by Nancy Lord, Advocacy Committee Chair
The Friends advocacy committee continues to meet frequently and to organize, coordinate, report, comment, and advocate on numerous fronts.
- We continue to track the two major issues we are involved in with coalitions and prepare to respond to decisions and outcomes. For Izembek Refuge, we await a decision from the federal government, which is expected to approve a land exchange which would allow a road to be built across a narrow isthmus between two lagoons with world-class eelgrass beds in the heart of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. The purpose of the Refuge is the conservation of not only waterfowl and shorebirds but also salmon, brown bears, and the caribou herd that migrates across the isthmus. Building a road there will have tremendous impacts on fish and wildlife habitat and could also greatly increase both disturbance and hunting pressure beyond current subsistence use. Trading the ownership of refuge lands that Congress designated for conservation and as a wilderness area is a terrible precedent for the privatization of public lands for development that is incompatible with both refuge and wilderness lands.
- In the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, AIDEA (the Alaska Industrial and Export Authority, a state agency) is set to begin seismic surveying on coastal plain leases. The Administration intends to open the entire coastal plain (1002 area) to additional oil leasing, and the reconciliation budget bill passed in July mandates that four new lease sales be held in the refuge within the next seven years.
- We are talking with and collaborating with partners to amplify our messaging and to otherwise support public lands. These include the National Wildlife Refuges Association, Americans for Alaska, American Hunters and Anglers, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, and the Alaska office of the National Parks Conservation Association.
- New threats to our refuges emerge almost daily. Most recently, the Trump Administration approved the Ambler Road, which will allow an industrial mining road to pass through the watersheds of several nearby refuges as well as through the Gates of the Arctic National Park. The government shut-down also endangers the refuges by closing visitors centers and furloughing employees, including those who monitor refuges and prevent damages to their resources. It remains to be seen whether additional lay-offs and budget cuts will follow.
- Please keep abreast of events by following us on Facebook, Instagram, and our website. By sharing factual information about our refuges and by contacting elected officials, we can each be an advocate!