The decades-long battle over whether to open Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling is once again at a fever pitch, which makes this a good time for Alaskans to ask ourselves what we want our state to be, and how much we value our wild, public lands.
For some of us, it is astonishing that Americans are still discussing this issue after roughly 30 years of bipartisan support in Congress and across the nation for protecting one of the last untouched wild places we have left.
It is no exaggeration to call the Arctic Refuge a national treasure. It is an amazing, 19.3 million-acre landscape that is home to polar bears, wolves, migratory birds and the Porcupine Caribou Herd, which consists of approximately 197,000 animals.
Its coastal plain — the primary target of pro-drilling forces in Congress — is part of an amazing, wild landscape stretching from just south of the Brooks Range to the Arctic Ocean. As the birthing ground of the Porcupine herd, vital denning habitat for polar bears and globally significant nesting habitat for migratory birds, this is the biological heart of the refuge.
I’ve spent 20 years guiding clients into Alaska’s backcountry, including at least 13 years of trips into our amazing Arctic Refuge. It is a place that changes the lives of those who visit it, and it is a perfect, pristine ecosystem. That alone is enough reason to protect it from oil drilling and the spills and pollution that inevitably come with industrial development.
Alaska is a resource-dependent state that has long depended on oil, mining, timber and commercial fishing to fund our state government. But times change, and economies must evolve. We need the new dialogue about our future to underscore the momentum of tourism and outdoor recreation, and celebrate the intrinsic value of our spectacular public lands. We aren’t just an oil state anymore, and our budget crisis proves that.
With national oil supplies at historic highs and gas prices at long-term lows, there is no justification for attempting to drill for oil in the refuge. Still, our elected leaders invest energy and stake political careers on drilling, drilling, drilling. They have even hijacked the federal budget process in pursuit of that goal.
By including language in budget resolutions that would require the federal government to raise money based on overinflated estimates of oil revenue from the Arctic Refuge, pro-drilling members of Congress are trying to sneak this unpopular idea through the backdoor when they think American voters aren’t watching.
Drilling in the Arctic Refuge is not a budget issue. It has been estimated that the revenue generated by selling off our nation’s most iconic wild place would offset less than one percent of our increased deficits — but even those estimates are highly inflated. Estimated revenues from drilling in the refuge would require companies to bid an average of $2,400 for every single acre of the 1.5 million-acre coastal plain. That’s more than 10 times the average lease sale bid on Alaska’s North Slope (about $168/acre).
Do we really want to turn over our greatest public lands and shared spaces to private ownership and for-profit corporations? This could be one of our last chances to save a vast, intact landscape that is home to iconic species such as caribou, wolves and polar bears.
So let’s start that new dialogue about what Alaska is, and what it will be. Let’s start the work to diversify our economy so that it will be sustainable for future generations. Let’s commit to protecting the majestic, wild places that make this state unlike any other place in the world.
I know Alaskans treasure our wild frontier landscapes and our big wildlife. My business and many others in Alaska depend on them. Now is the time for us to stand up and protect the Arctic Refuge, because it is too special to sacrifice.
• Dan Oberlatz owns and operates Alaska Alpine Adventures, an adventure tourism business. He lives in Anchorage with his family.
