Confused about Arctic refuge? Try this Q&A

What to do with the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? In the past decade, no single environmental issue has been more explosive. Should it be shielded from the oil industry? Or should a section be opened to extract oil for a hungry economy?

Those policy questions aren't answered here, but below are some answers to background questions to frame the debate among Republicans, Democrats, industry and environmentalists.

What is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge?
Often referred to by the acronym ANWR, the refuge in northeast Alaska covers 19.6 million acres, an area about the size of South Carolina.

It is home to 45 species of mammals, ranging from the small pygmy shrew to the large bowhead whale. Others include caribou, wolves, Dall sheep, moose, musk oxen and polar, grizzly and black bears. Waters in the refuge are home to 36 species of fish, and 180 species of birds live in or pass through the refuge on their migrations, including snow geese and peregrine falcons.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages ANWR, says one factor that makes the refuge "a very special place is that, as far as we know, there are no species that should be here but are not, and no species that should not be here, but are. In other words, no species of plant or animal is missing, and no outside species has invaded the refuge."

To the west of the refuge lies Prudhoe Bay and existing oil fields that account for 15 percent of domestic production. Farther west is the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, an area designated by Congress for oil production and which the Bush administration is now opening up to exploration. The reserve, Prudhoe Bay and ANWR's coastal plain make up the geographical area known as the North Slope.

Where would ANWR drilling take place?
By law, only a specific area on ANWR's coastal plain may be opened to drilling should Congress vote to do so. Known as the 1002 Area, it covers 1.5 million acres.

Any production wells there would be connected to the existing Trans-Alaska Pipeline.

Drilling supporters say the total area needed for the drilling facilities would be just 2,000 acres. They also cite technical improvements that have slashed the size of drilling sites.

Environmentalists counter that the 2,000 acres don't take into account the miles of roads and pipeline that would be needed to support each drilling site.

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