The Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWAR) has long been a battleground in the escalating conflict between the nation's growing energy demands and long held conservation values. Nearby a little known but more consequential struggle is being waged over development of the 23 million-acre National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska, the single most important breeding ground for migratory wildlife in North America.

At the same time, climate change has begun to transform arctic Alaska at twice the rate seen elsewhere. The underlying permafrost is melting threatening the integrity of lakes and wetlands. Migratory birds are nesting two weeks earlier than ten year ago. Species typical of boreal habitat to the south, such as red fox, grizzly bear and moose, are becoming more common. Increasingly severe summer storms coupled with the loss of sea ice are inundating and eroding the shoreline.