Alaskan wildlife at risk from potential oil drilling project

 This just in from Leah Donahey, Arctic Ocean and Reserve Program Director:

Dear Virginia,

Protect bears, caribou and birds in the Reserve from potential drilling project. Urge Interior Secretary Jewell to improve the first oil production in the Reserve. The first round of comments are due April 22 so send yours in today!

Bears, caribou, migratory birds and other wildlife and communities in and around Special Areas of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve could be at risk from a proposed oil development project. Help by sending a letter to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today.

Conoco Phillips oil production project, called Greater Mooses Tooth 1, would be the first project since the Reserve’s comprehensive management plan was finalized in 2012. 

Thanks to your help, the Bureau of Land Management came up with a plan for our nation’s largest single unit of public land that conserved nearly 11 million acres and called for a balanced approach for future development.  It is critical that the BLM sets a high standard for this and any future oil and gas infrastructure within the Reserve.

The Mooses Tooth project is located in the wildlife-rich northeastern corner of the Reserve near the Colville River Delta, the largest and most productive river delta in northern Alaska. It provides important habitat for caribou, grizzly bears, nearly every species of fish inhabiting Arctic waters, falcons, Steller’s eiders and the yellow-billed loon – many of these birds migrate to and through the United States.

Sadly, the project could negatively impact these critical areas.

Please send a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell urging her to improve this project.
Public comments are due by Earth Day, April 22.
Thank you,

Leah Donahey
Arctic Ocean and Reserve Program Director