Opening up a wildlife refuge could spell trouble for vulnerable polar bears

In December of 2017, millions watched an emaciated, dying polar bear struggle to take another step in a video published by National Geographic.

In the same month, Congress voted to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling, closing off yet another part of the polar bear’s habitat and a hope for its future.

“It’s sad to care for an animal whose wild counterparts will go extinct in their lifetime,” said Jenna Kocourek, a former bear zookeeper at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium.

The wildlife refuge, or ANWR, was founded in 1980 under Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. Section 1002 of the act stated that parts of the refuge could be used for drilling if congress voted on it and they conducted an Environmental Impact Study.

The refuge is 19 million acres of the northern Alaskan coast. Around 1.5 million acres are called the 1002 area because Congress has attempted to open it 12 times.

The mystery of it all? No one knows how much oil is in the area.

However, after a 40-year battle, the Trump Administration quietly lifted the drilling ban in tax legislation as a way to help pay for tax cuts.

Proponents of the ANWR drilling say that the oil drilled in the area will allow less foreign imports and create new jobs. They also say that new technologies allow for oil drilling to be done safely and without an environmental impact.

“Opening less than 3 percent of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska for responsible energy production could create thousands of jobs, generate billions in new revenue and help reduce our dependence on foreign sources of oil,” said Katie Schoettler, the press secretary of the House Committee of Natural Resources in an email referencing their website.

The opponents argue that the drilling would not get the proposed revenue.

The U.S. Department of Energy reported in 2008 that “additional oil production resulting from the opening of ANWR would be only a small portion of total world oil production, and would likely be offset in part by somewhat lower production outside the United States.”

Environmentalists also oppose the drilling. The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service has reported that the 1002 area is the most biodiverse of Alaskan’s North Slope.

According to the Defenders of Wildlife, around 1,500 polar bears rely on ANWR’s shores for denning. It said that the testing for oil, called seismic blasts, can drive mother polar bears away from their cubs.

There’s also the issue of potential oil spills. According to the U.S Department of Energy, approximately 1.3 million gallons of oil are spilled into the ocean every year. From 1971 to 2000, there were 250,000 oil spills.

Even with new safer technologies, oil spills occur often. The latest oil spill happened in 2017 when the Keystone Pipeline, also argued as “environmentally better,” by Trump, spilled 210,000 gallons.

With these numbers, it is reasonable to assume that an oil spill could occur in ANWR. If this happened, polar bears would be affected in many ways. Not only is contact with the oil fatal, it would also affect the whole food chain. When the polar bears’ prey dies from the oil, they will have nothing to eat.

This could be disastrous for the already dwindling species. Polar bears are classified as vulnerable on the IUCN red list. Their biggest threat is loss of habitat due to the melting sea ice. This is caused by climate change.

“Polar bears rely on ice to travel and hunt,” Kocourek said. “Now they are relying on having to swim for miles to get to ice that can support them.”

Kocourek cared for Bam Bam, the zoo’s only polar bear, who will soon be transferred to the Kansas City Zoo to mate with a male. Zoos across America are attempting to help the species through mating and genetic research. However, Kocourek feels little control when it comes to the fight against drilling.

“I can’t go out there and stop them from drilling or reverse the law,” she said. “I can continue to care for Bam Bam and inspire others to care.”

Another approach zoos take in conservation is education. Troy Solberg, the volunteer coordinator at the Omaha Zoo, said that animals like Bam Bam educate on the plight of their species.

“We like to call them ambassadors for their species,” he said. “Someone may learn about climate change and polar bears because of Bam Bam.”

Despite the zoo ambassadors bringing awareness to these issues, the administration has put them on the back burner.

In the last year, the Trump administration opened Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah which are home to hundreds of birds, bears, bighorn sheep and mountain lions. The Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska was opened as well so they could build a road through the otherwise inhabited wilderness.

These are a result of a review of every national refuge and monument by the Interior Department by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. He suggested the administration alter 25 of them.

Presidents haven’t deregulated a national monument in the last 50 years. However, before that, it happened 18 times. Most of these national areas were reclaimed in later presidential terms. Many used the argument that the area was no longer deemed necessary. Most were triggered by exploitative use.

The last time this happened was in 1960 when Eisenhower reduced Arches National Park by 720 acres. However, in 1971, the land was re-designated.

The reason for the latest cuts is that the land was restricting economic use. This mindset worries environmentalists because many national parks and monuments have economic uses that the administration may see in the future.

“There is an economic side to wildlife management as well,” said Mary Bomberger Brown, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln ornithologist. “Wildlife is a resource with potential value and the questions societies decide are how are we going to use it, and what value are we going to place on it?”

The answers are still unclear and put the future of the polar bear at risk.

Although the opening of ANWR is a setback, there is still hope for the survival of polar bears. Zoos are continuing to educate on the polar bears plight and conservation nonprofits fight for their survival.

“There needs to be a transformation from an industrial man to an earthship man,” said Dennis Ferraro, a UNL professor of conservation biology.

There is also the fact that the ANWR drilling may take several years before it goes into effect. With a change of administration, may come a reversal of the decision.

“We need to accept the limits of man’s control over nature,” Ferraro said. “To protect ourselves, we really need to protect nature.”