(SitNews) - Sunday, President Obama announced his plans to ask Congress to designate the Coastal Plain and other core areas of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness. If Congress chooses to act, it would be the largest ever wilderness designation since Congress passed the visionary Wilderness Act over 50 years ago.

“Designating vast areas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as Wilderness reflects the significance this landscape holds for America and its wildlife,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. “Just like Yosemite or the Grand Canyon, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of our nation’s crown jewels and we have an obligation to preserve this spectacular place for generations to come.”

The Interior Department plans to immediately begin managing the 1.5 million acre coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as wilderness – adding to the 18 million acres of ANWR already designated wilderness.

Secretary Jewell also said that President Obama plans to indefinitely withdraw areas in the offshore Arctic from oil and gas leasing in the new five-year plan being released later this week, which will effectively ban development in large swaths of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. It is unclear how these new restrictions will affect areas already under lease.

Alaska, ANWR, Canning River
Photograph courtesy US Fish & Wildlife Service

Sunday, the Alaska’s Congressional Delegation and Gov. Bill Walker denounced President Obama and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell for launching an unprecedented assault on Alaska that will have long-lasting effects on the state’s economy and the nation’s energy security.

Alaska Gov. Walker I) was outraged by the Obama administration’s actions at a time when the state is drawing down more than $10 million from savings every day due to low oil prices and declining production despite having more than 40 billion barrels of untapped resources, mostly in federal areas where oil and gas activity is blocked or restricted.

“Having just given to Alaskans the State of the State and State of the Budget addresses, it’s clear that our fiscal challenges in both the short and long term would benefit significantly from increased oil production,” Gov. Walker said. “This action by the federal government is a major setback toward reaching that goal. Therefore, I will consider accelerating the options available to us to increase oil exploration and production on state-owned lands. This further underscores the need for Alaska to become a participant in the infrastructure development for the benefit of all North Slope participants and the residents of Alaska.”

“What’s coming is a stunning attack on our sovereignty and our ability to develop a strong economy that allows us, our children and our grandchildren to thrive,” U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said. “It’s clear this administration does not care about us, and sees us as nothing but a territory. The promises made to us at statehood, and since then, mean absolutely nothing to them. I cannot understand why this administration is willing to negotiate with Iran, but not Alaska. But we will not be run over like this. We will fight back with every resource at our disposal.”

“This outrageous action confirms what most Alaskans have feared – that the Obama administration’s war against Alaska families and the middle class would only intensify under the final two years of President Obama’s tenure. But Alaskans have been in tough battles before. We will defeat their lawless attempt to designate ANWR as a wilderness, as well as their ultimate goal of making Alaska one big national park. This decision disregards the rule of law and our constitution and specifically ignores many promises made to Alaska in ANICLA. It is just one more example of President Obama thumbing his nose at the citizens of a sovereign state – and will put Alaska and America’s energy security in serious jeopardy,” U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) said. “I stand united with Sen. Murkowski, Congressman Young, Governor Walker and the members of the Alaska State Legislature to vigilantly safeguard and defend our fellow Alaskans’ interests, and I pledge to do everything in my power to fight back against this assault on Alaska’s economic future.”

“This callously planned and politically motivated attack on Alaska by the Obama administration is akin to spitting in our faces and telling us it’s raining outside. As if on command from the most extreme environmentalist elements, this president and his team of D.C. bureaucrats believe they alone know what’s best for Alaska, but this brazen assault on our state and our people will do the complete opposite,” Rep. Don Young (R-AK) said. “Every time the president undermines the law of the land, he breaks his oath of office and weakens the nation we love. This latest move, in clear violation of ANILCA’s 'no more' clause, and despite the fierce opposition of every Alaska statewide elected official and the vast majority of our people, demonstrates that the Imperial Presidency of Barack Obama knows no bounds. Simply put, this wholesale land grab, this widespread attack on our people and our way of life, is disgusting.”

The Interior Department plans to immediately begin managing the 1.5 million acre coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as wilderness – adding to the 18 million acres of ANWR already designated wilderness. This management status will prohibit even motorized access to the coastal plain.

According to the U.S. Department of Interior, Sunday’s action builds upon years of public engagement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to revise the Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) and complete an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, as required by law. The plan will guide the Service’s management decisions for the next 15 years.

Based on the best available science and extensive public comment, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s preferred alternative recommends 12.28 million acres – including the Coastal Plain – for designation as wilderness. The Service also recommends four rivers – the Atigun, Hulahula, Kongakut, and Marsh Fork Canning – for inclusion into the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

Currently, over 7 million acres of the refuge are managed as wilderness according to the U.S. Dept. of Interior, consistent with the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980. However, more than 60 percent of the refuge – including the Coastal Plain – does not carry that designation.

Quoting a news release from the Dept. of Interior, designation as wilderness would protect and preserve the refuge, ensuring the land and water would remain unimpaired for use and enjoyment by future generations. Only Congress has the authority to designate Wilderness areas and Wild and Scenic Rivers.

Recommendations for Wilderness or Wild and Scenic River designations require approval of the Service Director, Secretary of the Interior and the President. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released on Sunday the revised comprehensive conservation plan and final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. While the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is not soliciting further public comment on the revised plan/EIS, it will be available to the public for review for 30 days, after which, the record of decision will be published. At that point, the President will make the formal wilderness recommendation to Congress.

“The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge preserves a unique diversity of wildlife and habitat in a corner of America that is still wild and free,” said U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe. “But it faces growing challenges that require a thoughtful and comprehensive management strategy. The incorporation of large portions of the refuge into the National Wilderness Preservation System will ensure we protect this outstanding landscape and its inhabitants for our children and generations that follow.”

The revised plan/EIS addresses a variety of issues, including the protection of wildlife populations and their habitats, opportunities for fish- and wildlife-dependent recreation, subsistence needs of local inhabitants, and other public uses. The plan also strengthens wildlife and habitat monitoring, as well as the monitoring of public use of the refuge so as to better respond to changing conditions on the landscape, particularly those associated with climate change.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the 19.8 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is home to the most diverse wildlife in the arctic, including caribou, polar bears, gray wolves, and muskoxen. More than 200 species of birds, 37 land mammal species, eight marine mammal species and 42 species of fish call the vast refuge home. Lagoons, beaches, saltmarshes, tundra and forests make up the remote and undisturbed wild area that spans five distinct ecological regions.

The refuge holds special meaning to Alaska Natives, having sustained their lives and culture for thousands of years. The Gwich’in people refer to the Coastal Plain of the refuge as “The Sacred Place Where Life Begins,” reflecting the area’s importance to their community, maintaining healthy herds of caribou and an abundance of other wildlife.

According the White House, the United States today is the number-one producer of oil and natural gas in the world, and we import less oil than at any time in almost 30 years. The Obama administration believes that oil and natural gas resources can be developed safely. Unfortunately, accidents and spills can still happen, and the environmental impacts can sometimes be felt for many years.

The Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge, one of the few remaining places in the country as pristine today as it was when the oldest Alaska Native communities first set eyes on it, is too precious to put at risk. By designating the area as wilderness, Congress could preserve the Coastal Plain in perpetuity — ensuring that this wild, free, beautiful, and bountiful place remains in trust for Alaska Natives and for all Americans.

Wilderness status would permanently place off-limits the United States’ most promising onshore oil prospect and severely restrict access for subsistence hunters and other uses of the area. Under the terms of the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), additional wilderness designations are barred in Alaska without the express approval of Congress.

Secretary Jewell also said that President Obama plans to indefinitely withdraw areas in the offshore Arctic from oil and gas leasing in the new five-year plan being released later this week, which will effectively ban development in large swaths of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. It is unclear how these new restrictions will affect areas already under lease by Shell, ConocoPhillips and Statoil.

Alaska Senate President Kevin Meyer (R-Anchorage) released the following statement in response to the Department of Interior's decision to wage war on Alaska:

"This is a stunning decision by the Obama Administration and an unprecedented attack on Alaska. The impact of this decision, if allowed to stand, will harm the future of our Great State and will deal a devastating blow to our economy. Promises were made at Statehood to give us our land and resources to develop for the maximum benefit of Alaskans. This decision effectively negates that promise and will permanently lock up our economic future. We will not stand by and allow the Obama regime to kill opportunity and resource development in Alaska. I stand with US Senators Murkowski and Sullivan, Congressman Young and Governor Walker in defending our great state. We will fight this attack on our sovereignty by any legal means necessary."

Leaders of the Alaska House Majority Caucus also responded to President Barack Obama’s Administration proposing Sunday to manage the Coastal Plain, and other areas, of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as Wilderness.

“This is just another example of why our Caucus is committed to stopping federal overreach. Alaska’s not a territory anymore and it’s high time our federal overlords stopped trying to treat us like one,” Alaska Speaker of the House Mike Chenault (R-Nikiski) said. “The Dept. of the Interior is proposing an outlandish and preposterous plan, once again trying to assert rule without taking into meaningful account the voices and wishes of the people their decision will most closely effect.”

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s preferred alternative revision to ANWR’s conservation plan would designate more than 12 million acres, including the oil and gas rich Coastal Plain, as wilderness.

“Designating that vast amount of acreage as wilderness will effectively kill any hope for development, and hurt Alaska’s – and America’s – economy in the long run,” Alaska House Majority Leader Charisse Millett (R-Anchorage) said. “We were promised at statehood the opportunity to build our own future. This proposal, if pushed through, would directly oppose that, stifling the will of Alaskans and our ability to self-govern. Alaskans, frankly, won’t stand for it, and I will work with our Caucus, the Alaska Senate, the Governor and our congressional delegation to put an end to this nonsense once and for all. Alaskans deserve better than we’re getting from President Obama and his Interior Secretary.”

U.S. Sen. Murkowski is chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, which together have oversight of the Interior Department’s underlying legislative authority, nominations, and budget.

“These decisions simply cannot be allowed to stand,” Sen. Murkowski said. “I have tried to work with this administration – even though they’ve made it extremely difficult every step of the way – but those days are officially over. We are left with no choice but to hit back as hard as we can.”

Sources of News: 

White House
www.whitehouse.gov

U.S. Dept. of Interior
www.doi.gov

Office of Gov. Bill Walker
www.gov.state.ak.us

Office of U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski
www.murkowski.senate.gov

Office of U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan
www.sullivan.senate.gov

Office of U.S. Rep. Don Young
www.donyoung.house.gov

Office of Senate President Kevin Meyer (R-Anchorage)
www.akleg.gov

Alaska Speaker of the House Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski
www.akleg.gov

Alaska House Majority Leader Charisse Millett, R-Anchorage
www.akleg.gov

 

SitNews ©2015
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska

Articles & photographs that appear in SitNews may be protected by copyright and may not be reprinted without written permission from and payment of any required fees to the proper sources. E-mail your news & photos to editor@sitnews.us Photographers choosing to submit photographs for publication to SitNews are in doing so granting their permission for publication and for archiving. SitNews does not sell photographs. All requests for purchasing a photograph will be emailed to the photographer.