Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
VISION QUEST ADVENTURES
explore the arctic national wildlife refuge
ALASKA
It's the crown jewel in America's natural treasure chest. We don't want to
see it scarred with oil wells, roads, and pipelines.
—Jamie Rappaport Clark, former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service
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The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is a veritable celebrity. It pops up in the
news nearly as often as Angelina Jolie. The oil industry, screaming talk show hosts, and quite
a few of our politicians tell us that drilling in this pristine 19-million-acre preserve is vital
for eliminating our dependence on foreign oil. The environmentalists claim it won't provide
enough oil to last six months, and besides, they add, the same reasons it was protected by
Dwight Eisenhower in 1960 are still there—thundering herds of caribou, wolves, polar bears,
and migratory bird species from four continents.
Although listed here in the wellness chapter for its thousands of hiking, kayaking, rafting,
and other outdoor activities, this vacation could also qualify for two of the other chapters. It's
an intellectual retreat, because you'll finally learn what all the fuss is about, why this giant
wilderness is constantly making the news, and a volunteer retreat, because once you see the
magnificence of these unbroken Arctic and subarctic ecosystems in a place where you can hike
for days without encountering a single artifact of civilization, you'll go home fired up to save
it, too.
In 1963, Wallace Stegner wrote that it's not necessary to travel to a wilderness to know
that it's worth saving. He said just knowing that such a wild sanctuary exists is enough to cre-
ate a “geography of hope.” But once you witness it for yourself, stand on this ground that the
Inupiat and the Athabaskan have called home for thousands of years, it will be all you can do
to stop yourself from marching on Washington.
