A visit to the pristine Western Arctic, which faces gas and oil drilling

A visit to the pristine Western Arctic, which faces gas and oil drilling

Kim Malcolm

John O'Brien

November 07, 2025 / 6:13 pm

Lynda Mapes, the former Seattle Times environment reporter, made a trip recently to the Western Arctic , a vast region in the northernmost part of North America. It’s an area that the Trump administration plans to open for oil and gas drilling. Mapes talked to KUOW’s Kim Malcolm about what she experienced on that trip.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Kim Malcolm: I'm excited to hear about where you went and why.

Lynda Mapes : So, this is the Western Arctic. We're talking about a place that very few Americans have even heard of. They've maybe heard of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. That's not where I went. I went to the National Petroleum