Word: wildernesse
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But there is another Alaska -- a land of mining towns and tourist boats, of developers and exploiters. Gradually, but inexorably, oil rigs encroached upon the wilderness, and a huge pipeline now snakes its way across the icy expanses where caribou roam. Loggers have cut ever deeper into the lush forests...
But anti-drilling activists argue that the area is just too sensitive to stand the strain of oil production, even if a spill never occurs. A few roads and airstrips in this seemingly vast wilderness, they say, could cause permanent harm to the habitats of caribou, musk-oxen, polar bears...
It would be nice to add more acreage to Alaska's national preserves, but that is neither practical nor fair to the state. More than a third of its 368 million acres are already designated as national parks, wildlife refuges and forests, and thus protected from development to varying degrees...
Conservation will not be easy, but the public's sense of horror over fouled beaches and dying animals could provide new motivation to save energy. If that happens, the wreck of the Exxon Valdez will not be an unmitigated disaster. It would be unrealistic to halt Alaska's oil business...
SERENGETI DIARY (PBS, April 12, 8 p.m. on most stations). The ever popular National Geographic specials conclude their season with a look at the people and wildlife of this beautiful East African wilderness.