A federal judge has blocked the Bush Administration from proceeding with oil
and gas development in the famed Teshekpuk Lake region and its world-class
wildlife nurseries.
The Western Arctic Reserve may be less well-known than the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge but its wildlife populations are every bit as unique,
spectacular and endangered.
It is home to the 45,000-member Teshekpuk Lake caribou herd. Tens of thousands
of migratory birds come here from as far away as Antarctica to nest without
disturbance.
Even Ronald Reagan's Interior Secretary James Watt -- no friend of the
environment -- recognized Teshekpuk's great importance and granted it federal
protection in the 1980s.
But the Bush Administration was preparing to strip this wildlife treasure of
its protections, sell it to the highest bidder, and create a sprawling
industrial zone of pipelines, rigs and waste sites.
NRDC and our partner groups went to court to stop this unconscionable giveaway
to Big Oil. And now that court has ruled that the Interior Department failed to
consider the cumulative environmental impacts of oil and gas drilling on this
sensitive ecosystem.
This is great news!
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