ON THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE FROM STEVE SWAN, FORWARDED BY JANE CLARK The coastal plain of America's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge I recently had the opportunity to go to Washington, DC to participate in Wilderness Week. Wilderness supporters from all over the United States participated in a massive lobbying effort on behalf of two of the major wilderness projects of the American environmental movement, the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and America's Redrock Wilderness in Utah. During this week nearly every member of the House and Senate were visited and educated about the issues relating to these two critical wilderness areas. Currently 95% of the Arctic coastal plain is open for oil development. The remaining 5% is within the boundaries of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This small piece of coastal plain enables the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to be one of the last intact ecosystems on the planet. Arctic tundra is also one of the most fragile environments on earth with human caused damages taking generations to heal. The coastal plain of the refuge is the largest land denning site for the Beaufort Sea polar bear population. More than 180 species of birds nest on the coastal plain including Golden Plovers, Peregrine Falcons, Pintails, Sandhill Cranes, and Tundra Swans, all of which pass through Iowa. This is also the calving area for the 129,000-member Porcupine River caribou herd which the native Gwich'in Indians have depended upon to support their subsistence lifestyle for thousands of years. Although the refuge is currently off limits to oil development, the oil industry is continually pushing for access to this American treasure. This is the same oil industry that in 1995 alone had 500 spills totaling 80,000 gallons of harmful waste on the north slope, was recently fined $1million for illegal dumping, and brought us the Exxon Valdez. Wilderness designation is the way to permanently protect the refuge for all Americans. Please write your representative and Senators in Washington and ask them to protect the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge with wilderness designation. Mention that even though most Americans will never actually visit the refuge, it is important to have wild places on the Earth. Mention the birds that nest there and migrate through Iowa. Mention the Gwich'in and the Porcupine River caribou herd. Ask if we really need any more oil on an already glutted market competing against our Made-in-Iowa renewable ethanol. Thanks, Steve Swan, 3182 310 AV, Dickens, IA 51333, [log in to unmask] Rep. Leonard Boswell, 1029 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 Rep. Greg Ganske, 1108 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 Rep. Tom Latham, 324 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 Rep. James Leach, 2186 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 Rep. Jim Nussel, 303 Canon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 Sen. Charles E. Grassley, 135 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 Sen. Tom Harkin, 731 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC20510 ----------------------------------------------------------------- To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send email to [log in to unmask] Make the message text (not the subject): SIGNOFF IOWA-TOPICS