Crew maps polar bear dens on Alaska’s North Slope

When the tundra freezes, the North Slope gets busy. It’s the travel season, the time of year when oil producers can put in ice roads and move heavy vehicles over the frozen ground.
But before any of that can happen, one task comes first: looking for polar bears.
On the North Slope, bears have the right of way.
(Photo courtesy Justin Blank)
Each winter, pregnant females den in snow drifts to give birth – and federal regulations requires any activity to remain at least a mile away thr