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The article reports on the celebration of the 50th year of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Describes the author's experiences in touring Admiralty Island, Alaska. Difficulty of walking in Admiralty Island due to plants' proliferation; Requirement of portages in crossing connecting Admiralty lakes; Reliance of author's group on portage trails constructed by the Youth Conservation Corps.; Abundance of bald eagles in the area.

Maintains that while Alaska is still fighting the last disaster, it is missing the chance to stop the next one. Money paid by Exxon to rescue coastal forest going to endless number of attorneys and consultants; Restoration work going nowhere; Oil remains under surface of beaches in Prince William Sound; Further attempts to clean are impractical; Causing more harm than good; Opportunity to turn tragedy of spill into permanent preservation of an entire ecosystem.

The article discusses the mining prospect of the hypothetic 3.5 trillion tons of coal in Alaska. BHP Billiton, a mining company, attempted the work in 2006 but abandoned it in 2009. As another new company is asking permit to dig, Sierra Club regional representative Dan Ritzman appealed to the state of Alaska not to allow the process.

Reports on the decision of the Smithsonian Institution to sideline the photography exhibit of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by Subhankar Banerjee in Washington, D.C. in September 2003. Speculations on the reason behind the decision; Captions of the photographs which were banned; Comments of Alaska senator Ted Stevens regarding the issue.

Presents several reasons for opposing the drilling of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.