The following is the second in a series of articles, focusing on a specific area within the National Petroleum Reserve and on the wildlife, and natural values, which make that region unique and valuable.

Second only in familiarity to the Colville River, the Teshekpuk Lake area in the northeast corner of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska is well known for its tremendous value for the geese that concentrate there in great numbers. The Teshekpuk Lake area is part of a vast network of coastal lagoons, deep water lakes, wet sedge grass meadows, beaded streams & river deltas that cover almost one third of the 23.5 million acre Reserve. Thousands of freshwater lakes cover more than half of the coastal plain. These extensive wetlands are primarily vegetated by sedges, cotton grass, and mosses as well as lousewort, buttercup, and heather which provide sustenance and habitat to a wide variety of wildlife including waterfowl, shorebirds, and caribou.

The Teshekpuk Lake area supports the highest density of nesting waterfowl and shorebirds in the Reserve. No other area of the arctic coastal plain offers the extensive, nutrient enriched, meadow-like habitats able to support large numbers of waterfowl while also providing deep, open lakes for security from predators when molting. The Teshekpuk Lake area sustains the largest goose molting concentration in the Arctic – with up to 60,000 geese (including the lesser snow goose, Canada and white-fronted goose and up to 20% of the entire Pacific black brant population) congregating at once. The coastal plain of the Reserve, including the Teshekpuk Lake area, is the primary arctic habitat for threatened spectacled eiders and also supports the entire breeding population of Stellar's eider.

Two distinct caribou herds make use of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska: the 450,000 member Western Arctic caribou herd which calves in the Utukok Uplands in the southwestern corner of the Reserve and the resident 45,000 member Teshekpuk caribou herd which calves along the southwestern shore of Teshekpuk Lake. The Teshekpuk herd mingles with the Western Arctic herd during the summer but remains in the general vicinity of Teshekpuk Lake throughout the year.

The dominant mammal on the coastal plain of the Reserve is the lemming. The extreme fluctuation in their population is due primarily to their overgrazing and subsequent destruction of their habitat. These fluctuations are responsible for population fluctuations of predators such as jaegers, short-eared and snowy owls, and the arctic fox that concentrate in areas of high lemming population.

The Inupiat Eskimos, the principal Natives in the Reserve, are primarily a marine-based people whose subsistence lifestyle has been interwoven with a more modern, oil-development based economy. While marine mammals and fish are the chief sources of subsistence for the Inupiat, the inland fisheries and wildlife resources of the Reserve are a valuable part of the diet for nearby villages. The Teshekpuk Lake area is of particular importance to the Inupiat and has long been the site of many fishing and hunting camps.

Within the vast mosaic of wetlands south of Teshekpuk Lake lie the Pik Dunes. These dunes form a basin containing five lakes and are unique because they are still exposed and active within a larger dune system that has been stabilized and vegetated for at least several thousand years. Pik Dunes provides important insect-relief habitat for Teshekpuk caribou herd as well as for migratory Western Arctic caribou herd members. These dunes also provide vital habitat for several uncommon plant species as well as data essential to understanding major climatic fluctuations over the last 12,000 years.

In 1977, three “Special Areas” were identified by the Interior Department which contained significant natural values where "maximum protection" was required: Colville River, Teshekpuk Lake, and Utukok Uplands. The 1.7 million acres Teshekpuk Lake Special Area was identified and designated in recognition of its importance to nesting and molting waterfowl as well as to those gathering in anticipation of migration.

The northeastern corner of the National Petroleum Reserve has the highest potential for oil and gas resources in the entire Reserve. In 1998, the current Secretary of Interior made available 4.6 million acres of the northeast corner for leasing to oil development. However, in part due to pressure from the Inupiat and environmental communities, he ordered the Bureau of Land Management to develop a compromise, which would protect most of the important goose and caribou habitat as well as the subsistence resources, which are vital to the Eskimo community. This compromise included designating some areas as completely unavailable for leasing and placing strict restrictions on oil and gas surface occupancy in other areas. This compromise also added the 16,500 acres of Pik Dunes to the existing Teshekpuk Lake Special Area. However, oil and gas leasing and exploration were permitted within a significant portion of the original Teshekpuk Lake Special Area.