Oil and Wildlife in Alaska

Abstract

The discovery in Alaska of oilfields that promise to be among the richest in the world has raised some complex problems for conservationists. Alaska has a rich and impressive wildlife and habitats that are extremely vulnerable; in summer, when the surface soil thaws out on top of the permanently frozen layers below, one caterpillar tractor can make scars that may lead to disastrous erosion and take years to heal. And how are migrating caribou to get over the unburied parts of a four-foot diameter pipeline that runs for hundreds of miles across their traditional routes. BP, conscious of their responsibility for the wildlife and the habitat, asked Peter Scott to go to Alaska and report on the situation and what could be done to minimise the impact of the oil developments on the wildlife. The following account is drawn in part from his report and in part from his article published in the house magazine BP Shield.