Murkowski meets with Norton, ANWR, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge discussed

Petroleum News

Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski met with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton in early January to discuss a variety of Alaska issues, including legislation authorizing oil and gas development in the 1002 area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the impediments to further oil and gas development in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.

“The Interior Department controls vast areas of Alaska and thus impacts the lives of Alaskans,” said the governor after the meeting. “I am gratified by the secretary’s openness to resolving conflicts and to working cooperatively on issues affecting us all. I am committed to protecting the rights of Alaskans, and I am glad to have a secretary in Washington willing to listen.”

According to a Jan. 5 press release from the governor’s office, in the meeting the secretary and the governor agreed to work together and with members of Congress to seek legislation authorizing oil and gas development in ANWR.

“The governor also provided an update on Alaska’s progress to date on the development of a natural gas pipeline and expressed his frustration about impediments to further oil development in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge,” the release said.

“Alaska can make a great contribution to the nation through its oil and gas reserves — and provide jobs and a hopeful future for Alaskans,” Murkowski said. “We will continue to work with the Interior Department on these critical energy issues.”

Murkowski took the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service “to task for their misapplication of the compatibility test to refuges in Alaska, hindering potential development. The USFWS requires that a proposed activity ‘enhance’ refuge purposes rather than utilizing ANILCA’s standard of ‘compatibility’ with refuge purposes,” the release said.

The governor’s and secretary’s staffs also provided an update of the first meeting between the state and the Bureau of Land Management concerning the possibility of further state land selections in the trans-Alaska pipeline corridor. The governor’s office said the state is awaiting BLM’s written response to the state’s map and supporting materials.