Big Win Protects Vast Swath of Alaska Wilderness
A
laska’s Western Arctic Reserve is one of the largest
campsite). “Polar bears, grizzlies, caribou, walrus, bowhead
expanses of wilderness left in North America, and
whales, beluga whales, seals,” he says, ticking off some of
now a staggering 11 million acres of it — an area
the variety of wild species he’s seen there. “And there are
bigger than Connecticut and Massachusetts combined —
millions of waterfowl and shore birds, some of which migrate
have been put off-limits to oil and gas development.
from as far as Africa and Antarctica.”
Following more than a decade
The Western Arctic Reserve was
of campaigning and litigation
set aside in the 1920s as an oil
by NRDC, Interior Secretary
reserve (later known as the
Ken Salazar has announced the
National Petroleum Reserve–
Obama Administration’s plan
Alaska), but it has remained
to safeguard some of the most
largely untouched by Big Oil. In
critical wildlife habitat within the
recent years the oil industry has
reserve, including vital calving
clamored for leases in the reserve,
grounds for America’s largest
targeting some of its most
caribou herd and summer habitat
sensitive habitats. Although the
Snowy owl © Michio Hoshino/Mindenpictures.com
for threatened polar bears. Snowy owl.
decision by Salazar is a milestone in wilderness conservation, it
“The Western Arctic Reserve is less well-known than the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,
will be up to Congress to make the protections permanent,
but its wildlife populations are every bit as important and
and a number of smaller yet still important areas within the
endangered,” says Chuck Clusen, director of NRDC’s Alaska
23-million-acre reserve remain vulnerable. “We ultimately
Project. Clusen has visited the remote wilderness numerous
want to see all critical habitat within the Western Arctic
times (once, a dozen musk oxen walked right into his
Reserve protected for future generations,” Clusen says.
Agency Set to Approve Navy’s Threat to Whales
T
Dolphins © Michael S. Nolan/SeaPics.com
he federal agency charged with protecting marine mammals wants to green-light a U.S. Navy training plan that will harass or injure whales and other marine mammals more than 31 million times. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is preparing to approve the Navy’s five-year plan to use high explosives and deafening mid-frequency sonar in its training and testing exercises throughout enormous swaths of ocean off America’s coasts. Bombardment with extreme noise — up to 236 decibels in the case of mid-frequency sonar — can cause fatal hemorrhages in the lungs and other vital organs of marine mammals. The Navy’s own environmental review concedes the jaw-dropping harm it could inflict with sonar and explosives: more than 1,000 deaths, 5,000 serious injuries and millions of cases of temporary hearing loss. This unprecedented toll is three times higher than the impacts of any previous Navy plan. Apart from killing and injuring whales, sonar and explosives can force the animals to abandon vital feeding areas, interfere with their ability 6
to find mates and cause calves to separate from their mothers. “There are simple, common-sense steps the Navy Spinner dolphins. could take to drastically reduce these staggering numbers without sacrificing military readiness, but it’s failed to seriously consider any of them, and the Fisheries Service has just rolled over,” says Zak Smith, attorney with NRDC’s Marine Mammal Protection Project. “We’ll see them in court if that’s what it takes to block this senseless assault on whales.” Tens of thousands of NRDC Members and online activists have already filed comments protesting the agency’s controversial decision, and you can join the fight. Take action at: www.SaveWhalesNow.org