Editing Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (section)

=== Porcupine caribou herd ===
This area for possible future oil drilling on the coastal plains of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, encompasses much of the [[Porcupine caribou]] calving grounds. Migratory caribou herds are named after their birthing grounds, in this case the [[Porcupine River]], which runs through a large part of the range of the Porcupine herd.<ref name=Alaska /><ref name=Kolpashikov /> In 2001, some biologists feared development in the Refuge would "push caribou into the foothills, where calves would be more prone to predation."<ref name=natgeo /> Though numbers fluctuate, there were approximately 169,000 animals in the herd in 2010.<ref name=Alaska>{{citation|institution=Alaska Department of Fish and Game|first=Cora|last=Campbell|location=Juneau, Alaska|number=99811|date=2 March 2011|series=Press release|title=Porcupine Caribou Herd shows growth|url=http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=pressreleases.pr03022011|access-date=15 January 2014|archive-date=16 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116112048/http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=pressreleases.pr03022011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Kolpashikov>{{citation|last1=Kolpashikov|first1=L.|first2=V.|last2=Makhailov|first3=D. |last3=Russell|title=The role of harvest, predators and socio-political environment in the dynamics of the Taimyr wild reindeer herd with some lessons for North America|journal=Ecology and Society}}</ref> Their annual land migration of {{convert|1500|miles|km}}, between their winter range in the boreal forests of Alaska and northwest Canada over the mountains to the coastal plain and their calving grounds on the [[Beaufort Sea]] coastal plain,<ref name=natgeo1>{{citation|last=Mitchell|first=John|url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/data/2001/08/01/html/ft_20010801.3.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080105054927/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/data/2001/08/01/html/ft_20010801.3.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 January 2008|title=Oil Field or Sanctuary?|publisher=National Geographic|date=1 August 2001|access-date=15 January 2014}}</ref> is the longest of any land mammal on earth.

In 2001, proponents of the development of the oil fields at [[Prudhoe Bay]] and Kuparuk, which would be approximately {{convert|60|mi|km}} west of the Refuge, argued that [[Central Arctic caribou herd]], had increased its numbers "in spite of several hundred miles of gravel roads and more than a thousand miles of elevated pipe." However, the Central Arctic herd is much smaller than the Porcupine herd, and has an area that is much larger.<ref name=natgeo /> By 2008 the Central Arctic caribou herd had approximately 67,000 animals.<ref name=Kolpashikov />