The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge covers about 19,600,000 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 potention 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, vistors 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 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 muskoxen live here year-round.

South of the coastal plain, the mountains of the eastern Brooks Range rise to over 9,000 feet. 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 early nineties. ANWR is just east of Prudhoe Bay, North America's largest oil field. From 1990 to 2000, the area accounted for 25% of U.S. domestic oil production.

In 1989, many in Congress were interested in exploratory drilling in and around ANWR. That interested 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 ban any and all drilling within ANWR. However, it would not ban slant drilling around the perimeter of the land. While he did create several refuge monuments, ANWR was not on Clinton's list.

The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush, alleged by some to be backed by the oil industry, 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.

There have been many conflicting reports as to the amount of oil in ANWR. Many supporters say that there are billions of barrels of oil in ANWR, while other say that there a only a few million barrels. The USGS has done severals studies as to the amount of oil in ANWR. The studies showed that between 5.7 and 16.0 billion barrels(95-percent and 5-percent probability range)existed in ANWR, with a mean value of 10.4 billion barrels. 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. (95- and 5-percent probability range), with a mean value of 7.7 billion barrels. Source: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs-0028-01/fs-0028-01.htm

• The ANWR's official website
• An anti-drilling site
• A pro-drilling site
• Oil on Ice, an award winning documentary about ANWR and the controversy over drilling for oil there