The Porcupine Caribou herd uses the coastal plain as calving grounds.

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The Porcupine Caribou herd uses the Arctic Refuge coastal plain as its calving grounds, where females give birth each spring. The herd numbers about 200,000 caribou that migrate hundreds of miles to reach the coastal plain for calving season. The area provides nutrient-rich vegetation, relief from predators and insects, and safe conditions during the vulnerable birthing period. Drilling infrastructure would fragment these calving grounds and disrupt the herd's migration patterns. The Gwich'in Athabascan people depend on the Porcupine herd for subsistence hunting and consider the calving grounds sacred. Disturbing the calving grounds threatens both the caribou population and the Gwich'in way of life that has existed for thousands of years. This is the fourth caribou herd on Alaska's North Slope, separate from the three herds that use NPR-A.

The Porcupine Caribou herd uses the coastal plain as calving grounds.

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