As Senate Republicans look for ways to bring the issue of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) drilling up for a vote, Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) has issued a letter-report from the General Accounting Office (GAO) that finds that any attempt to drill in the national wildlife refuge system for reasons other than drainage would fly in the face of a 35-year-old policy prohibiting such activity.

“For 35 years we have refused to initiate a new round of leasing on national wildlife refuges…Moreover, Congress itself has never — NEVER — forced open a particular refuge to drilling. So if we don’t do it anywhere else, why should we begin in Alaska? The precedent would haunt our national refuge system,” said Markey, who commissioned the GAO letter-report and is an ardent foe of ANWR drilling.

The GAO report said no oil and gas leases have been issued in wildlife refuges since Congress passed the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act in 1966, except to protect the federal government’s interests in oil and gas resources that were being drained from refuge lands by wells being operated on adjacent lands. In fact, oil and gas leasing on refuge lands has been permitted by the Department of Interior (DOI) in only a few cases since at least 1947, according to the agency, which is the investigative arm of Congress.

ANWR proponents in Congress have pointed to drilling activity on other refuge lands to justify opening the Alaska refuge to oil and gas drilling. But Markey noted the GAO report reveals almost all of the existing drilling activity in refuges stems from privately-held rights that were grandfathered when the lands were originally set aside as refuges. But the leasing of federally held rights is rare, he said.

In 2000, only eight refuges with federally owned mineral rights had active oil or gas production, according to the GAO. In four of the refuges, leases were issued by DOI to protect the nation’s resources from drainage by adjacent production, while in the other four refuges, production either occurred prior to the establishment of the refuges or was allowed under regulations that no longer exist.

The House over the summer passed H.R. 4, which would allow ANWR to be opened to oil and gas exploration and production. But the controversial issue faces major resistance in the Senate, and few believe that it will reach the floor for a vote this session.

Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-AK), may try to attach ANWR to the economic-stimulus bill or some other legislative vehicle. Such a move would surely be followed by a filibuster, which would require ANWR supporters to muster 60 votes to override.

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