Oil companies take first steps toward Arctic refuge drilling
By Steven Mufson and Juliet Eilperin | Washington Post
Two Alaska Native corporations and a small oil services firm together have applied to do extensive seismic work next winter in the Arctic Natural Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), the first move toward development there since Congress voted late last year to open up the pristine wilderness to oil and gas drilling.
But while President Donald Trump, congressional Republicans, the oil industry and Alaskan leaders have been pushing hard to develop the refuge that had been off-limits to petroleum exploration for more than three decades, the Interior Department’s initial response to the consortium’s permit application was scathing.
“This plan is not adequate,” Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service said in a reply to the seismic application, adding that it showed “a lack of applicable details for proper agency review.” Copies of both the permit application and the Fish and Wildlife Service reply were obtained by The Washington Post.
The Alaska office of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management said in an email Wednesday that it was still reviewing the application. But the exchange over the permit highlights the difficulties of bringing to fruition a signature energy project of Trump and his fellow Republicans.
Much more: https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/05/31/oil-companies-take-first-steps-toward-arctic-refuge-drilling/
The coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, with the Brooks Range as a backdrop. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
= new reply since forum marked as read
We have worked so hard for so many years - going back to Theodore Roosevelt designating it as a protected area and Jimmy Carter's 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act - to prevent this pristine area from being exploited. We need to come up with any impediment that we can. 
Done! And passing this on! 
