Opinions mixed on Arctic National Wildlife Refuge designation

[The Straight Story]

Opinions mixed on Arctic National Wildlife Refuge designation

FAIRBANKS — Not surprisingly, the question of whether an oil-rich sliver of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge should be designated as wilderness to protect it from development by oil companies drew a large crowd with differing opinions Thursday night at the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center in Fairbanks.

Some, like Richard Glenn from Barrow, oppose the wilderness designation for fear it will endanger the subsistence lifestyle of Alaska Natives on the North Slope by reducing access and imposing more rules.

“This makes life difficult for subsistence in an area where subsistence is already difficult,” Glenn, vice president of lands and resources for the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, told a panel of five ANWR officials that included refuge director Richard Voss.

Others, like Ritchie Musick of Fairbanks, spoke in favor of the wilderness designation because they fear what will happen if oil companies are allowed to drill in the refuge’s 1.5-million-acre coastal plain.

“Safe oil development is an oxymoron,” Musick said.

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