameter, 800-mile above-ground pipeline crosses 34 major rivers, three mountain ranges, and 800 mountain streams, causing major construction challenges. Despite these major environmental concerns due to the fragility of the Arctic ecosystem, the need for domestic oil and economic growth overshadowed the concern for the potential destruction of the Alaskan wilderness. Construction began in 1974 and was finished and pumping oil by July 1977. The oil is extracted in the frigid Prudhoe Bay and transported through the pipeline to the significantly warmer Port of Valdez located in southern Alaska. Once at Valdez, it is a much easier task to transport the oil to other US refineries via tankers, ships, and other methods of transportation.

The idea of a pipeline was considered to be the most economical and safe, though that has hardly been the case since the construction. The Arctic has proved to be a very challenging environment to extract and transport oil, especially regarding hot crude oil flow and its impact on the Alaskan permafrost. Since the early 2000s, there has been no short supply of issues that threaten the success of the pipeline and the safety of the surrounding environment. Problems include corrosion, and some places of the pipeline walls have been reduced to half their original thickness, causing the need for the replacement of over eight miles of the pipeline. In addition, there are often shutdowns, spills, fires, and flow reductions that have dramatically effected the environment.

Environmental Issues: Essential Primary Sources. "DOI Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act." GREENR. http://find.galegroup.com/grnr/infomark.do?&source=gale&idigest=6f8f4a3faafd67e66fa023866730b0a1&prodId=GRNR&userGroupName=bucknell_it&tabID=T016&docId=CX3456400114&type=retrieve&contentSet=EBKS&version=1.0.

Olaus Murie was a wildlife biologist who studied caribou herds in the Brooks Range in northern Alaska. He was named president of the Wilderness society in 1950 after being a part of the organization for 13 years. Murie's accomplishments include persuading President FDR to include additional land to the Olympic National Monument, establishing Jackson Hole National Monument, and successfully lobbying dam projects in Glacier National Park and Dinosaur National Monument. However, his most well known work was protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and its successful campaign.

"Wilderness.org." Olaus Murie | Wilderness.org. Accessed May 1, 2017. http://wilderness.org/bios/former-council-members/olaus-murie.

The Wilderness Society is a conservation organization that was established in 1935 and has successfully protected 110 million acres of wilderness in 44 states. The organization’s mission is to “protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places.” Other objectives include better protection, stewardship, and restoration of public lands for current and future generations. For further reading, visit the website: http://wilderness.org/

This map shows northern Alaska, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge region, and the 1002 area which will be explained in a later section. The ANWR spans 19.2 million acres, and the 1002 area is 1.5 million acres.

"ANWR: Producing American Energy and Creating American Jobs." House Committee on Natural Resources. Accessed May 05, 2017. http://naturalresources.house.gov/anwr/.

In 1989, a transport tanker ship called Exxon Valdez hit the shore and spilled over 250,000 barrels of crude oil, causing the worst-ever oil spill in Alaska. This resulted in the death of 5,000 otters, 300 harbor seals, 200,000 birds of nintey different species, and hundreds of fish and other animals. Additionally, it caused a dramatic demise in multiple plant and marine species and ecosystems. Cleanup efforts of the oil spill cost Exxon around $2 billion, which is a small price to pay for an event that altered an entire ecosystem for years to come. For something that is considered necessary for the United States oil supply and economy, the resulting consequences have the potential to obliterate the Alaskan environment and change the Arctic Ocean ecosystems forever. Major oil spills such as this are one of the major concerns for extracting oil in the ANWR.

Environmental Issues: Essential Primary Sources. "DOI Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act." GREENR. http://find.galegroup.com/grnr/infomark.do?&source=gale&idigest=6f8f4a3faafd67e66fa023866730b0a1&prodId=GRNR&userGroupName=bucknell_it&tabID=T016&docId=CX3456400114&type=retrieve&contentSet=EBKS&version=1.0.

This map shows the 800-mile Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), also called the Alyeska Pipeline, that was built in the 1970s with 11 pumping stations that transports crude oil from Prudhoe Bay to Port Valdez. The pipeline cost around $8 billion to build. The link below provides facts on the pipeline provided by the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company: http://www.alyeska-pipe.com/TAPS/PipelineFacts

About the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. Accessed April 30, 2017. http://www.treasure-hunt.alaska.edu/ch5/info_pipeline.html.

This map shows a more detailed version of the 1002 area, located in the north section of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This map also shows the location of the Native property that is at risk of being drilled.

USGS. "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 1002 Area, Petroleum Assessment, 1998, Including Economic Analysis." USGS: Science for a Changing World. Accessed April 28, 2017.

The Sierra Club is a grassroots environmental organization that was founded in 1892 by conservationist John Muir. It has influenced environmental thought and policy in the United States since its creation. The Club was established by Muir after he successfully lobbied for the creation of Yosemite National Park with the intentions of extending Yosemite’s borders as well as promote conservation, preservation, and recreation in California. The success of the Sierra Club since then has been immense, and holds over one million members nationwide. Its involvement with the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge includes recurring lobbying to prevent drilling in addition to creating new wilderness regions. Today, the Sierra Club addresses issues such as climate change, renewable energy, urban spaces, environmental justice, and more. Its presence and influence in Washington, D.C. is critical in providing nature a voice.

Lyndgaard, Kyhl. "Sierra Club." In Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy. Vol. 2. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2009. Global Reference on the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources (accessed April 26, 2017).

The ANWR is referred to as America’s Serengeti because it is home to polar bears, musk oxen, snow geese, and many other species that make up the greatest biological diversity in a protected area of the Arctic. It is smaller than South Carolina but its 1.5 million-acre coast contains 5% of Alaska’s oil, which former President George W. Bush had promised to drill for. This journal provides very useful maps, statistics, and analysis of social, economic, and environmental impact of drilling in the ANWR. Industry representatives claim the new technology is designed specifically for arctic conditions, but there is evidence that oil drilling in the ANWR will do more harm than good.

Pelley, Janet. "Will Drilling for Oil Disrupt the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge?" Environmental Science & Technology 35, no. 11 (June 1, 2001). Accessed March 26, 2017. doi:10.1021/es0123756. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/es0123756

This is a documentary by National Geographic that analyzes the impacts of oil companies and oil development in Alaska that is slowly moving towards oil extraction in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It includes a basic overview of oil development in the Arctic as well as interviews from the Public Relations Chair of Chevron, as well as a Kaktovik resident, whose town controls 92,000 acres of oil-rich land in the Refuge. The Kaktovik people are at a crossroads because they could partake in the profit of the oil drilling, but it means that their land is destroyed. This allows a comparison of perspectives from the oil companies and the native people who are affected by drilling.

Alaska's Last Oil. Directed by National Geographic. December 8, 2010. Accessed March 26, 2017.

Further reading on the updated technology and tactics used in modern day drilling, graphs and figures included.

Pelley, Janet. "Will Drilling for Oil Disrupt the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge?" Environmental Science & Technology 35, no. 11 (June 1, 2001). Accessed March 26, 2017. doi:10.1021/es0123756. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/es0123756

William Cunningham is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Minnesota where he taught for 36 years in the Departments of Botany and Genetics and Cell Biology as well as the Conservation Biology Program, the Institute for Social, Economic, and Ecological Sustainability, the Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership, and the McArthur Program in Global Change. He received his Ph.D. in Botany from the University of Texas in 1963 and spent two years at Purdue University as a postdoctoral fellow. At various times, he has been a visiting scholar in Sweden, Norway, Indonesia, and China, as well as several universities and research institutions in the United States. Dr. Cunningham has devoted himself to education and teaching development at the undergraduate level in biology. He began his educational career in structural biology but for the last 10-15 years has concentrated on environmental science, teaching courses such as Social Uses of Biology; Garbage, Government, and the Globe; Environmental Ethics; and Conservation History. Within the past four years, he has received both of the two highest teaching honors that the University of Minnesota bestows: The Distinguished Teaching Award and a $15,000 Amoco Alumni Award. He has served as a Faculty Mentor for younger faculty at the university, sharing the knowledge and teaching skills that he has gained during his distinguished career.

Cunningham, William. "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge." Environmental Encyclopedia 1 (2011). Accessed March 26, 2017.

This article claims that it would take several decades to extract the oil in the ANWR, where at its peak in 2025 would account for 3% of domestic oil consumption. The benefit of drilling in the ANWR would be to sell the oil for a total of ~$613 billion, which experts claim this number could dramatically increase. Kotchen and Burger argue that the profit could be used for funding for renewable energy technology, but also acknowledge the fact that to allow this drilling would just satisfy our addiction to oil. This provides a non-environmentalist perspective on the benefits of drilling in the ANWR.

Kotchen, Matt J., and Nicolas Burger. "Oil and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge." Resources for the Future, October 6, 2008. Accessed March 23, 2017. http://www.rff.org/blog/2008/oil-and-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge

This article considers other ongoing world events (specifically, the Gulf War) in order to pressure Congress’s pending approval of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. At this point in time, there had been a joint drilling executed by BP and Chevron, but the results were declared a corporate secret and were not released to policy makers, other oil companies, or the public. A major reason why the drilling was being pushed was to have a lesser reliance on foreign oil.

Balzar, John. "Arctic Wildlife Refuge may be Casualty of Persian Gulf Crisis." Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File), Aug 26, 1990. Accessed March 25, 2017. https://search.proquest.com/docview/1461028582?accountid=9784

The Arctic is home to a plethora of resources; it currently produces one tenth of the world’s oil and one fourth of its natural gas. Commercial extraction of oil started in the 1920s in Canada’s northwest territories. In the 1960s, large hydrocarbon fields were found in Russia, Alaska, and the Mackenzie Delta in Canada. The last several decades have produced billions of cubic meters of gas and oil in these countries in addition to Norway. The Canadian Arctic holds 49 gas and oil fields in the Mackenzie River Delta and 15 are located on the Canadian Arctic archipelago. There are also 11 offshore fossil fuel fields that were discovered in Barents Sea between Russia and Norway. North of the Arctic Circle, mostly in western Siberia, more than 400 onshore oil and gas fields have been found; roughly 60 of these fields are notably vast while a quarter of them are currently inoperable.

In addition to fuel sources, there are also extensive deposits of minerals in the Arctic, predominantly in the most developed part of the region, the Russian Arctic. It contains copper, silver, zinc, molybdenum, gold, uranium, tungsten, tin, platinum, palladium, apatite, cobalt, titanium, rare metals, ceramic raw materials, mica, precious stones, and some of the largest known deposits of coal, gypsum, and diamonds. The North American Arctic, on the other hand, holds iron, nickel, copper, and uranium. It is important to note, however, that many of the known mineral reserves have not been extracted due to the high cost and their inaccessibility.

"Natural Resources / Arctic." / Arctic. February 21, 2017. Accessed March 08, 2017. http://arctic.ru/resources/.

Resource extraction is not synonymous with instant gratification. The beginning of the process starts with in-depth discussions of feasibility as well as economic, social, and environmental impact. The arctic presents great opportunities for energy, mining, and infrastructure development, which are the leading private sector contributors to economies. However, this does not mean they go without substantial risks and challenges. Considerations include impacts, risk assessment, adaptations, and mitigation; these need to be discussed at length with owners, operators, businesses, governments, utilities, academics, and those potentially affected, both human and nonhuman. Other factors include the consideration of the reduction of seasonal, annual, and multi-year sea ice, meaning a higher accessibility to Arctic waters and coasts for marine shipping and transportation.

The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental forum that promotes cooperation, coordination, and interaction among the Arctic States and their residents of issues on sustainable development and environmental protection in the region. The Council, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in September 2016, has a goal of discussing climate challenges and frailty that the North’s ecosystem presents, as well as national development opportunities. In October 2016, the Russian government held a conference called the International Cooperation in the Arctic: New Challenges and Vectors of Development. At this meeting, the most prioritized issue was that of involving non-regional states in the Arctic agenda, along with transforming the Arctic Council into an international organization in order to expand on issues. Additionally, there is talk of establishing parameters of sustainable development in the Arctic, and the up-and-coming field of Arctic law.

"Arctic Resource Development and Climate Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation." Submission Guides. Accessed March 08, 2017. http://arctic.ucalgary.ca/arctic-resource-development-and-climate-impacts-adaptation-and-mitigation.

"Juneau, Alaska, United States." Arctic Council. May 20, 2015. Accessed March 08, 2017. http://arctic-council.org/index.php/en/about-us.

Admin. "2016 International Cooperation in the Arctic: New Challenges and Vectors of Development Conference." Pan-Arctic Options. Accessed March 08, 2017. http://panarcticoptions.org/international-cooperation-in-the-arctic-new-challenges-and-vectors-of-development/.

Dr. Ian McTaggart-Cowan was a professor of zoology and Dean of graduate studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC), where he founded and lead the first university-based wildlife conservation department in Canada. Referred to as the "Father of Canadian Ecology,” he was one of the founders of the study of environmental ecology in Canada, and was appointed to the board of The Nature Trust of British Columbia by the Prime Minister of Canada, where he served as director for 33 years. Dr. McTaggart-Cowan graduated from UBC and completed his PhD at the University of California at Berkeley. Since then, he has received many awards and honors for his research and dedication to the research and conservation of wildlife in Canada. His accomplishments also include founding the National Research Council of Canada, serving as Chair of the Environmental Council of Canada, the inaugural and 19-year Chair of the Public Advisory Board of the BC Habitat Conservation Trust Fund Foundation, keystone member (and later Chair) of the Birds of British Columbia author team, chancellor of the University of Victoria, and advocate for whaling commissions in support of its prohibition.

At UBC, Dr. McTaggart-Cowan oversaw the research of more than 100 students and continued to inspire generations of academics. During the 1950s and 1960s, he produced television nature programs on CBC (Canada Broadcasting Corporation) such as Fur and Feathers, The Living Seas, and The Web of Life that were aired internationally in hopes of inspiring the youth to advocate for conservation and its research. Dr. McTaggart-Cowan also had a strong political voice and convinced the Canadian government to hire professional wildlife biologists for the country’s wildlife programs.

West, All Points. "Canadian Conservation Leader and TV Nature Program Pioneer Profiled in New Biography." CBCnews. October 15, 2015. Accessed March 06, 2017. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ian-mctaggart-cowan-bio-shines-light-on-pioneering-tv-nature-program-host-1.3271571.

"Ian McTaggart Cowan." The Nature Trust of British Columbia. Accessed March 06, 2017. http://www.naturetrust.bc.ca/ian-mctaggart-cowan/.

The Dene people are a part of a tribe located on the western subarctic region of Canada, where they experience harsh winters and short summers in the tundra-dominated territory. They are a part of a larger family of Aboriginal cultures known as the Athapaskan people, including the Chipewyan, Dogrib, Hare, Kutchin, Tutchone, Tahltan, Beaver, Carrier and Slavey. The word Dene in Athapaskan translates to “the people."

They rely heavily on caribou; it provides food, clothing, tools, and housing. They also hunted moose, musk-ox, rabbit, and fished to maintain their economy. However, it was not uncommon for tribe members to succumb to starvation and cold, as there was not much food in the southern region. For tribes located further west, the forests and rivers provided more opportunities for food, such as salmon.

The typical housing situation for the Dene varies, because most of the tribe members lead nomadic lives which requires materials that are easily transportable using toboggans. Housing ranged from skin-covered, dome-shaped tipis to cabins built with poles to dugout pit houses. The Dene are socially organized in small groups of families who travel together, though groups of up to 600 is known to happen. The family dynamic is traditional, where the men are the dominant figure. Though as individuals they were granted great amounts of freedom, menstruating women and girls entering puberty were forced in isolation in fear of upsetting the hunting spirits. Dene Chiefs did not reign indefinitely and were chosen based on merit and for temporary situations.

"Canada A Country by Consent: Native Peoples: Dene." Canada A Country by Consent: Native Peoples: Dene. Accessed March 06, 2017. http://www.canadahistoryproject.ca/1500/1500-11-dene.html.