Teshekpuk Lake
Encyclopedia
Teshekpuk Lake is a 22 miles (35.4 km)-wide lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
on the Arctic
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
coast of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, South of Pitt Point
Pitt Point
Pitt Point is a promontory, 90 m high, at the south side of the mouth of Victory Glacier on the south coast of Trinity Peninsula. Charted by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in 1945, and named for K.A.J. Pitt, master of the 1944-45....
, 12 miles (19.3 km) East of Harrison Bay, 80 miles (128.7 km) East of Point Barrow.
Etymology
Its name is of EskimoEskimo
Eskimos or Inuit–Yupik peoples are indigenous peoples who have traditionally inhabited the circumpolar region from eastern Siberia , across Alaska , Canada, and Greenland....
origin, recorded by Rochfort Maguire
Rochfort Maguire
Commodore Rochfort Maguire was a Royal Navy officer who served as Captain of HMS Plover from 1852 to 1853 during the Franklin Search Expedition.-Biography:...
as Tasok-poh in 1854, and reported to mean "big enclosed coastal water" or "big coastal lake".
Also known as:
- Lake Teshekpuk
- Tasekpuk Lake
- Tasirkpuk Lake
- Tasyukpun
Environment
In July 2007, a study reported that the disappearance of sea ice near Teshekpuk Lake is causing rapid erosion in the marshy, wildlife-rich area. In some places, the sea has pushed in half a mile and salt water has contaminated freshwater lakes. According to the study, migratory birds, caribou and other wildlife populations have lost habitat, and the sparse human infrastructure along the coastline has been damaged. According to Stan Senner, executive director of Audubon Alaska, "The area (Teshekpuk Lake) is one of the most important areas in the entire Arctic, and I don't just mean in Arctic Alaska...It is simply the most important goose-molting area in the Arctic."Drilling controversy
On January 11, 2006, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) approved oil and gas drilling on approximately 500,000 acres (2,000 km²) of land in and around Teshekpuk Lake on Alaska's North SlopeAlaska North Slope
The Alaska North Slope is the region of the U.S. state of Alaska located on the northern slope of the Brooks Range along the coast of two marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean, the Chukchi Sea being on the western side of Point Barrow, and the Beaufort Sea on the eastern.The region contains the...
within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Up to 90,000 geese congregate in this area in summer to undergo wing molt, and up to 46,000 caribou use the area for both calving and migration. Some environmental groups contested the DOI decision to allow drilling. The decision stipulated that no surface drilling would be allowed on land considered crucial for molting geese or caribou, and a maximum of 2,100 acres (8.5 km²) in seven different zones could be permanently disturbed on the surface.
On September 25, 2006, the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska
United States District Court for the District of Alaska
The United States District Court for the District of Alaska is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Alaska. Offices are located in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Nome...
issued a decision that removed the wildlife habitat around Teshekpuk Lake from an oil and gas lease sale that was held on September 27. The court found that the U.S. government's environmental analysis had violated federal environmental laws. The ruling struck down the Interior Department's leasing plan for the area, prohibiting the Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
(BLM) from leasing more than 400,000 acres (1,600 km²) around the lake. Prior to the decision, led by a coalition of environmental organizations and Alaskan Natives, U.S. citizens sent over 300,000 comments to the Secretary of Interior and the CEO of ConocoPhillips.
Environmentalists and the region's Inupiat Eskimos have also cited the impacts of global climate change as a reason to oppose drilling in land near Teshekpuk Lake.