[Godzilla]

Your map shows a considerable calving area available to the herd. As the Alaskan pipeline has shown, the caribou are a very adaptable creature and have actually benefited from it. If there are initial reductions in successful calving, that will likely be made up once they've adapted to man's presence and activities. BTW, climate has significant impacts to calving too. Weather will probably have a bigger impact upon calving than drilling and oil production.

[cogitator]

Your map shows a considerable calving area available to the herd. As the Alaskan pipeline has shown, the caribou are a very adaptable creature and have actually benefited from it. If there are initial reductions in successful calving, that will likely be made up once they've adapted to man's presence and activities. BTW, climate has significant impacts to calving too. Weather will probably have a bigger impact upon calving than drilling and oil production.

My original intent was not to argue about the specifics of the impact on caribou, but to show that the area slated for development is utilized by the wildlife of the refuge. It is, and it is used in an important manner by them. Everything else -- whether it would be to the benefit or detriment of a specific specie or species -- is speculation (with some speculations being more "informed" than others). The bottom lines are: the area would be altered, and the area is utilized by the wildlife of the refuge.