Ever notice how every single place is "unique" and "sensitive".
Well, you never hear them say "Oh, *that* parcel of land. Do whatever the hell you want, there's a hundred thousand more acres just like it. It's tough land, too, you know...
Everyone's unique, just like everyone else...
I have to give the gov kudos on his timing. It's not like prices are going up or anything. It's just the right time to stop some of that messy ole drillin!
I have to agree with them that the area is very "fragile", and roads and activity will leave an impact on the land that will remain for many years. However, it is not pristine by any means (cattle grazing, etc.).
And if we are not to leave any impact on the land, lets not build any more homes, roads, hospitals, schools, etc. That's really what they (the envir-wackos) want to do. And the leftwing old media, the Hollywood elite ("oilmen are just greedy polluters, you know") and the RAT politicans (never saw a liberal cause they couldn't get some mileage out of) will do their damn best to shut domestic oil and gas production down.
The good news is that the common folks are becoming less and less tolerant of the types of activities these wackos are pushing. When it starts to hit them in the pocketbooks, especially the price of gas on the west coast (now over $3.00/gal in the SF Bay area), they begin to question why they can't have the same type of jobs and relatively low prices that, for example, Texans have. They may try to blame Bush, but it's sticking less and less.