Foreword
For decades, the disposition of Federal lands in Alaska has been the subject of intense debate — with environmentalists seeking to preserve one of America’s, and the world’s, last unspoiled wildernesses, and oil companies coveting the area as a potentially rich petroleum production source.In 1960, President Dwight Eisenhower designated 8.9 million acres of Alaska’s coastal plain and northeastern mountains as the Arctic National Wildlife Range, to protect the area’s "unique wildlife, wilderness, and recreation values." In 1980, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, signed into law by President Jimmy Carter, expanded the region to include 18 million acres and…
