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BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT (BLM)

We have heard clearly from our members in Alaska and across the country that Bristol Bay and its invaluable wild salmon should be protected from toxic mining runoff.  With your help, over 20,000 people recently sent letters to the Department of the Interior urging the administration to take the same cautious approach to managing Bristol Bay federal lands as they have in protecting Bristol Bay offshore.  Earlier this year, U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Salazar called Bristol Bay “simply too special to drill” and a “national treasure that we must protect.” It just does not make sense to protect the offshore without protecting the onshore. Our wild Alaskan salmon stocks are literally connected to the ocean, river, and the surrounding BLM lands—the whole ecosystem must be protected to preserve wild salmon. The Administration should take the next logical step in protecting Bristol Bay’s world-class fishery by encouraging the Bureau of Land Management to include onshore protections for wild salmon’s spawning and rearing waters and lands. The right time to protect Alaskan wild salmon is now.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Alaska Wilderness League’s Environmental Justice Program works with and supports communities living on the front lines of development to maintain the unique way of life in Alaska.  We have been partnering with several tribal governments in the Arctic in our work to protect the Arctic Ocean and other special areas across America’s Arctic.  Twenty Alaskans, including ten indigenous leaders from the US and Canadian Arctic, participated in Alaska Wilderness Week to address environmental justice issues in their homeland.   

  • UPDATE: November is National Native American Heritage Month - President Obama proclaimed November 2010 as National Native American Heritage Month and November 26, 2010, as Native American Heritage Day.
  • UPDATE: The Alaska region of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) produced a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) that fails to address a key requirement from the court regarding collecting missing scientific information.  BOEM needs to issue a new Draft SEIS after it has reviewed relevant reports from the U.S. Geological Survey covering Arctic Ocean science (expected April 2011) and from the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling covering BOEM shortcomings (expected January 2011). Additionally, Shell’s October 5, 2010 letter to BOEM asking for approval to drill an exploratory well in the Beaufort and not the Chukchi (at this point) ignores the lessons learned from the BP Deepwater Horizon tragedy.  BOEM needs to take the time needed to make scientifically-justified decisions before allowing leasing and new drilling in the Arctic Ocean. Alaska Hearing Schedule for Lease Sale 193:

·         Kotzebue - November 1st·         Point Hope - November 2nd ·         Point Lay  - November 3rd ·         Wainwright - November 4th·         Barrow - November 5th·         Anchorage - November 9th

TONGASS NATIONAL FOREST

Alaska Wilderness League continues to oppose the “Sealaska bill” (S. 881/H.R. 2099) which would transfer to private ownership some of the richest and most biologically productive lands in the Tongass National Forest. These lands are targeted for clearcut logging, threatening the intricate ecosystem and its small forest-dependent communities and thriving local industries. This bill has sparked widespread controversy and may undermine the ongoing collaborative dialogue on the future of the Tongass. The Sealaska bill only serves to reaffirm the old, divisive way of doing business. Any congressional action on the Tongass must include the strongest protections possible for valuable, intact old-growth and restore important fish and wildlife habitat damaged by past logging.  

  •  ACTION: Contact your Members of Congress and urge them to oppose  the "Sealaska bill!" Send a message to Congress that any action on the Tongass must include the strongest protections possible for America’s rainforest!
  • UPDATE: Congress has left Washington and returned to their districts for the run-up to the November elections.  Thankfully, they left town without any further action on the Sealaska bill which remains stalled. The lame duck Congress will meet after the elections for several weeks, but political wrangling and partisanship may rule the day, ensuring that little more than gridlock will get done before the 112th Congress takes their seats in January. 
  •  UPDATE: U.S. Forest Service Honors Tongass Conservation Group - Visionary Couple That Founded the Group in the 1960s Attends Ceremony - On October 14, 2010, U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell presented the Bob Marshall Champions of Wilderness Award to Alaska Coalition member, Sitka Conservation Society (SCS), a group founded in 1967 to protect portions of the Tongass National Forest. The Tongass is the nation’s largest national forest and contains nearly half of the world’s remaining intact coastal temperate rainforest. Two of SCS’s founders, Chuck and Alice Johnstone, now in their 80s, will attend the award ceremony to accept the prestigious award. Although not formally connected, the award comes as the Forest Service begins to implement a “Transition Framework” on the Tongass National Forest. Earlier this year in 2010, the Forest Service announced a significant shift away from a reliance on old-growth logging to a more comprehensive program of work focused on conserving natural resources while continuing to support economic opportunity for southeast Alaska communities. Forest Service officials have identified fisheries and tourism, the region’s two largest private industries, as key economic sectors connected to the agency’s new vision for forest management.
  • UPDATE: U.S. Forest Service’s Implementation of a New Program of Work for the Tongass National Forest - Alaska Wilderness League commends the U.S. Forest Service for taking a strong, first step to advance a new vision of forest management in the Tongass National Forest. With the release of the 5-year project schedule, the Forest Service has made a substantive shift away from an unsustainable reliance on old-growth logging to a more comprehensive and balanced program of work. The updated program of work emphasizes managing the forest to conserve important fish and wildlife habitat, promotes job opportunities, and enhances the sustainability of our southeast Alaska communities. The Tongass contains some of the best fish, wildlife, water, and forest resources in the country. By conserving fish and wildlife habitat in undeveloped areas and restoring habitat in areas previously impacted by clearcut logging, the Forest Service is prudently managing resources for key regional assets such as commercial fishing, recreation, tourism, and traditional and customary uses. We are encouraged by the start the Forest Service’s has made to put the Transition Framework into action. The League looks forward to partnering with them to help advance their vision for the Tongass National Forest. We believe it’s a vision which recognizes we can make smart decisions today to conserve and manage the forest for the future, while continuing to use and enjoy the Tongass’ abundant resources today. 
  •  MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: Murkowski receives endorsement from Southeast Native organization; Southeast Alaska Native Land Entitlement Finalization Act; Sitka's "wilderness champions" receive national honor; Bob Marshall Wilderness Award; Congressman will push original Sealaska bill 
  •  EVENTS: Seattle on November 10: Please join Alaska Wilderness League for the presentation of the Voice of the Wild Award to Amy Gulick in recognition of her work to promote greater awareness of the importance of protecting Alaska’s wilderness, especially the Tongass National Forest and a celebration of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge! Wednesday, November 10, 20106:00 pm – 8:00 pm at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture    Seattle on November 16: Braided River joins Jon Rowley, Blueacre Seafood Restaurant and Steelhead Diner in presenting a sumptuous feast of oysters, wild salmon, Dungeness crab, spot prawns and more at the Burke Museum Tuesday November 16  from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.in celebration of award-winning photographer Amy Gulick's exhibit and book - Salmon in the Trees: Life in Alaska's Tongass Rain Forest

WESTERN ARCTIC/THE RESERVE

The National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska is one of Alaska’s best kept secrets and one of our nation’s greatest natural treasures. The administration and Congress must work to keep important habitat areas within the Reserve protected from destructive industrial development.

  • UPDATE:  According to the USGS, “The estimated volume of undiscovered oil is significantly lower than estimates released in 2002, owing primarily to recent exploration drilling that revealed an abrupt transition from oil to gas and reduced reservoir quality in the Alpine sandstone 15–20 miles west of the giant Alpine oil field. The National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA) has been the focus of oil exploration during the past decade, stimulated by the mid-1990s discovery of the adjacent Alpine field—the largest onshore oil discovery in the United States during the past 25 years. Recent activities in NPRA, including extensive 3–D seismic surveys, six Federal lease sales totaling more than $250 million in bonus bids, and completion of more than 30 exploration wells on Federal and Native lands, indicate in key formations more gas than oil and poorer reservoir quality than anticipated. In the absence of a gas pipeline from northern Alaska, exploration has waned and several petroleum companies have relinquished assets in the NPRA.”  For more see here