The author, a Ms Felicity Barringer, should be congratulated on her ability to keep her tongue well ensconced in her cheek, while at the same time making it quite clear what is going on. The rest of us can be congratulated on a (presumably) new and useful addition to our respective vocabularies....Once exploration was over and drilling had begun in other Alaska oil facilities, like the Alpine field west of Prudhoe Bay, the concept of "roadless" became more fungible [emphasis added, MHD] as gravel roads were constructed within the sites. Responding to questions about this in a recent environmental impact statement on oil development in an area farther west, Interior Department officials wrote, "the term 'roadless' does not mean an absence of roads. Rather, it indicates an attempt to minimize the construction of permanent roads."
Henri