Calving ground not among sites recommended for protection
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Jan 15/01) - The future of the Porcupine caribou herd is now.
U.S. President Bill Clinton has until Friday to declare the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, which includes the herd's calving ground, a national monument.
Doing so would provide another layer of protection from oil companies, which for years have tried to gain access to the calving grounds and its trove of oil, estimated to be as much as 16 billion barrels.
President-elect George W. Bush has promised to open up the Alaskan coastal plain for drilling to reduce U.S. dependency on foreign oil.
In an attempt to urge Clinton to make the change, a coalition of conservation groups including the Porcupine Caribou Management Board are urging people to support protection of the calving ground by calling the White House.
"We're doing a last ditch effort in these 10 days to let him know it is something we're still looking for, because of the current situation in the United States," Porcupine Caribou Management Board chair Joe Tetlichi said.
The eastern part of the herd's range is in the NWT. Gwich'in and Inuvialuit from the Beaufort Delta region rely on the herd for food. At a meeting last Thursday with Tetlichi, Gwich'in leadership backed a call for more protection for the herd.
Political battle
Despite the NWT proposal to ship Prudhoe Bay oil to market via a Mackenzie Valley pipeline with an offshore link to the Alaskan coast, premier Stephen Kakfwi has said his government opposes any drilling in the coastal area of the reserve.
The coast, known as Area 1002, is the area of the reserve believed to contain the most reserves.
As of last week, however, it appears unlikely that Clinton will give the refuge national monument status.
Tetlichi said if the area is not given national monument status, the pro-oil forces in the U.S. will not immediately take control.
"It's going to be a struggle for the Republicans to pass another bill to open up the refuge," said Tetlichi. "Because even some of the Republicans are environmentalists."
Clash of cultures
There is not consensus among aboriginal groups with an interest in the refuge.
Though the Gwich'in and Inuvialuit who rely on the herd for meat want to protect the calving ground from development, the Inupiat of Alaska support development.
Stressing that he respects their right to their viewpoint, Tetlichi said he suspects the Inupiat value the herd less, since they traditionally rely on marine mammals for food.
Tetlichi said the Inupiat also rely on royalties and contracts from oil and gas development.
