The US Department of the Interior (DOI) is moving to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration, which could reverse 30 years of conservation efforts in the far north of the 49th state. According to a document obtained by The Washington Post that was written in mid-August, the DOI requested that the US Fish and Wildlife Service update a 1980s provision to allow new seismic exploration in the Alaska refuge.

The efforts to conduct new studies of the oil and gas under the refuge’s coastal plain are still in preliminary stages—the DOI’s draft rule allowing seismic imaging study would be subject to a public comment period and would certainly face lawsuits from environmental groups if approved. Even then, exploration efforts wouldn’t automatically trigger well-drilling in the area—extraction in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge requires the approval of Congress as well as a market environment favorable to drilling in the remote and challenging tundra region.

Currently, oil is trading for around $50 a barrel, and the price isn’t expected to rebound quickly with a glut of supply in the world oil market. Without a clear way to profit off that oil, expensive tundra drilling operations are less economically attractive compared to easier-to-tap oil fields around the world.

Still, the low prices may not last, and allowing companies to do exploratory studies would be a first step toward potential drilling. A 1987 study suggested that the coastal plain in question could have a vast amount of oil underneath it, and fossil fuel advocates say that if new studies are carried out, those estimates could show even more oil than previously expected.

But even without drilling, seismic studies alone could threaten Arctic ecosystems. The dramatic reductions in summer sea ice that the area has experienced as a result of climate change have driven animals like polar bears ashore. Although proponents say 3D seismic imaging studies can be conducted in ways that aren't overly invasive, the exploration activities can still disrupt pristine wildlife areas and the habitats of polar bears, musk oxen, and caribou, according to a 2001 paper from Environmental Science and Technology.

Alaskan politicians have pushed hard for the exploration of the Alaska refuge region, especially recently as revenues from Alaskan oil operations, which partially fund the state, are falling due to low oil prices. In 2013, Alaska’s then-governor petitioned the Obama administration to allow seismic tests of the area, but a judge ruled that the administration’s EPA was allowed to withhold judgment on whether to allow the tests, essentially ending any potential approval process for more exploration.

According to E&E News, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a May trip to Alaska that his department would put the pieces in place to allow seismic testing of the refuge, but he specified at the time that the US government was not likely to pay for the tests. A June memo from the DOI, also obtained by The Washington Post, showed that the US Geological Survey was already reprocessing old seismic data and put a $3.6 million price tag on a new 3D seismic study.