The NPRPA states that any petroleum exploration within,

areas designated by the Secretary of the Interior containing any significant subsistence, recreational, fish and wildlife, or historical or scenic value, shall be conducted in a manner which will assure the maximum protection of such surface values to the extent consistent with the requirements of this Act for exploration of the reserve (42 U.S.C. § 6504(b)).

Based on this authority, the Secretary, in 1977, designated three Special Areas. Portions of two of the Special Areas are within the Planning Area (Map 34 ). The Teshekpuk Lake Special Area, the western edge of which is in the extreme northeast corner of the Northwest NPR-A Planning Area, protects migratory waterfowl and shorebirds. The Colville River Special Area, a portion of which is in the southern-most part of the Planning Area, protects the arctic peregrine falcon, which was an endangered species in 1977 (Sec. III.B.1).

The Special Areas and their resources are the focus of many of the management actions and protective measures in the alternatives presented in Section II. Section III.B.1 describes these Special Areas and their resources. While none of the alternatives under consideration in this IAP/EIS modifies or eliminates any of the existing Special Areas, Alternative B does propose creating a new Special Area at Kasegaluk Lagoon, in the extreme western portion of the Planning Area.