Oil Spill and Oil Drill Put CA Bird Population at Risk
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
First came the oil spill, now the threat of the oil drill. The San Francisco Bay oil spill couldn't have come at a worse time for millions of ducks, geese and other birds that migrate annually from Alaska to warmer climates in California. Those same birds now face another oil threat, but it's on their breeding grounds thousands of miles to the north.
The federal government is considering opening up the entire Teshekpuk Lake region to new oil drilling. It's a proposal that conservationists like Steve Zack, with the Wildlife Conservation Society, say will threaten migrating waterfowl populations valued by bird watchers and sportsmen alike.
"This is not a statement that we can't or shouldn't have oil development up on top of the world. We should. However, some areas like this Teshekpuk region are just too important for wildlife to allow development in."
Northern Alaska is known as the biggest "bird nursery" in the country. In fact, experts say California's Central Valley is the most important wintering region in the world for the highly prized pintail duck.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management says drilling in the area is needed to lessen the nation's dependence on foreign oil. The decision is now up to the Interior Secretary.
Zack says if BLM officials get their way it would be devastating for the bird population.
"We're hoping to protect essentially a donut that surrounds Lake Teshekpuk. It's a small fraction of the immense landscape in a part of the world that most people are unaware of, but the birds they watch or hunt come and go from there each year."
A petition against drilling sponsored by the Sportsman’s Alliance for Alaska is at www.sportsmanalliance4ak.org.
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