In a message dated 10/11/2000 6:59:44 PM Central Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

> Sierra Club Members:
>
>  I have not previously contributed to this mailing list.  To introduce
>  myself, I am a UNI biology professor.  In late June, 1989 I was in Alaska
>  on a special tour sponsored by the U. of Alaska.  We went through the
>  Prudhoe Bay oilfields and then van toured the Dalton Highway to Fairbanks.
>  My impression then was that there really was no conflict between wildlife
>  and oil development, much as I didn't want to believe it.  Caribou, arctic
>  fox, snowy owls, ptarmigan, and even musk ox were readily seen.  Exotic
>  (for us in the lower 48 states) birds were abundant and nesting, such as
>  species of jaegers, loons, gulls, Merlins, bluethroats, etc I returned to
>  Prudhoe Bay and again toured the oilfields toward the end of this last
>  July.  It is not the same place.  Many new fields within and surrounding
>  the orginal fields have been opened.  I would guess there are more
>  buildings, roads, etc, by a factor of 10.  Although it is not a fair
>  comparison because of the differing times of the year.  Two caribou and one
>  litter of arctic fox were the only wildlife seen.  Perhaps many of the
>  breeding birds had already completed their nesting and were gone.  One
>  clutch of white-fronted geese was the only nesting activity.
>
>  I also spent 10 days camping in ANWR in August, probably 150 miles SE of
>  the oilfields.  It is a marvelous place.  With the low timberline, the
>  crumbly shale mountains made it look like the back side of the moon.  I saw
>  numerous grizzlies, some muskok, Dall Sheep, and a wolverine.  You just
>  don't realize what a pall of civilization hangs over the US, until you are
>  up in the sparkling air of ANWR.  I haven't drunk from a mountain stream in
>  30 years, but I did there, greatly enjoying the beautiful clean water.
>
>  This is just my personal essay for you.  I think if ANWR were opened to oil
>  development, it too would be just a foot in the door that would similarly
>  expand.  I hope we can work to keep this beautiful pristine area, the way
>  it is now.
>               Orlando "Lanny" Schwartz
>               910 Juanita Avenue
>               Cedar Falls, IA 50613
>               319-266-0995 (home)
>
>