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New Arctic decision making initiatives Alaska Interagency Working Group to develop database of Arctic knowledge, new approach to assembling information for decisions By Alan Bailey Petroleum News
The U.S. Department of the Interior has announced two new initiatives to improve the availability of scientific data for use in resource management decisions in the Arctic. The Alaska Interagency Working Group, established by President Obama in July 2011 to improve the efficiency of Arctic energy development permitting, will work on the initiatives, which form “part of the Obama administration’s commitment to facilitate evidence-base decision making in the Arctic,” Interior said in a July 30 press release.
“The federal government must take a comprehensive, science-based approach when addressing energy and other development issues in the Arctic — one that recognizes both the region’s enormous resource potential and its irreplaceable natural and cultural resources,” said Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes, who serves as chair of the Interagency Working Group. “Getting it right in the Arctic requires a transparent, disciplined and integrated approach so that we can make sound, long-term planning decisions.”
Coordinated data The first of the initiatives will involve exploring how to develop a more centralized and accessible database of scientific information and traditional knowledge relevant to resource management in the Arctic, Hayes wrote in a July 30 memorandum. This initiative will build on a variety of existing data sources and on existing data-sharing agreements with industry.
The Interagency Working Group will partner with the Arctic Research Commission and other members of the scientific community in pursuing this initiative.
“Pulling relevant Arctic science information together in a more accessible and consolidated portal is critical,” said Fran Ulmer, chair of the Arctic Research Commission. “I look forward to continuing to work with Deputy Secretary Hayes and the mix of scientists and policy-makers involved in the Alaska Interagency Working Group — including my colleagues Dr. John Holdren, Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Dr. Marcia McNutt, Dr. Subra Suresh, and Dr. Alan Thornhill, among others – to make this happen.”
Coordinated management The second initiative will involve the development of a transparent, disciplined and analytic approach to the generation of the necessary information and analysis for long-term planning decisions, Hayes wrote. The methods developed will be consistent with the “ecosystem-based management” approach to decision making that is being promoted by the eight-nation Arctic Council, Hayes wrote. This involves an integrated, comprehensive evaluation of commercial needs and trends, environmental trends and ecological processes, and cultural considerations, rather than evaluating Arctic developments piecemeal, project by project, sector by sector or issue by issue, he wrote.
The Alaska Interagency Working Group anticipates presenting a report on its initial efforts to President Obama by the end of December, Interior says.
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