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Environmental groups continue ANWR lobby New Interior Secretary Jewell urged to recommend coastal plain as wilderness; state lawmakers reaffirm support for industry access Wesley Loy For Petroleum News
The epic battle over the fate of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge continues on multiple fronts.
The chief executives of 13 conservation groups wasted no time in starting their lobby of new Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, sending her a letter on April 12, the day she was sworn in, urging her to designate ANWR’s coastal plain as wilderness.
Meantime, the Alaska Legislature passed a resolution (SJR 3) urging Congress to open the coastal plain to oil and gas exploration.
The Legislature, which wrapped up its 90-day session on April 14, also included $250,000 in its capital budget (Senate Bill 18) for Arctic Power, an Anchorage-based nonprofit organization advocating coastal plain oil exploration and development.
Potential delay on management plan The coastal plain is the epicenter of ANWR controversy. It’s considered highly prospective for perhaps billions of barrels of oil. Environmentalists and some Native people, however, adamantly oppose oil and gas activity due to the coastal plain’s importance to migratory caribou and other animals.
The 13 conservation groups said they sent Jewell their letter only moments after she was sworn in. The groups include the Alaska Wilderness League, Defenders of Wildlife, the National Audubon Society, Environment America, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, the League of Conservation Voters, Native American Rights Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, Ocean Conservancy, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Sierra Club and The Wilderness Society.
In their letter, the groups urge Jewell to finalize the pending new management plan for ANWR.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Interior Department agency that manages the refuge, has been working on the management plan, known as the “comprehensive conservation plan” or CCP, since the fall of 2009.
The agency had planned to release its final environmental impact statement with a preferred alternative by early 2013. But an agency planner told Petroleum News recently that final action on the ANWR management plan might be delayed as the Interior Department transitioned to a new leader in Jewell, who succeeded Ken Salazar.
The planner said the six preliminary alternatives remained in play, including two under which the coastal plain would be recommended for wilderness designation.
The conservation groups urged Jewell to finalize the CCP with a wilderness designation for the coastal plain.
Perennial resolution Even if the Fish and Wildlife Service does recommend a wilderness designation, such a step would need further approvals including an OK from Congress.
State Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, was the lead sponsor on the legislative resolution to open the coastal plain to industry. Micciche is an employee of ConocoPhillips, the state’s top oil and gas producer.
His resolution had the near-unanimous backing of his colleagues in the Legislature, which has passed similar resolutions in past sessions.
The original funding request for Arctic Power was for $300,000, but legislators settled on $250,000 in the capital budget. The Legislature has given money to the organization several times before.
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