<P> The region first became a federal protected area in 1960 by order of Fred Andrew Seaton, Secretary of the Interior under U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower . In 1980, Congress passed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act . The bill was signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on December, 2, 1980 . </P> <P> Eight million acres (32,000 km) of the refuge, the Mollie Beattie Wilderness, are designated as wilderness area . The expansion of the refuge in 1980 designated 1.5 million acres (6,100 km) of the coastal plain as the 1002 area and mandated studies of the natural resources of this area, especially petroleum . Congressional authorization is required before oil drilling may proceed in this area . The remaining 10.1 million acres (40,900 km) of the refuge are designated as "minimal management," a category intended to maintain existing natural conditions and resource values . These areas are suitable for wilderness designation, although there are presently no proposals to designate them as wilderness . </P> <P> Currently, there are no roads within or leading into the refuge, but there are a few Native settlements scattered within . On the northern edge of the refuge is the Inupiat village of Kaktovik (population 258) and on the southern boundary the Gwich'in settlement of Arctic Village (population 152). A popular wilderness route and historic passage exists between the two villages, traversing the refuge and all its ecosystems from boreal, interior forest to Arctic Ocean coast . Generally, visitors gain access to the land by aircraft, but it is also possible to reach the refuge by boat or by walking (the Dalton Highway passes near the western edge of the refuge). In the United States, the geographic location most remote from human trails, roads, or settlements is found here, at the headwaters of the Sheenjek River . </P> <P> The refuge supports a greater variety of plant and animal life than any other protected area in the Arctic Circle . A continuum of six different ecozones spans about 200 miles (300 km) north to south . </P>

Who lives in the arctic national wildlife refuge
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