The Last Hunters

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Wolves and Bears

The Porcupine Caribou Herd compares to the legendary oceans of buffalo that once thundered across the American plains and the swarms of wildebeest that roam the African Serengeti. Estimates of the Porcupine Caribou population range from 150,000 to 180,000. In April, as spring temperatures begin to melt the snow and ice packs of the frigid arctic winter, the Porcupine Caribou Herd begins a 400-mile migration from the boreal forests of the Yukon to the arctic coastal plain of the northeastern corner of Alaska. There, on the fertile tundra of the refuge, several thousand calves are born. By the end of June all the cows and calves are in the area of the reserve that has come to be known as 1002, the proposed drilling site. There thrives the soft cotton grass that young caribou need to develop. The 1002 area is also relatively safe from the predatory reach of gray wolves, grizzly bears, and golden eagles that live in the Brooks Range to the south. As temperatures rise, mosquitoes begin to plague the herd, which travels north to the shores of the Beaufort Sea, where cool breezes off arctic glaciers protect them from the stinging bites.

The proposed oil wells—and the labyrinth of pipes, roads, and gravel pits that would accompany them—would stretch directly across the Porcupine Caribou calving grounds. Oil developers argue that a management system for the herd could reduce the harmful effects of the industrial hardware. Strategies such as shutting down operations during the calving cycle, they say, will diminish the negative impact of the drilling. Ken Whitten, a caribou biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, claims any oil installations would disturb the birthing cows. "Because 1002 is a small area, any installation, no matter how well managed, would displace the herd to less advantageous land," says Whitten. "The herd goes to 1002 for a reason. Surrounding areas are more dangerous and less nutritious for the calves.

" A 1995 report prepared by the Department of the Interior condemns any attempt to drill oil in the refuge. "The cumulative effects of reduced access to habitat providing preferred forage, predator avoidance, or insect relief for the herd caused by full development of the area would result in major adverse impact on the herd," the report states. It also disparages the loss of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a "world-class natural area and wilderness." Drilling in the refuge could threaten populations of polar bears, musk oxen, snow geese, and gray wolves, among a variety of other species.

Recent studies of the much smaller Central Arctic Herd, which lives around the Prudhoe Bay oil fields west of the refuge, show that large groups of caribou and pregnant cows avoid cultural intrusions such as pipes and wells. Having to travel around such intrusions lengthens any journey the caribou must make (such as traveling to the coast to avoid mosquitoes), and therefore inhibits their natural behavior. This causes the caribou to lose weight, endangering the lives of younger, less sturdy calves.

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