this narrow strip where the refuge meets the sea is home to many of the arctic's diverse wildlife species. ♪♪♪ zoe: this is the heart of the arctic nationalnt to drill. ♪♪♪ zoe: this is where the caribou have their babies? fran mauer: this--part of the calving grounds of the porcupine caribou here, what we're walking on right here. zoe: i'm here with retired biologist and conservationist fran mauer. he's a caribou expert, who spent more than 20 years studying this special place. mauer: this is a shed antler from an adult female caribou. when you find antlers laying on the tundra, you're in a--cow antlers, you're in a calving ground. zoe: it's unclear how much oil actually lies under the tundra. an exploratory well drilled in the mid-'80s apparently delivered meager results, but the oil companies won't release the details. now, the trump administration wants to sell off the drilling leases by the end of this year. mauer: in my opinion, the rush is to sell leases before there's another election. it's as simple as that 'cause they know that american people ultimately do not want this and they're trying to push it through while they have the

k ♪♪♪ zoe daniel: alaska's arctic national wildlife refuge known as anwr, protected by the us governmentso contested for decades. here, animals roam in a pristine wilderness in one of the last places of its kind on earth, but it's under threat. [gunshot] donald trump: anwr in alaska, one of the great sites of energy in the world. zoe: the trump administration plans to allow drilling here for oil and gas.

. ♪♪♪ zoe daniel: alaska's arctic national wildlife refuge known as anwr, protected by the us governmentfor decades. here, animals roam in a pristine wilderness in one of the last places of its kind on earth, but it's under threat. [gunshot] donald trump: anwr in alaska, one of the great sites of energy in the world. zoe: the trump administration plans to allow drilling here for oil and gas.

so much of the arctic national wildlife refuge, that area, that was designated by the carter administration, it is beautiful. it is pristine. there's wildlife in abundance. but don always wanted to make sure that anybody that would listen and cared to know the truth could see for themselves in alaska, ok, here's this massive wile life area that's been set apart by congress. well, here's this little bitty area, comparatively, where the carter administration said, you know what, there's nothing there, nothing can live there, this is a great spot, we'll allow drilling here. yet for decades, drilling was not allowed in the one place that it would have been ok to have drilling. and when the trump administration says, hey, there was a designated place, and despite commercials where you see all this wonderful wildlife, that's not in the part designated for drilg. all the beautiful mountains and all. that's not the part designated by president carter for drilling. and it would bless the heck out of alaska and the people because of the revenue it would bring. it would be a blessing for america to fu