Anthropogenic activities in the area are diverse. Although natural resource extraction dominates the footprint, subsistence as a competing use is an important activity for consideration in making land use decisions. Small communities are separated by large distances and located primarily along the northern coast.

Renewable Energy

This dataset represents the planned energy projects that were submitted to the Alaska Energy Authority Renewable Energy Fund Grant Recommendation Program. The dataset contains projects that are in the "Planned" or "Potential" phase, which can be anywhere from the conceptual design and feasibility phase to nearly completed but not yet functional.

Infrastructure for the NSSI Medium and High Development Scenarios and Future Facilities Footprints

Scenarios can provide a means to identify a plausible range of pathways by which an uncertain future may unfold. In that way, they can then be used to help guide agency considerations for how to effectively target research and monitoring efforts in a manner that will be most useful for resource management decision-making under uncertain future conditions. A collaboration to undertake a scenarios project was formed between North Slope Science Initiative (NSSI), the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and GeoAdaptive, LLC, an internationally experienced geospatial scenarios consultant. These datasets are the result of the Scenarios Project and provides the potential spatial extent of future line and point infrastructure and the potential spatial extent of a future Wainwright Chukchi Sea Onshore Oil Processing Facility and the potential footprint and location of a U.S. Coast Guard Station at Barrow. These datasets were developed as a part of the future (2040) medium and future (2040) high development scenarios on the North Slope. These versions of the dataset are based on an unfinalized draft version of the North Slope Science Initiative Scenarios Project.

Proposed Kivalina Evacuation Route and Village Location

This dataset depicts the proposed evacuation location and footprint for the village of Kivalina as well as the locations of proposed evacuation and access roads for the village of Kivalina. Kivalina is located on a barrier island. The increased intensity and severity of ocean storms put the village at serious risk of being flooded. Currently, there is no way to safely evacuate from the island during the severe storm event. Therefore, the evacuation route reconnaissance study was conducted in 2014. The route was hand delineated based on the Kivalina evacuation route reconnaissance study. The future footprint of the village of Kivalina was hand-delineated at the end of the Kivalina evacuation route as the proposed evacuation site for the village of Kivalina.

Communities, Camps and Village Footprints

Communities

Community point locations were digitized from actual community locations based on satellite imagery.

Camps

Originally collected by the North Slope Borough, subsistence hunting and fishing cabins and camp locations in the North Slope are depicted.

Village Footprints

Location and footprints of villages in the North Slope were hand-digitized based on satellite imagery (Best Data Layer from Geographic Information Network of Alaska).

Powerlines

This dataset depicts the spatial extent of electrical powerlines in the North Slope. This dataset is provided by Alaska Department of Natural Resources: Alaska Electrical Lines 1:63,360. The original statewide data was digitized from 1:63,360 and 1:250,000 USGS topographic maps. The source document that represented the newest information and best geographic location was used to capture the data. All infrastructure from the primary source document was digitized and then supplemented with the information from other source documents for additional or updated infrastructure or attributes.

Pipelines, Oil Facilities and Wells

Pipelines

The pipeline dataset depicts the spatial extent of pipelines in the North Slope and is based on proprietary data from and copyrighted to MapMakers Alaska.

Wells

The wells dataset depicts locations of oil wells in the North Slope. The original data was created by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

Existing Facilities

The facilities dataset is based on proprietary data produced and copyrighted to MapMakers Alaska. The spatial extent of oil facilities originally produced has been updated and modified through comparison with satellite imagery.

Roads, Ice Roads, and Trails

Roads

This dataset contains the current road system in the North Slope. Roads that are not shown on the satellite imagery (Best Data Layer from Geographic Information Network of Alaska) were not included. Roads that are shown on the aerial imagery but not included in the dataset were hand-digitized and added to the dataset.

Ice Roads

An approximately 5,000 km long network of ice roads/Rolligon trails is used to serve the oil and gas infrastructure facilities in the North Slope. State of Alaska regulations allow building of ice roads in areas with 6” to 9” of snow depth and with soil temperature of -5C at 30cm depth. The short-term impacts on the environment have been studied, and the impacts are reported to be more severe than seismic trails. Rolligon trails are built in the study area to transport freight to remote drilling sites, and for travel between Barrow and Atquasuk and Nuiqsut. These trails are built for special vehicles called Rolligons, equipped with large inflatable bags for wheels. Rolligons can carry large loads (approximately 40 tons) and can travel for up to 250 miles at 12 mph.

Trails

The majority of the transportation infrastructure is related to oil industry activities. Other community transportation infrastructure – existing and planned – is small in comparison to the oil industry’s activities, as well as small in comparison to other U.S. communities. The transportation network in the region includes airstrips, few paved or gravel roads within communities, and a network of trails to subsistence use areas and those that connect communities. Most communities in the region are located along the northern coast of Alaska, with Nuiqsut, Prudhoe Bay, Atquasuk, and Noatak located along rivers. Travel to and from communities in the region is largely limited to air travel. While many rivers in the region are navigable, these are not treated as regular transportation routes. This dataset provides the documented trail network.

Riparian Transportation Corridors

The majority of the transportation infrastructure is related to oil industry activities. Other community transportation infrastructure – existing and planned – is small in comparison to the oil industry’s activities, as well as small in comparison to other U.S. communities. The transportation network in the region includes airstrips, few paved or gravel roads within communities, and a network of trails to subsistence use areas and those that connect communities. Most communities in the region are located along the northern coast of Alaska, with Nuiqsut, Prudhoe Bay, Atquasuk, and Noatak located along rivers. Travel to and from communities in the region is largely limited to air travel. While many rivers in the region are navigable, these are not treated as regular transportation routes. This dataset provides the riparian transportation corridors. A dataset depicting the single stream line of the Colville River downstream of Umiat as an alternative transportation route is also included. It was hand-digitized based on the satellite imagery (Best Data Layer from Geographic Information Network of Alaska).