The BLM-managed National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska is unlike anything else in the world. Rich in resources, it is an incredible place of shallow wetlands, deep lakes, beaded streams, deep open lakes and tundra. The BLM is developing a Regional Mitigation Strategy to effectively mitigate impacts from energy development within the NPR-A. What resources will benefit? Brown and polar bears, walrus, small game and birds just to name a few.

About 90 bird species, primarily migratory, are found annually in the NPR-A. The yellow billed loon winters in the Yellow Sea region and nests here; it’s very rare and being considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act. A few species - including rock and willow ptarmigan, common raven, gyrfalcon, and snowy owl - live in the NPR-A year round.

There are also impressive herds of caribou in the NPR-A. The Teshekpuk Caribou Herd is an important subsistence resource to the residents of Atqasuk, Barrow, Nuiqsut and Wainwright in the NPR-A. The primary range of the Teshekpuk Caribou Herd is the North Slope west of the Colville River. And the Western Arctic Caribou Herd contributes to the subsistence needs of about 40 villages in northwestern Alaska.

Photo: Bob Wick, BLM