HOME PAGE SUBSCRIPTIONS, Print Editions, Newsletter PRODUCTS READ THE PETROLEUM NEWS ARCHIVE! ADVERTISING INFORMATION EVENTS PETROLEUM NEWS BAKKEN MINING NEWS

Providing coverage of Alaska and northern Canada's oil and gas industry
April 2007

Vol. 12, No. 14 Week of April 08, 2007

Groups lobby against Bristol Bay leasing

MMS final decision expected around May 1 on whether to include North Aleutian basin in 2007-12 five-year offshore leasing plan

The Associated Press

Fishermen and environmentalists teamed up recently for a lobbying trip to Washington, D.C., in hopes of discouraging support for offshore oil and gas leasing proposals in Bristol Bay, one of the world’s most prolific salmon fisheries.

Two months ago, the Bush administration removed a presidential ban on oil and gas drilling in Bristol Bay, an area under Congressional protection since 1990 following the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound the year before. The Congressional ban was lifted in 2003.

“The fishery is tied to the concept of the wild Alaska salmon in its pure environment,” said Terry Hoefferle of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council. “Why would you bring an industry like oil into the middle of that? It’s like painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa.”

The U.S. Mineral Management Service has included the North Aleutian Basin, through which the Bristol Bay salmon migrate, in its proposed national plan for offshore oil and gas leasing from 2007 to 2012. A final decision is expected around May 1, according to Gary Strasburg, an agency spokesman.

Native corporation, borough favor leasing

Oil companies and local groups, who believe drilling could bring economic stability, have been encouraging the federal government to open Bristol Bay to exploration.

“It’s about economic diversity,” said Jason Metrokin, spokesman for the Bristol Bay Native Corp., the regional Native corporation for the area. He said the group supports fishing, but also believes there should be some way to find out how much oil and gas might be at stake.

The Aleutians East Borough also supports leasing.

Within Alaska’s congressional delegation, Sen. Ted Stevens has taken the strongest stance on the issue. He believes the push to close off the region from oil and gas interests is being backed by “extreme national environmental groups.”

Rep. Don Young opposes the moratorium but argues for a public process free of interference from out-of-state interests.

“The fishermen have made a good argument for additional input from them into the process,” he said.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski has opted to defer to local decision-makers.

“In most cases we’re not going to be an advocate for development in an area where it’s not certain there’s a consensus in what people want to do,” said her spokesman, Kevin Sweeney. “In Bristol Bay, it really appears that it’s sort of a 50-50 in terms of those who are pro and against.”

The administration of Gov. Sarah Palin, whose family fishes the bay, has responded in a similar fashion.

Palin “has not objected to the lease sale process provided that there’s strong local support, adequate environmental safeguards, and every effort is made to minimize conflicts between commercial fishing and a possible lease sale,” said John Katz, her Washington spokesman.





Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistrubuted.

Petroleum News - Phone: 1-907 522-9469 - Fax: 1-907 522-9583
[email protected] --- http://www.petroleumnews.com ---
S U B S C R I B E

Copyright Petroleum Newspapers of Alaska, LLC (Petroleum News)(PNA)©2013 All rights reserved. The content of this article and web site may not be copied, replaced, distributed, published, displayed or transferred in any form or by any means except with the prior written permission of Petroleum Newspapers of Alaska, LLC (Petroleum News)(PNA). Copyright infringement is a violation of federal law subject to criminal and civil penalties.