Alaska's Arctic
 Alaska's Arctic is a vast wilderness which provides vital habitat for hundreds of animal species including bears, wolves, caribou, musk oxen, and millions of migratory birds. And for those human visitors who sustain themselves on the beauty and solitude of the wilderness, the Arctic provides a chance to escape from the pressures of modern society as well as the knowledge that such remote and awe-inspiring places still exist.
 Once the entire expanse of the Arctic was pristine; the wilderness and natural values unmarred by modern society. But then in 1968, oil was discovered at Prudhoe Bay and the Arctic began to change. Slowly at first, now much more rapidly, the oil industry is expanding across this wilderness, like the web of a spider growing ever larger and more deadly. From the onset of oil development in the Arctic, the conservation community has loudly voiced its concerns-the tundra is fragile and will be irreparably harmed by development, the wildlife of the area will be disturbed and displaced, the wilderness will be lost forever. Conservationists continue to insist that the overall picture be understood before more development is undertaken in this fragile ecosystem.
The web of infrastructure currently stretches from the beyond the Colville River in the west to the Canning River in the east across 120 miles of Beaufort Sea coastline. Excluding the 798 miles of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, this infrastructure includes over 1,120 miles of pipeline. That's the distance from Chicago to Tampa, Florida! The pipeline infrastructure also includes thousands of miles of gravel and ice roads and runways littering the coastal plain. New developments, such as the ongoing leasing in the National Petroleum Reserve, the construction of Northstar - the first offshore oil development in the Arctic, and attempts to pass legislation mandating oil development on the Arctic Refuge coastal plain, threaten to expand the spider's web even further.
 Millions of acres of unspoiled wilderness still exist in the Arctic and support healthy, thriving wildlife populations. Opportunities still abound for the adventurous spirit to escape the noises and stresses of modern society in the vastness of this wilderness. The struggle to protect the treasures of the north is far from over. We still have time. The conservation community has been, and will continue to be in the forefront of the battle over Alaska's Arctic. Over the past several decades, the efforts of conservationists have resulted in stricter regulations on the oil industry as well as increased awareness and concern on the part of the public. Through public awareness, empowerment, and participation, we can stop the oil industry's expansion dead in its tracks.
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