Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
By Chris Pyle
Photos by Scott Dickerson | www.scottdickerson.com

In May of 2005, I traveled to the disputed "1002" area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska. Still photographer, Scott Dickerson, and I were dropped off by helicopter in the vast tundra of the Arctic coastal plain. We set up camp along with a microwave transmission tower. The purpose was to transmit the first ever, live television images of the annual caribou migration. 40,000 caribou calves are born here every year and this area is crucial to their successful rearing. No other place suits their needs as well as the "1002" area. This joint effort of the Wilderness Society and the Alaska Coalition directed by Alaskan wildlife filmmaker, Daniel Zatz, was a direct response to the debate going on in Congress that year about opening up these calving grounds to oil exploration and production. We feel very strongly that this would be enormously destructive to this land that is so special and so important to the continued success of the caribou herds. Not to mention, it is part of our national heritage and along with other national refuges, should be preserved in its natural state.

Scott and I were able to transmit some amazing live footage coming from another crew in the field via our microwave "repeater" station as well as our own footage, to the small native village of Kaktovik where the images were sent out over a satellite to TV stations across the country. During this media tour, morning news programs including Good Morning America, were able to speak live with Boyd Matson (former host of the Today Show and National Geographic Explorer) directly from the Arctic. The images were also streamed live on the Internet to an even broader audience.

Fortunately, Congress once again put off the decision to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but the pressure on this area continues.  I sincerely hope the images we transmitted out of the Arctic that week may have opened some eyes and hearts to the beauty of this unique and important place.