[Brad C.]

You have to keep in mind that one of the common complaints about drilling in ANWR is that the new wells will be in the caribou calving areas. Some of the wackos are very concerned that the cows will not be able to drop their calves if there is an oil rig near by. Can you imagine the horror? Can you imagine any creature going into labor and waiting until she had a pristine, unblemished view around her?

[Helix]

LOL. As a mother, I can emphatically say that when it's time to drop your calf it drops! No matter what the scenery. Believe me

[cogitator]

You have to keep in mind that one of the common complaints about drilling in ANWR is that the new wells will be in the caribou calving areas. Some of the wackos are very concerned that the cows will not be able to drop their calves if there is an oil rig near by. Can you imagine the horror? Can you imagine any creature going into labor and waiting until she had a pristine, unblemished view around her?

Interestingly, in Senate testimony Interior Secretary Norton misstated the caribou calving data.

Departmental Differences Show Over ANWR Drilling
Interior's Norton Rebuffs Wildlife Service in Senate Testimony

Excerpt: The scientific data the agency gave Norton offered fuel for both sides of the debate. The bottom line was that caribou gravitate toward the 1002 area -- and that they tend to avoid oil fields when calving -- but that they have mostly prospered over the last three decades despite the development of sprawling oil infrastructure.

On the calving questions, Fish and Wildlife did suggest that the 130,000-strong Porcupine Caribou Herd prefers to calve in the 1002 area, which is about as far as it can get from predators and which is rich in nutritious food. The agency noted that the herd has calved there in 27 of the last 30 years, a statistic Norton did not use.

But Norton did use the agency's statement that the migratory Porcupine do not concentrate most of their calving in the 1002 area in years of late snowmelt, because they can't reach it in time. Then she added that "concentrated calving occurred primarily outside the 1002 area in 11 of the last 18 years," when she should have said "inside."