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BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT (BLM)


We applaud the Obama administration for the decision to protect Bristol Bay as a national treasure in Alaska by withdrawing it from consideration for oil and gas development through 2017. Although this decision makes us hopeful for the future of Bristol Bay, we are not ready to celebrate yet. 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

  • UPDATE: Arctic leaders share experiences from Gulf Coast trip; push for halt to Arctic drilling planned for this summer - Four Alaska Native leaders, visited the Gulf of Mexico coast to view the destruction of the Deepwater Horizon disaster firsthand, and then made their way to Washington in late May to ask administration officials and Congress to stop drilling planned for their backyard. These leaders and the communities they represent urged government leaders to keep what happened in the Gulf from happening to the ocean and surrounding coasts that they have depended on for thousands of years.

 

There is no demonstrated or reliable way to contain and clean up a large spill in the harsh and remote Arctic waters. A blowout like the one that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico would have catastrophic impacts on fish and wildlife in the region. Alaska Native communities rely on subsistence fishing, whaling, and hunting in this area.

 

One of the tribes represented during the trips to the Gulf and DC, the Native Village of Point Hope, is a federally recognized native tribe located in the oldest continuously inhabited community in North America. Community members rely on subsistence use of Arctic animals such as bowhead whale, seals, walrus, fish and more.

 

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!

·         ACTION: In an effort to protect the wildlands of the Tongass, we would love for you to pass along the attached Chef sign on letter to any chefs you know who care about supporting the use of wild Alaskan salmon and protecting the Tongass.  Please pass chefs onto me at: anna (at) alaskawild.org.

·         UPDATE: The Sealaska Bill had hearings in the House Natural Resource Committee (March 2010) and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (October 2009). Additionally, Senator Murkowski’s Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee staff has held a series of listening sessions across Southeast Alaska that highlighted the conflict in the region. Later this Spring, the Senate Committee is expected to mark-up the legislation.

·         UPDATE: On May 26, 2010 the US Forest Service released its long awaited ‘transition framework’ for the Tongass National Forest.  Realizing the importance of an intact Tongass, the Obama administration has made a serious commitment to transitioning the economy of Southeast Alaska away from reliance on unsustainable old growth harvest, and towards a more economically and ecologically sound future.  By putting people to work restoring the forest, this plan not only creates jobs in the woods but will also serve to protect and enhance valuable fish and wildlife habitat.  Alaska Wilderness League looks forward to working with the Obama administration to make this transition framework a successful reality.   

·         EVENTS: Alaska Wilderness League and Braided River Books will be having holding events with Amy Guilick to talk about her book, Salmon in the Trees during June and August.  Please see here for more on events in Portland, Washington, D.C. and Juneau.

·         MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: Former Fish and Game officials oppose Sealaska lands bill; Letter warns Alaska governor about Sealaska lands bill; Tongass logging 'would harm rare species'; Deadline approaches for Sealaska-SEACC talks; Trees grow salmon and salmon grow trees in the Tongass; Salmon in the Trees: Life in Alaska’s Tongass Rain Forest ; Book shows Tongass Forest fed by nutrients of fish; New course charted for Alaska's Tongass National Forest; Feds Announce Timber Program for Tongass Forest; Private Sealaska meetings on land bill yield nothing

·         FREE VIDEO:  We have a Tongass video that we would love to have Alaska Coalition groups use and show to your members.   If you're interested in receiving a copy of the video, please email me at anna (at) alaskawild.org.

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. Over the coming months we will be working to ensure these areas are not included an oil and gas lease sale planned for August 2010.

  • FREE VIDEO:  We have a new Reserve video available for viewing.   If you, your group or business is interested in showing the video, please contact anna (at) alaskawild.org to receive a copy!