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Teshekpuk: A Wildlife Spectacle
Arctic Alaska contains one of the world’s last great wildlife spectacles. On its coastal plain, a region dotted by thousands of lakes and fertile wet tundra, millions of migratory birds come from all over the world to rear their young. The aggregations of breeding birds are most numerous in western arctic Alaska, particularly near Teshekpuk Lake.
“No other place is more important for breeding birds than the region around Lake Teshekpuk,” says Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) conservation scientist Steve Zack. “Several waterfowl species also undergo their flightless molt here, a period when they are at their most vulnerable.”
Western arctic Alaska is bound by the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A). The size of the state of Indiana, it is the largest single piece of public land in the United States.
WCS has been working on the ground near Teshekpuk for three years. Associate conservation scientist Joe Liebezeit has led the fieldwork from tented camps. His team’s studies suggest that the region supports more species and higher densities of breeding birds than most other places on the Alaskan arctic coastal plain. “The birds of Teshekpuk also successfully raise more young here than elsewhere,” says Liebezeit. “Our research lends further support that the area around Teshekpuk is an important nursery for birds from around the world.”
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which administers the NPR-A, is set to expand oil development from the existing oil fields around Prudhoe Bay westward into this public land. The Wildlife Conservation Society and other conservation groups feel that responsible development can and should move forward in the NPR-A, but that key wildlife areas—including the region around Teshekpuk Lake—should be protected from such development. There is ample room for both oil development and real wildlife protection in this region rich in natural resources.
Help Save Lake Teshekpuk
Please join our TAKE ACTION CAMPAIGN by sending an email to the Bureau of Land Management. You can also support WCS’s ongoing efforts to protect key areas in western arctic Alaska.
For further information, visit the BLM-Alaska State Office website and comment on the plans to develop around Teshekpuk Lake.
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