The site was set aside decades ago but development was blocked by lawsuits from environmentalists concerned about disrupting wildlife. The government has tackled these fears, making it a condition of the lease by oil and gas companies that polar bears, waterfowl and caribou are protected.
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The Interior Department on Wednesday made 2.6 million acres of potentially oil-rich territory in northern Alaska available for energy exploration. At the same time, it deferred for a decade any decision to open 600,000 acres of land north of Teshekpuk Lake that is the summer home of thousands of migrating caribou and millions of waterfowl.
The decision will open up for drilling much of the northeast section of the Northeast National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, holding an estimated 3.7 billion barrels of oil, Tom Lonnie, Alaska state director for the Bureau of Land Management, said in a conference call with reporters.
The northeast and northwest portions of the reserve could yield eight billion barrels of oil, he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/us/17alaska.html
bears and the caribou LOVE the pipelines - Bears use the pipelines like a highway - because the pipes are warm on their tootsies - and the caribou herds have increased due to them giving birth under the pipes for the warmth and the green strip of grass.
