A small but important victory in the ongoing fight to stop oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was won last week. But the battle to keep this nearly pristine wilderness free of industrial development is far from over.

It is important that opponents continue their efforts to head off this ill-considered idea.

The wildlife refuge represents a rare place within the borders of the United States where nature exists much as it has for years past and, with protection, will exist in the same state for years to come.

It also represents oil, which clearly is an important consideration these days. But how much oil?

Most estimates say the oil reserves under the reserve represent about six months to a year's worth of domestic demand. That margin could easily be met through smarter and more aggressive conservation.

President Bush says the oil site would occupy only about 2,000 acres on a massive 1.5 million-acre site. That's a small footprint, but the numbers are misleading since the 2,000 acres would be here and there throughout the wildlife refuge. Roads, pipelines and other infrastructure would have to link those sites.

Hawai'i Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka have voted in favor of drilling in ANWR, largely out of loyalty to their colleague Sen. Ted Stevens and out of deference to those Alaskan natives who support oil exploration.

And proponents of the drilling plan insist they will push ahead with the idea when House and Senate come together in conference on the matter.

That's a fight not worth making. It is time to set this idea aside and get to work on far more productive approaches (including conservation and alternative energy) to ensure our energy future.