MICHIGAN
Lenny Kohms pictures were worth 1,000 words.And all of those words summed up the idea of protecting wildlife.Kohm, a wildlife photographer, spoke to members of the Central Michigan Group of the Mackinac Chapter of the Sierra Club and MSUs Resource Development Undergraduate Organization on the problems of oil drilling in Alaskas Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.The speech included a sideshow with pictures of the area the petroleum industry wants to drill.In 1987, I went up there on a photo assignment, ever since I have been going around talking about it, Kohm said.He has been touring universities and clubs speaking about the ecological damage oil drilling can have on the area.We dont need the oil, it would be 10 years before it would even come online, he said.Kohm said just searching for the oil would destroy the area.Im not going to give in on what I consider Americas treasures to those criminals, he said.Ken Smith, a member of the Gwichin peoples, calls the area home and also spoke.Smith said if the petroleum industry does drill in the area, the caribou herds would disappear.We depend on the caribou herd and there is a cultural significance of it, he said.