Hulahula-Okpilak Delta III | Oil and the Caribou | 2006 | 68 in. x 86 in.

Early August 2006, Hulahula–Okpilak Delta, along the Beaufort Sea coast, Alaska. Several hundred million birds migrate to the Arctic each spring for nesting and rearing their young. They travel from every continent, a global celebration of epic scale that connects the Arctic to nearly every land and sea on the planet. The Arctic river deltas, and its surrounding tundra, wetlands, coastal lagoons, barrier islands and near offshore waters provide rich ecological habitat for numerous migratory bird species. The birds use these eco–regions for nesting, molting, staging, and feeding. Major Arctic river deltas usually lie atop potentially vast amount of oil and natural gas reserves. The Lena River delta in Siberia (the most extensive Arctic river delta), the Mackenzie River delta in Canada (the largest delta in Canada), the Canning–Tamayariak, Hulahula–Okpilak, and the Kongakut–Egaksrak river deltas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska—are all known to have oil and gas deposits underneath, and these deltas are also known to be premier habitats for migratory birds.