oil and gas exploration and development. The Department under- 

 took the studies as directed and, in November 198 6, published 

 a draft report and legislative environmental impact statement 

 in which it recommended that the coastal plain of the Arctic 

 National Wildlife Refuge be opened for oil and gas exploration 

 and development. Among other things, the report indicated that: 



fourteen species of marine mammals, including walrus, 

 beluga whales, polar bears, and the endangered bowhead 

 whale occur in or near the proposed lease area and 

 could be affected by oil and gas exploration and develop- 

 ment in the area; 



many of the potentially affected marine mammal and 

 other wildlife species are hunted by Alaska Natives 

 for subsistence purposes and the availability of 

 these animals could be affected by the proposed action; 



activities associated with exploration and development 

 could cause female polar bears to avoid or abandon 

 important denning areas, and/or attract polar bears 

 and increase the probability of both bears and oil 

 field workers being killed or injured due to interactions; 



it is not known how many polar bears den in or near 

 the coastal plain of the Arctic Wildlife Refuge or 

 how disturbance and habitat alteration in the area, 

 combined with subsistence hunting, disturbance, and 

 habitat alteration in the Canadian Arctic and other 

 parts of Alaska might affect the size, age/sex 

 structure, and productivity of the Beaufort Sea polar 

 bear population; 



an annual sea lift would be the most economical means 

 of transporting supplies, production/ support modules, 

 and other cargo in and out of the Refuge, and it therefore 

 would be necessary to construct one or more port facilities 

 for this purpose; 



development of port and other support facilities 

 likely would encourage other activities and additional 

 exploration and development activities in adjacent 

 offshore and onshore areas; 



it is not known whether frequent or continuous 

 vessel operations would cause bowhead whales or other 

 marine mammals to abandon important habitat areas; 

 and 



because the resource potential of the area has not been 

 verified, it is impossible to determine where or how 



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