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Pushed to the edge Western states need resource development to avoid economic malaise, senior level Interior official warns; Montana’s fate could be Alaska’s Steve Sutherlin PNA Managing Editor
If Alaska wants to avoid the economic pitfalls that have afflicted Montana it has a chance to learn from its southern sister, suggested Rebecca Watson, assistant secretary for Land and Minerals Management of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The bottom-line message for states that rely on their natural resources — commodities, wildlife and scenery — is that they can have “diversity and resilience” in their economies and can be players in the global market, she told PNA in Anchorage July 24.
But Montana, from robust beginnings as a gold mining state then a diversified natural resource economy that expanded to include oil and gas, timber, agriculture and tourism, is now grappling with a wide range of challenges, Watson said.
Mining faded into insignificance from a “loud and clear” message that stemmed from initiatives, lawsuits and national campaigns to stop three proposed projects, she said.
As a result, social problems grew as per capita income fell in Montana and now people are pushed to the edge, she said, working long hours and multiple jobs without much in the way of money or job security. Watson said outside forces such as globalization and commodification of natural resources challenge economies of Western states, such as Alaska, Montana and Wyoming, but with good policies in place those states can thrive. North Slope residents say they’re open to development In Barrow, Watson met with North Slope Borough Mayor George Ahmaogak, officials of Arctic Slope Regional Corp., and other village and tribal leaders. She said ASRC officials told her the corporation is not opposed to development, but it has concerns about whaling, fish, seals, and the adequacy of impact payments to local communities.
Watson said the department is looking for opportunities to increase oil and gas production from federal lands, and Alaska is seen as the richest frontier for exploration and development.
“We get 30 percent of our energy from federal lands and federal resources, and Alaska plays a very strong role,” she said.
Watson said oil and gas from Alaska would continue to be a priority for the department even as the nation made the transition to renewable sources or such new fuels as hydrogen.
“In the meantime, fossil fuels from domestic sources will continue to play a very important role,” Watson said.
Watson said she favors a multi-use concept for federally managed lands, balancing local needs and economic uses with present enjoyment and preserving the qualities of the lands for future generations.
More than 50 percent of Interior’s lands are in Alaska and Interior manages nearly 75 percent of Alaska, or some 270 million acres. The Interior Department has 2,100 full-time and 1,000 seasonal and part-time workers in Alaska, and invests $330 million each year in the state.
Her trip included visits to Valdez, Seward, Girdwood and Fairbanks.
Editors note: The assistant secretary has worked as legal counsel to parties involved in Western state resource development and is a resident of Montana.
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