RIASSUNTO
Abstract
Conoco's St. Charles Field, located in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, is a sterling example of profitable oil and gas operations co-existing with wildlife and nature. Since 1939, Conoco's plan for managing the St. Charles Field provides for the minimization of impact to the Refuge's primary whooping crane territories and allows systematic and prudent oil and gas exploration and development of remaining reserves. Through Conoco's culture of environmental stewardship, an ongoing relationship and spirit of cooperation exists with the Refuge and other environmental advocates in the preservation of this environmentally sensitive area.
Introduction
On the bank of the grassy marsh along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, five whooping cranes - a family of three and another pair - stood companionably together, knee-deep in the shallow water. Then some unseen signal from the male chased the trespassing pair off into another nearby area of the marsh. The remaining family of three birds flung back their heads in unison and cried their territorial triumph.
The Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is a special place. World renowned as the winter home of the endangered Wood Buffalo Whooping Crane flock, Aransas is also a refuge and breeding ground for other protected species such as the Brown Pelican, Piping Plover, Attwater's Prairie Chicken, Peregrine Falcon, and Bald Eagle. It possesses one of the most abundant and diverse populations of wildlife in the United States with over 400 different species of birds and mammals. The Refuge's landscape is also very diverse, consisting of tidal marshes, wooded dunes, open grasslands, dense oak thicket, freshwater ponds and chaparral communities. The shallow water bays surrounding Aransas are home to a number of marine fish and crustaceans that are of recreational and commercial importance and provide a critical food source to wildlife.
he natural resources of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge are abundant and obvious for all to see. But deep beneath the surface of the Refuge is another resource - petroleum. Hidden under layers and layers of earth, oil and gas were formed more than thirty million years ago. Geologists have determined that through the ages petroleum migrated as the result of natural shifting of the earth and became trapped in formations 7,500 to 12,000 feet deep. And there lies the making of a special partnership... Refuge officials and oil men have been working together in an atmosphere of cooperation and understanding to ensure maximum protection for the wildlife and its habitat and to preserve the natural beauty of the Refuge.
For more than 60 years, Conoco has been conducting exploration and production operations on the Refuge; its mineral rights pre-date by three years the establishment of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge there.
Throughout all of the years of exploring and producing oil and gas on the Refuge, Conoco has held a deep concern for the sensitive Refuge environment, especially the endangered whooping crane flock.
The whooping crane flock, which winters on the Aransas Refuge, constitutes the last viable population of these endangered birds in the wild. During the years that Conoco has conducted business at the St. Charles Field on the Refuge, the flock has increased from fewer than 20 birds to a recent count well over 180, each making the 2,500-mile migration to and from Canada each year.