BRANT AND SNOW GEESE WITH CHICKS | Oil and The Geese | 2006 | 68x86 inches

The Teshekpuk Lake and its surrounding wetlands in the north-central Alaskan Arctic comprise one of the most important wetland complexes and goose molting habitats in the circumpolar North. The Teshekpuk Lake wetlands provide habitat for molting geese from three nations, Mexico, Canada and Siberia; and nesting birds from six continents. As many as 37,000 brant - up to 30% of all Pacific brant - gather each summer to molt north and east of the lake. These brants come from elsewhere on the North Slope of Alaska, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta to the south, the western Canadian high Arctic, and Siberia. Numbers of greater white-fronted geese molting at Teshekpuk Lake are increasing and range as high as 35,000. These geese are part of the mid-continental population, wintering in gulf coastal states and Mexico. Thousands of Canada and snow geese also gather to molt in the safety of this unique wetland complex. United States Government has made strong effort in the past few years to open up the entire 1.7 million acres of the Teshekpuk Lake special area to oil and gas development. The Inupiat people of the North Slope who depend on this wetland oppose development in the most sensitive caribou and geese habitats. In recent years, this wetland has become one of the most contested public lands in the United States. In addition to the threat of development, the International scientific community is projecting serious impact on many bird species from climate change, as important breeding and nesting areas are projected to decrease sharply as treeline advances northward, encroaching on the tundra, and because timing of bird arrival in the Arctic might no longer coincide with the availability of their insect food sources. At the same time sea-level rise will erode tundra extent from the north further shrinking important habitat for many species.