Trump Reopens Oil Drilling Alaska Arctic Wildlife Refuge

[somsai]

8. He paused drilling on area 1002, on a map it looks like a sliver of land along the arctic ocean

but at over a million acres it's just small compared to the refuge.

Refuges are sacronsect. Often funded by hunters via the duck stamp (but not this one) in many ways they have the most restrictive limits on what can be done on them. The purpose of refuges beyond all else is for the wildlife, not recreation, not minerals, etc.

Most of the year it's hard to tell if you are on the river, on the ice, or on land. It's flat and treeless. Next to the river you can see willow shoots poking up through the snow.