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Alaska Wild Update #194 - Dec 20, 2002 QUOTE OF THE WEEK "We're
going to have the same bipartisan support we had last year for this
issue.'' HEADLINES ARCTIC CHAMPIONS PREPARED TO REINTRODUCE ARCTIC WILDERNESS BILL LOOKING AHEAD TO THE 108th CONGRESS A decision December 12 by the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals lifts a preliminary injunction putting the Roadless Rule into effect immediately! After nearly 2 years of delay, the Bush Administration is now required to protect the 58.5 million acres of roadless areas within our National Forests, including nearly 14 million acres within the Tongass and Chugach National Forests. The court case now moves back down to the District Court level where opponents must win an uphill battle in their efforts to overturn the Roadless Rule. As the result of a federal district court decision, tens of millions of acres of wild, road-free forests in Alaska have won a reprieve from the chainsaws and bulldozers. "This is great for the Tongass and Chugach National Forests," said Michael Finkelstein, Campaign Director of the Alaska Rainforest Campaign. "Alaska has the most at stake. One-fourth of the forest acres protected by the roadless rule are located in the Tongass and Chugach national forests." The court decision, which lifts an injunction issued by a lower court barring the implementation of the Roadless Rule, could not have come at a better time for Alaska's forests, particularly the 17 million acre Tongass. Presently, the Forest Service is working up plans for over two dozen timber sales that would enter Tongass roadless areas. Over 9 million acres of the Tongass and 5 million acres of the Chugach are protected by the Rule. "[The] decision also sends a strong message that the Bush Administration cannot simply defer to its timber industry supporters," said Tim Bristol, Director of the Alaska Coalition. "The Administration has a responsibility to the American public to defend this vital piece of public lands policy." The Forest Service conducted years of scientific analysis, and held over 600 hearings, including several in Alaska, before issuing the final roadless rule in January 2001. The rule, which safeguards 58 million acres of road free national forest lands from destructive road building and logging, proved wildly popular with the American public, attracting over 1.5 million comments. "This is what America wants for its forests in Alaska," said Finkelstein. ARCTIC
CHAMPIONS TO INTRODUCE WILDERNESS BILL Starting at the beginning of December, Representatives Markey and Johnson have been circulating a sign-on letter to their colleagues, asking for their support on the bill. In the 107th session of Congress, the bill enjoyed the support of 153 co-sponsors. The Morris K. Udall Wilderness Act designates almost 1.6 million acres on the coastal plane of the Arctic Refuge as wilderness area, giving the so-called “1002 area” full wilderness protection. At present, the coastal plain, or “1002 area”, does not enjoy the same level of protection as much of the rest of the Refuge. When the original Arctic Range was established in 1960 under the Eisenhower administration, Secretary of Interior Fred Seaton described it as "one of the world’s great wildlife areas. The great diversity of vegetation and topography in this compact area, together with its relatively undisturbed condition, led to its selection as...one of our remaining wildlife and wilderness frontiers." The Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge runs from a series of rolling bluffs in the western half to a wider, flatter area in the east. The 1.5-million acre Coastal Plain, traversed by a dozen rivers, lies nestled between the peaks of the Brooks Range and the Arctic Ocean ice pack. The majority of the Arctic Refuge is designated as wilderness and it is far from empty. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) scientists, the number of ecological zones contained within the Arctic Refuge provides for greater plant and animal diversity than in any other similarly sized land area on Alaska’s North Slope. The Arctic Refuge’s coastal tundra provides America’s only land denning habitat for polar bears, serving primarily the Beaufort Sea population. According to the USFWS, 42 percent of the on-land polar bear dens were dug within the Arctic Refuge’s Coastal Plain between 1981 and 2000. Biologists note that polar bears with newborn cubs are especially sensitive to human activity and can be prematurely displaced from their winter dens by the noise, vibration, and human disturbance created by seismic oil exploration. Current seismic exploration methods require numerous vehicles to move in a tight grid pattern across the tundra, discharging explosives or creating shock waves with large "thumper trucks." According to a 1987 report by the USFWS, early den abandonment can be fatal to cubs. The
Refuge is the summer home to millions of birds. Over 130 species travel
up to the coastal plain of Alaska for spring and summer breeding and
feeding. Many of the birds found in your backyard depend on yearly migrations
to the Refuge to breed. A study funded by the National Park Service
released on Monday, December 16, found that golden eagles spend much
of the summers on the North Slope of Alaska, particularly in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge. Golden eagles are very sensitive to human
activity and have been protected in the United States since 1963. Although
the area often examined for possible oil exploration and drilling
(the Coastal Plain) is only about 10 percent of the Refuge, USFWS scientists
report the area includes most of the Refuge’s Coastal Plain and
arctic foothills ecological zones. These zones are critically important
to the ecological integrity of the Arctic Refuge. To
take action on the Markey / Johnson bill, please visit www.alaskawild.org. At the start of the 107th Congress things looked bleak for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Drilling in the Arctic had been a campaign promise for incoming President George W. Bush, and it appeared that our new President would have support in the Republican controlled Congress. The Bush Administration and other proponents of drilling in Arctic worked tirelessly to include provisions to drill in the Arctic Refuge in a variety of legislative vehicles, including the budget process, energy legislation, the Railroad Retirement Bill, the Defense Authorization Bill, anti-human cloning legislation and an aviation security bill. Due to intense pressure by the Administration and the Teamsters, the House of Representatives approved an Arctic drilling provision to the Energy Bill on August 3, 2001. This vote left the fate of the Refuge in the hands of the Senate. Until April of 2002, drilling the Arctic was Alaska’s Senator Frank Murkowski’s single crusade. When the Senate debated the Energy Bill from February to April of this year, Sen. Murkowski spoke for hours on the Senate floor – he filibustered more than the Senators who actually instigated the filibuster against Arctic drilling – Senators Kerry and Lieberman. Remarkably, even after losing on the Senate floor in April, Senator Murkowski continued his efforts during the House and Senate Energy Conference Committee. During the last months of the session, the Conference Committee talks broke down and the legislation was scrapped. In the 108th Congress, advocates for drilling will continue their drive to open the Arctic Refuge to oil and gas exploration. Just as they did last year, they will try every and any way to include provisions to drill in the Refuge. The incoming chair of the Senate Energy Committee, Sen. Pete Domenici (R - NM) has made it clear that the new Energy Bill will include drilling. The Senator has also stated that he was considering the option of attaching an Arctic Refuge leasing provision to a reconciliation bill. Drilling proponents attempted this before in 1995 and the resulting bill was vetoed by President Clinton. In a report from the Anchorage Daily News on December 17, 2002, Sen. Stevens stated that opening the Refuge to drilling would be his number one priority next year. He said that he and the rest of the Alaska delegation have been trying to get the area opened since 1980 and attacked environmentalists for standing in this way. In
the face of this opposition, the bipartisan coalition in the House and
the Senate to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will stand
strong. In the House, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT),
and in the Senate, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA),
have pledged to stop any attempt to drill in the Arctic Refuge and support
bills that would give this area permanent protection. |
