WASHINGTON, DC, October 3, 2007 (ENS) - The federal Bureau of Land Management, BLM, has renewed its attempt to sell leases to drill for oil in the Teshekpuk Lake area in the northeastern part of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, NPR-A.

On August 24, the BLM released a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, SEIS, which a federal court in Alaska ruled in September 2006 is required before leasing and drilling can begin.

The BLM has been holding public hearings on the SEIS in Alaska, and on Thursday the agency will hold a public hearing in Washington, DC at the Capitol Hilton hotel from 6 to 7 pm.

The Audubon Society calls this area "one of the most sensitive and important wildlife habitats in the Arctic ... a fragile wilderness that is home to an incredibly diverse variety of migratory shorebirds, waterfowl, and wildlife." The area is inhabited by Pacific black brandt, spectacled and Steller's eiders, yellow-billed loons, peregrine falcons, and caribou.

But the BLM views the oil-rich area as a source of fuel that was set aside specifically for that purpose.

"Petroleum in the 4.6-million-acre Northeast NPR-A is important for meeting our nation’s energy demands," said Tom Lonnie, BLM-Alaska state director. "This Supplemental Plan will allow us to consider the lands appropriate for leasing and the restrictions we should place on exploration and development that will result in petroleum production while protecting the area’s important resources."

The Audubon Society points out that the network of wetlands surrounding Teshekpuk Lake has been recognized since 1977 by Congress and by three prior Interior Secretaries as a special area for its importance to wildlife.

Yet in January 2006, the Bush administration removed the long-standing protections for the Teshekpuk Lake wetlands. Days before the scheduled lease sale the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska ruled that the agency's Environmental Impact Statement failed to adequately address cumulative impacts of drilling on the fragile wilderness.

For the newly released SEIS, the Bureau of Land Management used what it characterizes as "essentially the same alternatives" as were in the previous Environmental Impact Statement, but "expanded its consideration of additional measures that would minimize impacts, as well as consider [sic] results from scientific studies completed since 2005."

"The additional information and analysis will allow the BLM to complete a plan that provides for sound management of Northeast NPR-A," Lonnie said.

In early 2007, the North Slope Borough, the governmental body of the area, which is mainly inhabited by by Inupiat Eskimos, signed an agreement with the BLM that gave it the formal status of a Cooperating Agency for this planning effort.

"The North Slope Borough has contributed valuable information, particularly on public health issues." said Lonnie. "Their scientists have reviewed and submitted comments that have been used throughout the document."

Public hearings continue to October 11. For information on the dates and times, documents and directions on submitting public comments, click here.

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