INTO THE WILD:
ALASKAN ARCTIC ADVENTURE
An AMC Major Excursion, June 9-23, 2006
“This is the place for man turned scientist and explorer; poet and artist. Here he
can experience a new reverence for life that is outside his own and yet a vital and
joyous part of it.” – William O. Douglas, U.S. Supreme Court Justice 1939-1975
Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is the crown jewel of America's
National Wildlife Refuge System. Tucked away in the state's remote northeast corner,
this 19.6-million-acre wildlife sanctuary is an awe-inspiring natural wonder: a
sweeping expanse of tundra studded with marshes and lagoons and laced with rivers
dramatically situated between the rugged foothills of the Brooks Range and the wide,
icy waters of the Beaufort Sea.
The wildest place left in America, ANWR – often called the "American Serengeti" – is
home to caribou, polar bears, muskoxen, arctic foxes, wolverines, grizzlies, and snow
geese, all of which depend on this fragile, unique ecosystem for survival.
Nowhere in North America do such large mountains come so close to the Arctic Ocean
as they do in the western portion of the ANWR, known as the coastal plain. Here, the
land is at most 100 miles wide, uplifted and gently rolling, squished between the
Arctic Ocean and the Sadlerochit Mountains. It’s a short space in which to experience
diverse wilderness settings.
The coastal plain of ANWR is both the calving grounds for the Porcupine Caribou Herd
and a hot prospect for oil companies. Originally part of the 9-million-acre Arctic
Wildlife Range created in 1959 by President Eisenhower, the coastal plain was not
designated as Wilderness in 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Land Claims Act, as
was the rest of the Range. Instead, since the 1.5-million-acre coastal plain was
believed to share Prudhoe Bay’s oil-rich geology, Section “1002” of ANILCA called for
an assessment of its resource values before deciding whether or not to permanently
protect it. The assessments’ conclusions came in 1987. The government concluded, in
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a nutshell, that the coastal plain is at once a critical part of the arctic ecosystem and
critical to the life cycle of the Porcupine Caribou Herd.
Last spring, Congress narrowly passed a Budget Resolution that paves the way for
drilling in ANWR. Although it was recently taken out of the budget resolution, the
vote to formally legalize drilling for oil along the coastal plain looms near! The time
to see this untouched area is now, and you can do it with us!
There is a wonderful brochure of ANWR that you can download at:
http://library.fws.gov/Refuges/arctic00.pdf. It is well worth a quick look as the
pictures speak for themselves.
BRIEF TRIP DESCRIPTION
We will begin our journey exploring the area north of Fairbanks as we work our way
up the Dalton Highway to Coldfoot, the launching pad for our Arctic Adventure. We
will do possible day hikes in Chena State Reservation Area,
the White Mountains of Alaska, and/or Gates of the Arctic
National Park. We will visit hot springs and take a river
rafting trip down the Upper Chena River. This portion of
the trip will be made in rented trucks, and we will camp
along the way.
From Coldfoot we will fly in bush planes to the coastal
plain. We’ll start our 8-day backpack at 2,000 above sea
level in the Sunset Pass region of the Sadlerochit
Mountains, the farthest-north band of the Brooks Range. After several days in the
mountains, we’ll walk down hill, across the coastal plain, to the Arctic coast. As we
go, we’ll see many wildflowers like Purple Mountain Saxifrage, Cinquefoil and Dryas.
We have a good chance to see caribou, musk oxen, wolves, grizzlies, and raptors; on
the coast, we can see seals, and an array of sea ducks.
This is a moderately difficult 35-mile +/- backpack. We will have three layover days
to explore and to soak up our surroundings. The footing is a mix of good and bad with
a slight preponderance of good footing. Participants should have backpacking
experience and be able to carry a 50 pound backpack. Though the mileage we travel
daily is small, hiking in the arctic is an “off-trail” experience: a six-mile day can take
as long and be as taxing as ten miles in other parts of the world. Participants must be
physically fit and have previous backpacking experience.
This trip is for people who are adventurous in spirit, flexible and willing to rough-it.
All but the first night will be spent in tents. We are also looking for people who are
good at encouraging each other and being relaxed if the plan doesn’t work out exactly
as expected.
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TENTATIVE ITINERARY
Friday, June 9
The group will take morning flights to Fairbanks, arriving before 5pm if possible.
After showering at the hotel we will have a welcome dinner and meeting with David
van den Berg, owner of Arctic Wild and Director of a local non-profit that does
advocacy for ANWR. He will not only describe the upcoming backpack, but also give
us some insight into current conservation issues related to the Park.
Saturday, June 10
We will leave Fairbanks in the morning and drive towards the Chena River Recreation
Area. We will pass through a forest of birch, spruce and cottonwood on the road to
the Angel Rocks trailhead where we will have our first hike. The Angel Rocks Trail
leads to a series of gorgeous granite outcroppings. The upper ridge has terrific views
of the valley below and Chena Dome. Total length of hike is 4-8 miles depending upon
whether we do the loop or the traverse to the Hot Springs. We will camp at Chena
Hot Springs and enjoy a dip in the natural pools. Dinner will be eaten at the local
restaurant.
Sunday, June 11
The calm, clear waters of the Upper Chena River will offer us a relaxing day enjoying
the local wilderness and its wildlife. We may see moose, bear, wolf, beaver, bald
eagle, spawning King and Chum Salmon and waterfowl - all of which are residents of
this area. On a peaceful sandbar, our guide will prepare a gourmet shore lunch. We
will camp again at Chena Hot Springs and eat dinner at a local restaurant.
Page 3
Monday and Tuesday, June 12 and 13
We will begin our drive up the Dalton Highway in the early morning towards Coldfoot.
The Dalton Highway, a.k.a., the "haul road", is 414 miles long and connects the Elliott
Highway (north of Fairbanks) to Deadhorse, Alaska on the Arctic Ocean - the farthest
north you can drive on Alaska's road system. The road is gravel and follows the TransAlaska Pipeline. For safety reasons we will be traveling in 6-passenger cab pick-up
trucks with 4WD. On the way to Coldfoot (240 miles up the highway) we will stop at
the Yukon Crossing, Finger Mountain viewpoint, and eventually the Arctic Circle.
Once in Coldfoot we will visit the Arctic Interagency Visitor’s Center, which is
operated by the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service. We may camp and do a day-hike
along the way to Coldfoot, or we may choose to travel the
distance up to Coldfoot in one day and camp at the Marion
Creek Campground, 5 miles north of Coldfoot. This will
put us within striking distance of Gates of the Arctic
National Park, where there is some day hiking access from
the highway. Meals will be a combination of group camp
meals and eating in the limited restaurants along the
highway.
What follows is a forecast of the trip from the Arctic Wild website, a general idea of
the flow of events. As a forecast, it may be amended to meet conditions and
opportunities in the field. It will also be amended for a possible “harder route” and
“easier route,” depending upon the ability of the participants. We will split up into
two groups for the backpacking trip, and each group will have five participants, one
leader and one Arctic Wild guide.
Wednesday, June 14
After breakfast we will fly from Coldfoot to Kaktovik, a small Eskimo village,
population 250. From there we’ll switch to a 3-seater Cessna-206 for the flight across
the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge to Sunset Pass. Once on the ground, we’ll hike a
mile or so from the air strip to make a good camp.
Thursday-Tuesday, June 15-20: It’s all downhill from here! We’re surrounded by
mountains, and they fill the southern horizon. To the north is the open expanse of the
arctic plain. We’ll enjoy this vantage before setting off to sea side.
The terrain we’ll cover is tundra, and there is very little brush, though we will get
into some willow thickets as we walk along creek beds. We’ll sometimes cross and recross creeks, so expect to have wet feet. For the most part, the footing will be dry
tundra, gravel bars, or wet tundra and the dreaded sedge tussocks. We’ll move 4-6
hours per day, and our longest days will come at the end when our packs are light,
we’re at our peak of fitness, and we can cruise. There are no major elevation gains.
Though our route is downhill, we won’t have any really, really prolonged descents,
either.
Page 4
We’ll take three layover days to explore farther from our backpacking route. The
guide will lead natural history hikes, but you are always welcome to strike out on your
own. On our two mountain layovers, we’ll have many options for climbing. There’s a
little unnamed valley we call “Valley of Spires,” itself a worthy destination. But the
largest peak in the Sadlerochits is farther on: 4,744’ Mt. Weller. We’ll move three
days consecutively across the coastal plain. There is free time every day and there is
always good hiking from each evening’s camp. The midnight sun plays beautifully on
the Sadlerochit Range the farther onto the plain we venture. Our final layover day is
on the arctic coast. We can explore creek deltas and the pea gravel beaches of
Camden Bay. In the near-shore waters, we can see Common Eiders, Yellow-billed
Loons, Black Scoters, and Long-tailed ducks. There’s likely to be sea ice on shore in
places. If so, we can use this ice bridge to get on the Arctic Ocean pack ice for a hike
out to sea. No kidding! This is an amazing place: totally beautiful and awe-inspiring.
Wednesday, June 21: Weather permitting, our bush plane will return to pick us up
and take us back to Coldfoot. We will either stay overnight in Coldfoot (or at least
shower there) and drive back to Fairbanks the next day or drive part of the way back
and stay at a campground along the Dalton Highway.
Thursday, June 22: We will make our way back to Fairbanks and spend the rest of
the day exploring Fairbanks before boarding our red-eye flights home. We will have 3
hotel rooms available for people to clean up before flying out. Expect to arrive back
in the continental U.S. on Friday morning.
Trip Leadership
Stacia Zukroff is a prolific leader with Major Excursions and the Young
Members (YM) and Hiking and Backpacking Committees of the Boston
Chapter. She is also the Chair of the Major Excursions Committee and
a Member-at-Large of the Boston Chapter Executive Committee.
Stacia has led major excursions to the Canadian Rockies (3 trips), New
Zealand, Nepal, Alaska, Wyoming (2 trips), Chile, and Tanzania.
Stacia is currently certified in Advanced Wilderness First Aid and Basic
Life Support. She lives in Arlington, MA and works with international
education programs at Babson College.
Markus Jork is an active leader with the Young Members
(YM) and Hiking and Backpacking Commitees of the Boston
Chapter as well as a member of the YM Leader Review
Committee. He has traveled to many parts of the world and
loves doing backpacking trips in summer and winter. As a
participant in a 2003 major excursion to Greenland, he can't
wait to get back to the arctic. Markus is certified in
Advanced Wilderness First Aid. He lives in Lowell, MA and
works as a principal software engineer.
Page 5
Arctic Wild – the Outfitter
The backpacking portion of this trip will be supported by guides from Arctic Wild, a
wilderness guiding company based 200 miles south of the Arctic Circle, in Fairbanks,
Alaska. Summer wilderness trips range from mellow, lakeside base camping to
challenging, trail-less backpacking. In between are river trips, which combine
paddling with day hiking, and a cozy riverside camp each night.
Arctic Wild
specializes in fully guided and outfitted arctic Alaska trips.
Arctic Wild trips rely on bush planes to access the wilderness. Often, simply flying
over the Brooks Range exceeds the expectations of even the most seasoned adventure
traveler. Service in the field is attentive and caring. Group sizes are small—between
one and eight guests per trip. Arctic Wild guides expertly balance safety and
spontaneity, skill and intuition, interpretation and quiet. For guests seeking to be
“alone with nature,” guides respectfully allow time and space for this, too.
As a company, Arctic Wild was born in 1999, when former owner Ron Yarnell, decided
that thirty years of running a wilderness guiding business was enough. He was ready
to "just be a guide." Jennifer and David-- "just guides" at that point-- bought Ron's
business, and immediately hired him as one of their star trip leaders. Today, Ron
continues to impress guests and guides alike with his love and knowledge of the
arctic.
The Arctic Wild constellation of stellar guides grows each season, to satisfy the
increased interest in eco-tourism in Alaska. All Arctic Wild guides have extensive
personal and professional wilderness travel experience. They are trained in the skills
of Leave No Trace and first aid/CPR, and many are certified Swiftwater Rescue
Technicians and Wilderness First Responders.
Arctic Wild owners Jennifer & David van den Berg live in Fairbanks year-round. Along
with a staff of six Alaskans, they spend summers either guiding in the wilderness, or
fighting to keep it wild.
Constant pressure to develop places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge means
that, for those who care about conservation, there is always work to be done. In the
off-season, many Arctic Wild guides donate time and energy to lobby on Capitol Hill in
support of protecting wilderness. And, as a business, Arctic Wild donates a portion of
its profits to support conservation organizations such as the Alaska Coalition, The
Wilderness Society, and the Alaska Wilderness League (see www.arcticwild.com for a
complete list). Last but not least: in addition to being the logistics coordinator for
Arctic Wild, co-owner David van den Berg is also the executive director of the
Fairbanks-based Northern Alaska Environmental Center, a position that keeps him less
in the field these days, and more on the political front lines of the battle to protect
Alaska's wild places.
Page 6
Because arctic Alaska is exceptionally engaging as an ecosystem and lovely as a
landscape, Arctic Wild takes pride in offering high-quality adventure trips that are not
only fun and safe, but sustainable for the land we cherish. Arctic Wild has enjoyed
traveling with guests from nearly every state. References are available upon request.
Accommodations and Meals
The first night in Fairbanks will be spent at a local hotel, most likely a Best Western
type. The rest of the trips you will spend in tents, double-occupancy. We will
reserve a few rooms for people to wash up and rest before flying back home, and if
anyone does stay the night and take a morning flight then it is likely that there will be
a bed for you. While car camping we will have sporadic access to shower facilities,
and we will attempt to provide those opportunities at least every other day. Nature
will be your shower on the backpack.
There will be a welcome dinner the first night in Fairbanks, and all meals on the
backpack will be provided. During the travel days up to Coldfoot there will be a
combination of camp meals and visiting local restaurants as they are available to us.
Most breakfasts and dinners will be included, but do plan on spending some of your
own money for lunches and a few other meals. Backpacking meals will have
vegetarian options. Please notify the leaders via your application if you have food
allergies or dietary restrictions.
Transportation to Alaska
The leaders will assist you in making your airline reservations and coordinating
payment to the travel agency. If you prefer to make your own airline arrangements, it
is imperative that you arrive in Fairbanks no later than 5:00 pm on Friday, June 9th to
be there for the welcome dinner and pre-backpack meeting. Alaskan and American
Airlines both have convenient flights from the East Coast that arrive in Fairbanks
between 3:00 and 5:00 pm. You should not plan to depart from Fairbanks any earlier
than 5:00pm on Thursday, June 22nd as we will be traveling back from Coldfoot that
morning. Plan on taking a red-eye back to the East Coast. We will reserve three
hotel rooms for people to shower and repack, and some beds will be available if you
decide to leave the next day. You are welcome to arrive early and leave later than
the dates of the trip, but it is your own responsibility to make these arrangements.
The leaders would be more than happy to give you some suggestions about what is in
the area.
We will attempt to make reservations for the first and last days at a hotel that has a
free shuttle. If it does not, we will make sure to give you various options for getting
to the hotel.
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Transportation in Alaska
We will have three primary modes of transportation while
in Alaska – trucks, bush planes and our own feet. During
our journey to Coldfoot we will be renting two sixpassenger 4WD pick up trucks. Unfortunately almost no
rental companies allow their vehicles on the Dalton
Highway due to the road conditions and lack of services,
so we are locked into taking what is available.
Fortunately, the trucks will afford us lots of gear storage
space and we can bring all of our extra non-backpacking gear with us. While on the
backpack we will store our trucks at the Coldfoot Airport in a secure location.
Our transportation to/from ANWR will be provided by Coyote Air, a family-run air taxi
service that has been operating for three generations. Coyote Air operates bushproven Dehavilland Beaver and Piper Super Cub Aircrafts that have been specially
modified for the demanding flying they undertake in Alaska.
On the backpack it’s just your tootsies getting you to and from…
Cost, Registration and Cancellation
The approximate cost for the trip is $3875 plus airfare (est. $550-650). The trip fee
will cover the following items:
-
Accommodations for the first night in a hotel
Day rooms to shower in and repack before departing on red-eye flights
All campgrounds
Float trip on the Upper Chena River
One Chena Hot Springs pool pass
Group welcome dinner in Fairbanks
Some breakfasts and dinners on Dalton Highway portion of trip
All meals on the backpack – including equipment to prepare them
All rental vehicles, gas, and insurance
Professional guide in ANWR
Flight to/from ANWR
Park entrance fees
All backcountry camping fees
Emergency medical and evacuation insurance
AMC major excursion fee
All other meals, including snacks for the backpack and other personal expenses are
not included.
You should plan on an additional $200 for extra meals and
miscellaneous and approximately $175-250 for guide tips.
Page 8
The approximate $3875 cost for the excursion is based on
estimates for trip expenses. The final cost of the trip will
be adjusted in accordance with the best arrangements the
leaders can make. Any savings they achieve, as well as any
cost increase, will be returned to you.
Please be aware that, in accordance with AMC policy, you
are subsidizing a portion of the leaders’ expenses, but not
all of them. In accordance with AMC rules, the leaders
may not realize a profit from this excursion. Any unspent funds resulting from
negotiating better rates for lodging, local transportation, etc. must be refunded to all
the participants. The trip fee also includes an AMC overhead cost to cover
administrative expenses of offering Major Excursions, including the trip’s publication
in the Outdoors and liability insurance.
A registration deposit of $800 is due with the application. You must also submit the
registration form, the Confidential Medical form, and the signed Acknowledgement
and Assumption of Risk and Release forms for the AMC and Arctic Wild. The rest of the
payment will be due 60 days in advance of departure, which is April 9, 2006. Please
make check payable to the Appalachian Mountain Club.
Our cancellation policy is based on the precept that your cancellation shall not raise
the cost to any of the other participants or the leaders. Therefore, if you cancel, we
will refund any money you have paid, less any expenses already incurred, or future
expenses that will be incurred, that have been the result of your registration and that
cannot be avoided. Refunded money will also be less a $50 cancellation fee. However,
if you cancel and the trip still realizes full participation, then any and all fees you
have paid will be refunded to you, in full, minus the cancellation fee. If you cancel
after your airline tickets have been purchased, you still own the ticket and will be
subject to the airline’s cancellation policy.
This trip is likely to fill quickly with the limited group size (10 people). If you
are interested, please register as soon as possible.
When registration is complete, we will send all participants the names, addresses and
phone numbers of those going on the trip. We will be using email as our primary
source of communication. If you prefer snail mail and/or telephone communication,
please note that on your registration form.
If you have any questions, please call us so that we can discuss them. Please contact
Markus Jork at amc@jork.com or 978-656-0050. (h) or Stacia Zukroff at
szukroff@yahoo.com or 781-648-5503.
Please send your completed application, release and medical forms, and deposit to:
Markus Jork, 200 Market Street, #407, Lowell, MA 01852.
Page 9
Experience and Risks
Physical Preparation
Lugging a 50 pound pack over uneven terrain and crossing high, cold rivers is
physically demanding. Though the mileages we may travel daily might seem meager,
hiking in the Arctic is an off-trail experience. Six miles can be as tough as ten
elsewhere. We will frequently use streams as our highways (as the animals do),
crossing back and forth, utilizing the best hiking terrain. Expect to have wet boots
much of the time while backpacking - the scenery alone is worth it!
People wishing to participate in this trip must have previous backpacking experience,
at the intermediate level or higher. Although we will hike at a moderate pace, this
trip is not for beginners or people who have not backpacked for several years. You
should be in excellent physical condition at the time we depart.
When you participate in this activity you should be both physically and mentally
prepared and equipped with the appropriate gear. You should always be aware of the
risks involved and conduct yourself accordingly. We are not responsible for your
safety: you are. Please expect us to request a backpacking reference for you, and if
you have any questions about your potential success on this trip ask before filling out
the application.
Wildlife (and bears)
There will be an abundance of wildlife on this trip,
including larger animals such as moose and bear.
Many of us take for granted that we hike in bear
country all the time when in NH and Maine;
however, we CANNOT in Alaska. Grizzly are
abundant in the areas where we will hike. We may
even glimpse a polar bear closer to the ocean
(hopefully from a very far distance). We will be
discussing techniques recommended by bear
experts for actions to take if we encounter a bear,
but prevention is the number one technique! We
will also all carry pepper spray with us on the backpack, even when we go to the
bathroom!
Weather and Daylight
The weather in Alaska and ANWR in particular can be very unpredictable, especially in
the early summer. June is tumultuous: expect to have cold, snow, wind and rain, but
we can also have hot, dry spells. Come expecting everything and you will not be
disappointed. We will also experience the longest days of the year where the sun will
never completely set. Some people will have trouble adjusting to 20+ hours of
daylight, although hopefully the hiking will make you tired enough to sleep
Page 10
comfortably, even with the sun overhead. Please bring eye masks if you think it will
help or a light weight hat that you can pull down over your eyes.
Communications
We will be driving up a remote highway and hiking in one of the remotest areas in
North America. We will carry a satellite phone for medical and safety emergencies
during our trip up the Dalton Highway. In addition to our satellite phone, Arctic Wild
will have one on the backpack and also carry a ground-to-air radio for line-of-sight
communication with passing aircraft, if necessary. There is no cell phone service
outside of Fairbanks, so the only way to reach your friends and family after we leave
the city will be to call from a pay phone whenever we have access to them.
A word about bugs…
We will be traveling in Alaska in a time when the mosquitoes will be waking up for the
season. They tend to not be extremely bad until the end of June, so it is likely we
will escape the brunt of them. However, be prepared to live with bug spray and carry
mosquito netting.
Being a Team Player and Flexibility
We will be more than just a group; we will be a team. If you are a loner, if you
cannot accept and enjoy being part of a group, if you are not a team player who is
willing to help your fellow hikers, then please do not register for this excursion. As a
member of our team, you will carry your fair share of community gear and food. You
will help with meal preparations and cleaning. If a member of our group becomes
injured, you will be expected to help carry that person’s gear. Your flexibility is
encouraged and appreciated!
To this end, we will try to arrange either a pre-hike meeting or social event before we
depart, so we can get to know each other. If it is convenient for most participants, we
may even ask you to participate in a day hike or weekend backpack. Although not
required, this will be a great way to meet the others in the group (and us leaders).
Equipment List
Required Personal Gear








backpack (min. 4500-5000 cubic inches)
1 medium duffel
1 small daypack / lumbar pack for day
hiking
15-20 degree sleeping bag (synthetic is
preferable)
sleeping pad
2 32-oz bottles / Camelbak bladder
High energy snacks
backpacking tent (can be shared)
Required Personal Clothing
 hiking boots (broken-in, preferably
waterproof)
 waterproof wind and rain gear (top and
bottom)
 one insulating layer of top and bottom
wool, synthetic fleece jacket and pants
 top and bottom medium weight long
underwear
 hat (liner and warm fleece)
 baseball cap or similar brimmed hat
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



gloves or mittens
two sets of synthetic top and bottom—
hiking shorts and/or nylon pants, short
sleeve and long sleeve tops
min. 2-3 pairs hiking socks w/ liners
bathing suit for hot springs – no naked
people please!
Required Accessories
 1 flashlight or headlamp w/ extra
batteries
 mess kit (fork, spoon, cup/bowl/plate
or large insulated mug)
 toiletries
 stuff sacks for food storage
 sunglasses
 whistle
 personal first aid kit
 sunscreen and bug repellant
 ziplock bags for trash
 pack cover
 gaiters
 Tevas or sandals
Optional Gear














mosquito head net and bug shirt
bandana
hiking poles (highly recommended)
pocket knife
camp towel
compass
casual clothing (for in town)
camera and film/ binoculars
playing cards, book, journal
camp pillow
camp trowel
Gortex socks
ear plugs
eye mask
Page 12
More about ANWAR
The 19 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) lies in the northeast
corner of Alaska. The entire refuge lies north of the Arctic Circle and 1,300
miles south of the North Pole.
The Coastal Plain area, comprising 1.5 million acres on the northern edge of
ANWR, is bordered on the north by the Beaufort Sea, on the east by the U.S.
Canadian border, and on the west by the Canning River. The Kaktovik Inupiat
Corporation and Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (both Alaska Native
corporations) own 94,000 acres in the Coastal Plain surrounding the village of
Kaktovik.
At its widest points, the Coastal Plain is about 100 miles across and about 30
miles deep and covers an area slightly larger than the state of Delaware. Along
the coastal area, the plain is an almost featureless expanse, barren and dotted
with thousands of unconnected small ponds; the area to the south becomes
gently rolling, treeless hills which merge into foothills and then into the
northern edges of the Brooks Range.
There is a Native population of about 220 residents at Kaktovik, a village on
Native owned lands at Barter Island, adjacent to the Coastal Plain and within
the boundaries of ANWR.
If ANWR was a state, it would be larger than 10 other states;
Size of ANWR relative to U.S. states:
19.0
acres
1. ANWR
Portion of ANWR permanently
(Wilderness & Refuge)
closed
to
development
million
17.5 million
Into the Wild, page 13
2. West Virginia
3. Maryland
4. Vermont
5. New Hampshire
6. Massachusetts
7. New Jersey
8. Hawaii
9. Connecticut
Area proposed for exploration
10. Delaware
11. Rhode Island
15.5
6.6
6.1
5.9
5.3
4.9
4.1
3.2
1.5 million
1.3
.7
Website Resources
http://arctic.fws.gov/ - Official government website
http://www.anwr.org/ - information about drilling
http://fairbanks-alaska.com/dalton-highway.htm - Dalton Highway Information
http://library.fws.gov/Refuges/arctic00.pdf - brochure of ANWR in PDF format
Books of Interest
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land - With
Inupiat guide Robert Thompson, Banerjee traveled 4,000 miles
through the refuge on foot and by raft, kayak, and snowmobile during
all four seasons. With more than 200 breathtaking color images,
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land makes this case:
leaving the refuge intact in all its mysterious beauty is vital to the survival of
this unique ecosystem. Banerjee's photos are paired with six essays and a
foreword by former president Jimmy Carter.
Midnight Wilderness: Journeys in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
- MIDNIGHT WILDERNESS is a passionate and vivid account of one of
Alaska's greatest natural treasures: the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,
the largest and most pristine wilderness region set aside in the United
States. Author Debbie Miller draws on her thirteen years of exploring this
unique, magical, and expansive territory, weaving personal anecdotes, chilling
adventures, wildlife observations, and Native issues.
Into the Wild, page 14