08-29-2009, 04:12 AM
Obama's task force comes to Alaska
OCEANS RESEARCH: Arctic seen as critical to new national plan.
By ELIZABETH BLUEMINK
ebluemink@adn.com
Published: August 22nd, 2009 10:53 PM
Last Modified: August 22nd, 2009 10:53 PM
Four Obama administration officials who visited Alaska this week to work on a plan to better manage the nation's oceans ended up with an earful on seemingly every vexing topic involving the state's natural environment.
At a packed meeting Friday in Anchorage, they sat listening to about 60 Alaskans tick down a list of major issues facing coastal communities.
From offshore oil and gas drilling to this year's troubled salmon runs. From global warming to the increased ship traffic it already is bringing to the remote Arctic. From pollock trawlers unintentionally catching salmon to the controversial dividing of the crab catch among fishermen and processors.
The Obama officials arrived earlier this week and made a beeline for one of the biggest sources of controversy in Alaska: the Arctic. They visited Nome, Barrow and Deadhorse and flew over the ice pack.
Thanks to the warming climate, people in the region are "anticipating a new Arctic gold rush," said Jane Lubchenco, who heads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, during a press conference on Friday.
About 60 Alaskans -- some of them wearing "Save our Oceans" stickers -- stepped up to mikes in downtown Anchorage on Friday afternoon to advise her and a few others assigned by Obama to develop a new national ocean policy.
Friday's testimony was the first public meeting held by Obama's Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. One reason the task force is starting in Alaska: The state's coastline -- more than 33,000 miles, including islands -- is longer than the other states' combined coasts. Its waters provide roughly half of the nation's seafood catch, and vast quantities of oil and gas could lie underneath.
At the task force's Anchorage hearing, a nine-member panel of Alaskans, including University of Alaska Anchorage chancellor Fran Ulmer and former governor Bill Sheffield, gave speeches on a wide range of topics, from the health of Alaska Native coastal communities to the need for new ship-escort vessels and staging areas in shipping corridors.
The task force is composed of senior-level officials from throughout the federal government, and it has a tight deadline -- Dec. 10 -- to propose the new national policy. The task force's main goals, according to a June letter signed by Obama, include protecting, maintaining and restoring ocean and coastal resources, providing recommendations for adapting to climate change and developing better ways for federal agencies to work together on ocean issues.
Besides Lubchenco, three other of the two-dozen task force members visited Alaska: Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality; David Hayes, deputy secretary of the Interior; and Adm. Thad Allen, the Coast Guard commandant.
Alaska Native tribal leaders, environmentalists and industry groups all signed up to speak Friday.
Environmentalists applauded the Obama administration decision this week to make Alaska's Arctic waters off-limits to commercial fishing until they are better understood scientifically. But they said it seemed inconsistent that the Obama administration hasn't put a moratorium on oil and gas drilling there, too. New lease sales are planned for the Chukchi Sea off the northwest coast, for example.
More on this Story
OCEANS RESEARCH: Arctic seen as critical to new national plan.
By ELIZABETH BLUEMINK
ebluemink@adn.com
Published: August 22nd, 2009 10:53 PM
Last Modified: August 22nd, 2009 10:53 PM
Four Obama administration officials who visited Alaska this week to work on a plan to better manage the nation's oceans ended up with an earful on seemingly every vexing topic involving the state's natural environment.
At a packed meeting Friday in Anchorage, they sat listening to about 60 Alaskans tick down a list of major issues facing coastal communities.
From offshore oil and gas drilling to this year's troubled salmon runs. From global warming to the increased ship traffic it already is bringing to the remote Arctic. From pollock trawlers unintentionally catching salmon to the controversial dividing of the crab catch among fishermen and processors.
The Obama officials arrived earlier this week and made a beeline for one of the biggest sources of controversy in Alaska: the Arctic. They visited Nome, Barrow and Deadhorse and flew over the ice pack.
Thanks to the warming climate, people in the region are "anticipating a new Arctic gold rush," said Jane Lubchenco, who heads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, during a press conference on Friday.
About 60 Alaskans -- some of them wearing "Save our Oceans" stickers -- stepped up to mikes in downtown Anchorage on Friday afternoon to advise her and a few others assigned by Obama to develop a new national ocean policy.
Friday's testimony was the first public meeting held by Obama's Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. One reason the task force is starting in Alaska: The state's coastline -- more than 33,000 miles, including islands -- is longer than the other states' combined coasts. Its waters provide roughly half of the nation's seafood catch, and vast quantities of oil and gas could lie underneath.
At the task force's Anchorage hearing, a nine-member panel of Alaskans, including University of Alaska Anchorage chancellor Fran Ulmer and former governor Bill Sheffield, gave speeches on a wide range of topics, from the health of Alaska Native coastal communities to the need for new ship-escort vessels and staging areas in shipping corridors.
The task force is composed of senior-level officials from throughout the federal government, and it has a tight deadline -- Dec. 10 -- to propose the new national policy. The task force's main goals, according to a June letter signed by Obama, include protecting, maintaining and restoring ocean and coastal resources, providing recommendations for adapting to climate change and developing better ways for federal agencies to work together on ocean issues.
Besides Lubchenco, three other of the two-dozen task force members visited Alaska: Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality; David Hayes, deputy secretary of the Interior; and Adm. Thad Allen, the Coast Guard commandant.
Alaska Native tribal leaders, environmentalists and industry groups all signed up to speak Friday.
Environmentalists applauded the Obama administration decision this week to make Alaska's Arctic waters off-limits to commercial fishing until they are better understood scientifically. But they said it seemed inconsistent that the Obama administration hasn't put a moratorium on oil and gas drilling there, too. New lease sales are planned for the Chukchi Sea off the northwest coast, for example.