ANCHORAGE, Alaska. - A controversial land swap proposal could
open portions of an Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling, dividing Alaska
natives and stoking opposition from environmentalists seeking to protect the
bears, moose and birds that live there.
Supporters of the plan to exchange land in the Yukon Flats
National Wildlife Refuge, which lies just south of the more-famous Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge, say they would like the plan to be approved by the
administration of President George W. Bush before the election in November.
"The window is the election," Alaska Republican Rep. Don
Young, a staunch backer of the plan, said at an Anchorage news conference. "We'd
like to have an executive order out of the administration before they leave
office."
The proposed land trade would give 110,000 acres of
hydrocarbon-prone uplands within the refuge, plus mineral rights to another
97,000 acres, to Fairbanks-based Doyon Ltd. In exchange, the refuge would gain
150,000 acres of bird-friendly wetlands now owned by Doyon, plus 56,500 acres on
which Doyon has pending land claims.
Doyon, owned by Athabascan Indians of interior Alaska, has long envisioned
such a trade to give economic benefits to its shareholders while preserving
traditional culture and the environment on which it depends.
