Protected Areas

Source: http://twilightearth.com/files/includes/images/wp-content-uploads-2008-09-anwr_caribou.jpg

Protected areas in the Alaskan Tundra have been a hot topic in politics over the past decades. Protected areas such as ANWR, or Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, contain some of the few remaining wilderness areas in the United States. At 19 million acres, ANWR is the largest portion of the National Wildlife Refuge System (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge). Even though ANWR is so big, it has been affected minimally by human impact so the land has remained relatively intact and nature still operates as it normally would. It is home to the largest Caribou herd, the Porcupine herd, in the world with around 152,000 animals (Caribou in the Arctic Refuge). Despite the pristine, natural beauty remaining wilderness that exists in ANWR, the prospect of oil drilling has caused much political controversy. ANWR is estimated to contain about 8% of undiscovered, recoverable oil in the US (How ANWR Works). This amount is enough for conservative politicians to push for oil drilling in these protected areas, despite the impact it would have on the environment. Drilling for oil in ANWR would boost the economy greatly by reducing the amount spent on importing oil from the Middle East and Russia, but it could also take a while for the drilling to get started and there might not actually be that much oil. Instead of drilling in protected areas and potentially destroying some of the last remaining wilderness in the country, renewable energy should be developed further.