Alaska’s senators have an icy response to federal protections for rare Arctic seals. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland plans a Fairbanks visit. And online bidding will start at $5 an acre for oil and gas lease sales in Alaska.
There’s more news in “Five Things to Know.”
Senators’ seal of disapproval
Alaska’s two senators are criticizing a “critical habitat designation” to protect rare ice seals as federal overreach that will hurt the Alaska economy.
The Marine Fisheries Service at NOAA announced rules to protect two species of Arctic ice seals — bearded seals and ringed seals. The rulings are intended to protect seal habitat from oil and gas drilling, noise pollution and other commercial activities in a 260,000-square-mile area. The area includes waters of the northern Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort seas.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski blasted the environmental ruling as “an abuse of power.” Murkowski predicted that protecting seal habitat will hurt Alaska fisheries and natural resource development.
Sen. Dan Sullivan slammed the environmental ruling as “crushing federal regulatory burdens” that lock up Alaska’s lands, waters and resources from development.
Environmental groups lauded the rulings. “This is fantastic news for these ice-dependent seals,” said Emily Jeffers, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity.
“We can’t save them without protecting the places they live. Bearded and ringed seals could go extinct if we don’t dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and phase out Arctic oil and gas drilling,” she said.
Interior Secretary will visit Fairbanks
Deb Haaland is scheduled to make a stop in greater Fairbanks the week of April 17 as part of the Interior Secretary’s tour of Alaska communities.
Haaland’s office confirmed plans this week for the Fairbanks visit with her itinerary to be announced soon.
Haaland will visit with Alaska Native leaders as well as local and state government officials. She is expected to highlight funds available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act the president signed into law.
The Interior Secretary also will make stops in Anchorage and King Cove, where a road extension is planned through a national wildlife refuge, which the Biden administration supports.
Census undercount of Alaska Natives
Alaska Native and American Indian communities were most likely undercounted in the 2020 census by more than 5%, according to a new report by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Many Alaska Native communities are in rural and remote areas hard to access, with some Native residents voicing distrust about the count.
The Census Bureau estimated that its figures may be off by 5.4% for Alaska Natives and American Indians “living on tribal lands.”
The census count is used to calculate federal funds that flow to the states and to tribal organizations to support housing and transportation.
Emergency oil reserves tapped
Sen. Dan Sullivan is continuing to criticize the Biden administration for effectively ruling out Alaska oil and gas supplies to ramp up domestic production and supplant Russian energy.
Sullivan said in a TV interview last week that there are more than 4,000 requests for U.S. drilling awaiting federal approval, including in Alaska.
Congress imposed a legislative ban this week on Russian energy imports with language crafted in part by Sen. Lisa Murkowski to speed implementation.
The U.S. has been releasing oil from the strategic petroleum reserve to lower energy prices for consumers. Now several European nations plan to do the same with their emergency reserves.
The price of oil has spiked since Russia, a global energy supplier, invaded Ukraine.
With bipartisan support in Congress, Murkowski co-sponsored the Ban Russian Energy Imports Act. President Biden followed with an executive order to halt Russian oil and gas imports.
Millions of acres open for drilling leases
Alaska’s springtime bidding on oil and gas lease sales are scheduled to start May 2. EnergyNet Services will conduct the bidding through 4 p.m. May 19.
The online bidding is run through the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. Results will be posted on the DNR website starting May 25. The oil and gas lease sales are for millions of acres in the Alaska Peninsula and the Cook Inlet.
For the Alaska Peninsula sale, the minimum bid is $5 per acre, with a 12.5% royalty rate and a primary lease term of 10 years.
Annual rents are $1 per acre for the first year, $1.50 per acre for the second year, $2 per acre for the third year, $2.50 per acre for the fourth year and $3 per acre for years five through 10.
For the Cook Inlet sale, the minimum bid is $15 per acre, with a 12.5% royalty rate and a primary lease term of 10 years.
Annual rental rates are $5 per acre for years one through five, $7.50 per acre for years six and seven and $10 per acre for years eight through 10.
