PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS.(MAIN)

Later this month -- March 24, tobe precise -- will mark the 10th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill off Prince William Sound. Yet the lessons of that natural disaster seem to be lost on some members of Congress who are sympathetic to oil industry pleas to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge's coastal plain represents the last 5 percent of Alaska's North Slope where exploration is prohibited.

Environmentalists are citing the Valdez anniversary as a reminder of the risks associated with oil exploration anywhere in the Arctic wilderness. Just prior to the spill, ironically, the oil industry was on the verge of gaining congressional approval to …