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How do I explain to woefully uninformed Lower 48ers Alaska's attitude toward drilling on the last piece of protected Arctic America (ANWR) and indiscriminate killing of wildlife (wolves) in the last remaining state in the union that is blessed with natural numbers of predators?
Hire a public relations firm, I guess, for starters. In Alaska, many kid themselves that the rest of the country just couldn't understand. When the surface of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is scratched, it's not oil that matters, it's money. Money to the oil companies, the federal government and -- with a wink and a nod from Alaska politicians -- to the state government, and therefore a trickle down to the citizens of Alaska. Well, there are some things that just should not be done for money. Oil exploration in this only remaining unopened piece of Arctic America will not significantly decrease foreign oil dependence or the price of fuel, but only serve to industrialize the final remaining 5 percent of Arctic America and contribute to global climate changes felt nowhere more strongly than Alaska.
Instead of massacring wolves for easier game hunting, why not let a natural system manage itself? It's been said that you don't understand what you have until it's gone. Is that what we want for Alaska?
---- John Schwieder / Palmer
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