An excellent example of oil and gas exploration in the area adjacent to the ANWR Coastal Plain has already occurred. An exploratory well was drilled in 1985-86 on Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation and Arctic Slope Regional Corporation lands about 14 miles southeast of Kaktovik. This is the only well that has been drilled between the Canning River and the Canadian border north of the Brooks Range. Construction and drilling operations were conducted in close coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and included con- struction of an ice road and ice airstrip and a 5-acre drilling pad. Wildlife in the area were not affected by the operations.

Construction of the ice road and airstrip began in December of 1984, the well was spudded in mid-february 1985 and drilling operations were suspended in early May of that year. The road and airstrip were reconstructed in late November of 1985 and drilling resumed. Drilling operations in the well were completed in April of 1986; timbers and foam insulation used under the rig were removed during the summer of 1986 and that area was revegetated.