The arctic national wildlife refuge (anwr) is located along the Arctic Ocean in Alaska, east of the main North Slope oil fields, and bordering on the U.S.-Canadian (Alaska-Yukon Territory) border. It encompasses over 19 million acres of land. It is home to a great deal of wildlife, and may also contain oil. The federal government created the refuge in 1960, after a campaign by nationally known conservationists and scientists, as the Arctic National Wildlife Range. The range was somewhat smaller than the current refuge; in 1980, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) expanded the “range” and made it a “refuge.” According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages ANWR, the refuge contains 45 species of land and marine mammals, perhaps the ...