Teshekpuk Lake singled out as hub for nesting Arctic birds

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Teshekpuk Lake and surrounding wetlands along Alaska's Arctic coast may be the most critical bird nesting habitat in the region and should be made off-limits to oil and gas development for good, according to a new study published this month in the journal Arctic.

"Mean annual nest density of all bird species combined was significantly higher at Teshekpuk than at Prudhoe Bay and was higher than any of five other sites with comparable data on the Alaskan Arctic Coastal Plain," the authors wrote in the study’s abstract.

"Total shorebird nest densities at Teshekpuk were among the highest of any sites in the region. … Therefore, we recommend that future oil infrastructure placement in this region avoid these habitats."

Located inside the northeast corner of the 23.5-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve, the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area long been considered one of the most promising locales for future oil and gas development to the west of Alaska's oil patch, with about 77 percent of its 1.7 million acres already open to development. The question of whether to allow companies to explore and drill in wetlands close to the lake has been the focus of controversy and legal action for years.

Conservationists say this tundra mosiac of soggy meadows and ponds is one of the most important bird molting sites in the entire Arctic, with some of the highest seasonal concentrations of wildlife found anywhere on Alaska’s North Slope.

Enviromentalists: Unique biological values trump energy benefits

The study, by biologists Joe Liebezeit and Steve Zack of the Wildlife Conservation Society, and Colorado State University statistician Gary White -- argues that Teshekpuk's unique biological values trump the potential benefits that might come from new energy development.

"This is the first study to investigate breeding bird densities and measure how well birds are able to produce young in this remote and important region near Teshekpuk Lake," said the study's lead author, Joe Liebezeit, in an article posted by the Wildlife Conservation Society. "We found that the density of nesting birds was markedly higher compared to many other sites in Arctic Alaska."

"Teshekpuk Lake is in the middle of the world's biggest Arctic wetland, and thus at the heart of an international migration of shorebirds, waterfowl, loons, and songbirds that nest in this highly productive region during the short summer," Zack added. "This study makes clear how valuable this region is to breeding birds."

Located about 80 miles southeast of Barrow, the 22-mile-wide Teshekpuk Lake lays just inland from the shallows along the Arctic Ocean, surrounded by vast wet tundra and innumerable smaller lakes and ponds. Inupiaq Natives have visited the area to gather food for thousands of years.

The area is also the calving ground for the 70,000-strong Teshekpuk Lake caribou herd. Scientists have argued that it's the most important site in the entire Arctic for molting geese, and serves as a critical spring habitat for a dozen other species in decline or danger, including the threatened spectacled eider and the yellow-billed loon, under consideration for the Endangered Species list.

 "The areas north and east of Teshekpuk Lake provide ideal conditions for molting geese: a remote location that's free of development, large lakes where flightless birds can escape from predators, and tender sedges to fuel their high energy demands," according to Audubon Alaska.