The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is, known as ANWR, whichwas established in 1960. It covers about 19.4 million acres of land. The political debate over whether to develop the oil industry in this region has been anbeen ongoing political debate since 1977.

Oil drilling should not open up in the ANWR due to the various detrimental effects on the natives, the habitat, and the way of life.

ANWR stands for Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that preserves 19.64 million acres of land, and is one of the last prestige wildlife refuges in the world. It has four primary purposes:

To conserve inhabitants of fish and wildlife and their habitats in the refuge.
To fulfill international fish and wildlife treaty obligations for the U.S.
To allow the natives to continue using the refuge wildlife to survive.
To ensure water quality and quantity within the refuge.

The current number of species it protects:

42 fish species
37 mammals
Eight8 marine species
200+ migrant bird species