Gov. Tony Knowles released his administration’s comments and recommendations today in a written statement to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management on its draft Environmental Impact Statement for leasing in the northeast corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. It was the last day that BLM was accepting comments.
The state's proposal, which Knowles called an "Alaska alternative," calls for the entire 4.6 million-acre study area, approximately 19 percent of the reserve, to be available for leasing. While proposing to lease the entire study area, Knowles also recommended “special protection” for three “crucial areas.”
He proposed that “leasing be delayed” in the goose molting management area north of Teshekpuk Lake, which comprises 7.5 percent of the study area or 1.6 percent of the entire NPR-A, leaving 92.5 percent of the study area available for immediate leasing;
Knowles asked that “no surface entry be allowed in two critical Teshekpuk caribou migration corridors” to the east and northwest of the lake and that “no surface entry be allowed in Teshekpuk Lake, an important subsistence hunting and fishing area for the Inupiat people.”
No permanent federal classifications or withdrawals are necessary, said Knowles, to ensure adequate protection of the environment and wildlife resources in the NPR-A planning area.
"This recommendation is based on the belief that resource management must be done right," he said. "Doing it right relies on sound science, prudent management and responsible meaningful public involvement. It means using Alaska businesses, hiring Alaskans and protecting the environment."
