In a clear concession that no oil company is a match for Arctic weather, Shell's president Marvin Odum announced on Feb. 27 that Shell will "pause" it's exploratory drilling operations for the year.
But Alaska’s Sen. Lisa Murkowski refused to accept that decision. She and residents of the tiny community of King Cove are fighting to have the decision overturned.
Cover letter to David Hayes, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior, that accompanied The Wilderness Society's economic analysison the Izembek Land Exchange and Road Corridor Draft Environmental Impact Statement. October 22, 2012.
The Wilderness Society and Center for Sustainable Economics economic assessment of the US Fish and Wildlife Service analysis of the proposed Izembek road and land exchange (May 17, 2012). This was distributed throughout the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Department of the Interior.
After years of fighting to protect Alaska’s western Arctic from unrestricted oil drilling, our campaign to protect America’s largest tract of public land has paid off.
Roads have a profound effect on wildlife. Every year millions of mammals, birds and amphibians are killed by vehicles traveling on America’s roads. The indirect impacts of roads on wildlife and their habitat can be just as damaging.
With the passage of P.L. 111-11 (the Omnibus Public Land Management Act) Congress initiated a process to review a proposed road through the heart of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, as well as a potential land exchange.
At the center of the 417,533-acre Izembek National Wildlife Refuge are two lagoons, Izembek and Kinzarof. These lagoons are separated by a narrow isthmus about three miles wide.
