Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Riders On the Storm

Is this what will happen to ANWR? Death by midnight massacre?
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RIDER APPROVES OIL DRILLING INTO NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE:  “The Senate this week could take up a rider in the Interior Department appropriations bill to expedite a land exchange involving parts of an Alaska wildlife refuge that a tribal corporation could open for oil and gas development,” according to Greenwire, 9/21.  The rider would “provide $750,000 to the Fish and Wildlife Service to acquire waterfowl habitat lands belonging to Doyon Regional Corp. in the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge and the related exchange of nearly 100,000 acres and associated mineral rights from FWS to the corporation.”  The Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, just south of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, is home to over 150 species of birds.  Conservation organizations charge that the dealmakers have been purposely avoiding public scrutiny and have not notified the public of the details of the deal.  "No matter how you slice it, this is a scheme to sneak oil drilling into some of the most important waterfowl and moose habitat in North America," said Stan Senner of Audubon Alaska.
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