The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge covers about 19,049,236 acres (79,318 km²) in northeastern Alaska, in the North Slope region. It was originally protected in 1960 by order of President Eisenhower's Secretary of the Interior, Fred A. Seaton. As part of Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the refuge was expanded by the United States Congress in 1980, through the lobbying efforts of Olaus and Mardy Murie, with the Wilderness Society.

8,000,000 acres (32,375 km²) of the Refuge are designated as "Wilderness". The 1980 expansion of the Refuge designated 1,500,000 acres (6,070 km²) of the coastal plain as the 1002 area and mandated studies of the petroleum potential and biological resources of this area. Congressional authorization is required before oil drilling may proceed in this area. The remaining 10,100,000 acres (40,873 km²) of the Refuge are designated as "Minimal Management", a category intended to maintain existing natural conditions and resource values. These areas are suitable for Wilderness designation, although there are presently no proposals to designate them as Wilderness.

There are presently no roads within or leading into the Refuge. Generally, visitors gain access to the land by airplanes, but it is also possible to reach the Refuge by boat or by walking (the Dalton Highway passes near the western edge of the Refuge).

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge supports the greatest variety of plant and animal life of any Park or Refuge in the circumpolar arctic. There is a continuum of six different ecological zones spanning some 200 miles (300 km) north to south.

Along the northern boundary of the Refuge, barrier islands, coastal lagoons, salt marshes, and river deltas provide habitat for migratory waterbirds including sea ducks, geese, swans, and shorebirds. Fish such as dolly varden and arctic cisco are found in nearshore waters. Coastal lands and sea ice are used by caribou seeking relief from biting insects during summer, and by polar bears hunting seals and giving birth in snow dens during winter.

The arctic coastal plain stretches southward from the coast to the foothills of the Brooks Range. This area of rolling hills, small lakes, and north-flowing, braided rivers is dominated by tundra vegetation consisting of low shrubs, sedges, and mosses. Caribou travel to the coastal plain during June and July to give birth and raise their young. Migratory birds and insects flourish here during the brief arctic summer. Tens of thousands of snow geese stop here during September to feed before migrating south, and musk oxen live here year-round.

South of the coastal plain, the mountains of the eastern Brooks Range rise to over 9,000 feet (3,000 m). This northernmost extension of the Rocky Mountains marks the continental divide, with north-flowing rivers emptying into the Arctic Ocean and south-flowing rivers joining the great Yukon River. The rugged mountains of the Brooks Range are incised by deep river valleys creating a range of elevations and aspects that support a variety of low tundra vegetation, dense shrubs, rare groves of poplar trees on the north side and spruce on the south. During summer, peregrine falcons, gyrfalcons, and golden eagles build nests on cliffs. Harlequin ducks and red-breasted mergansers are seen on swift-flowing rivers. Dall sheep and wolves are active all year, while grizzly bears and arctic ground squirrels are frequently seen during summer but hibernate in winter.

The southern portion of the Arctic Refuge is within the boreal forest of interior Alaska. Beginning as predominantly treeless tundra with scattered islands of black and white spruce trees, the forest becomes progressively denser as the foothills yield to the expansive flats north of the Yukon River. Frequent forest fires ignited by lightning result in a complex mosaic of birch, aspen, and spruce forests of various ages. Wetlands and south-flowing rivers create openings in the forest canopy. Neotropical migratory birds breed here in spring and summer, attracted by plentiful food and the variety of habitats. Caribou travel here from farther north to spend the winter. Year-round residents of the boreal forest include moose, lynx, marten, wolverines, black and grizzly bears, and wolves.

Oil interest in the region goes back to the late 1960s. ANWR is just east of Prudhoe Bay in Alaska's "North Slope," North America's largest oil field. From 1990 to 2000, the area accounted for 25% of U.S. domestic oil production. The local Inupiat Eskimos in the closest village to the proposed drilling site support drilling, 78% in favor and 9% opposed.[1] The Gwich'in Indians some distance away are said to be opposed to drilling yet there does not appear to be any survey data.

In 1987, Canada and the U.S. signed the Agreement on the Conservation of the Porcupine Caribou Herd treaty which was designed to protect the herd and its habitat from damage or disruptions in migration routes. Canada's Ivvavik National Park and Vuntut National Park borders ANWR. The Canadian government believes that any oil development in ANWR could disrupt migratory routes of the herd in the region.

In 1989, many in Congress were interested in exploratory drilling in and around ANWR. That interest waned shortly after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound.

Environmentalists pressed U.S. President Bill Clinton to declare ANWR a Refuge Monument. Doing so would have banned any and all drilling within ANWR. However, it would not have banned slant drilling (aka directional drilling) around the perimeter of the land. While Clinton did create several refuge monuments, most at the very end of his tenure, ANWR was not on his list.

The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush pushed to perform exploratory drilling for oil and gas in and around the refuge. The House of Representatives voted in mid-2000 to allow drilling. In April 2002, the Senate rejected it.

Although drilling approval is not yet final, Congress has had language in H.R.6 PCS (Section 2207 paragraph (a)3) that authorizes production equipment and infrastructure to occupy an above ground "footprint" of no more than 2,000 of ANWR's 19 million acres (77,000 km²), approximately 0.01%.[2] Other language in the bill (Section 2204 paragraph d) allows exploration and drilling companies to lease underground oil rights in at least 200,000 acres (800 km²), approximately 1% of ANWR. The difference in area is technically feasible by using directional drilling methods.

ANWR Drilling was approved by the House of Representatives as part of the Energy Bill on April 21, 2005. [3] The House voted, 249-183, to approve ANWR drilling.[4] An amendment to remove ANWR Drilling from the Energy Bill proposed by Edward Markey(D-MA) failed on a vote of 200-231.[5] The Senate had already passed approval for ANWR drilling on March 16th, 2005 as part of the budget (Section 304 a) for fiscal year 2006.[6] But because this was a budget bill, and not the energy bill, drilling approval is not final. ANWR drilling was removed from the Energy Bill (H.R.6) prior to final Senate passage during House-Senate reconcilliation under threat of a Democrat filibuster in the Senate.

Budget bills require only a majority vote and are not subject to filibusters. The House will tackle ANWR drilling again in its version of the budget September, 2005. The funding is only authorized if "the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources reports a bill or joint resolution, or an amendment is offered thereto, or a conference report is submitted thereon, that permits exploration and production of oil in the 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and such measure is enacted" and "the reconciliation instruction set out in section 201(a)(4) is met."

There have been conflicting reports as to the amount of oil in ANWR. USGS studies show between 5.7 and 16.0 billion barrels (0.9 to 2.5 km³), 5 to 95 % probability range existed in ANWR, with a mean value of 10.4 billion barrels (1.7 km³). Technically recoverable oil within the ANWR 1002 area (excluding State and Native areas) is estimated to be between 4.3 and 11.8 billion barrels (0.7 and 1.9 km³,5 to 95 % probability range, with a mean value of 7.7 billion barrels (1.2 km³).

• Source: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs-0028-01/fs-0028-01.htm

The National Defense Council Foundation, a non-profit non-aligned 501(c)(3) organization, estimates 2,210,418 US jobs would created, directly and indirectly, by opening ANWR to oil drilling including 1,074,640 from oil development and 1,135,778 from natural gas development.[7] As of August 2005 number of US unemployed persons was 7,400,000 and unemployment rate was 4.9% according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. [8]

Other estimates [9] often cited by proponents of oil exploration including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters,[10] predict the direct creation of up to 735,000 jobs. Opponents dispute these claims arguing that much of the infrastructure required for oil exploration is already in place in Alaska and would simply be repurposed. Even so, the opponents estimate that up to 65,000 new jobs might be created. [11]

• The ANWR's official website
• A pro-drilling site
• An anti-drilling site
• Oil on Ice, an anti-drilling documentary
• Inupiat owned Artic Slope Regional Corp, a pro drilling organization
• Canada's position on ANWR oil development