Interior Secretary Ken Salazar unveiled a proposed management plan
Monday for a vast petroleum reserve on Alaska's North Slope. The state's
senior senator immediately pronounced it too restrictive.At a press
conference in Anchorage, Salazar said the proposal balances wildlife
protection, villagers' subsistence requirements and the nation's need
for additional petroleum.
Read more: http://www.adn.com/2012/08/13/2586742/salazar-proposes-plan-for-alaska.html
About 11.8 million out of 23 million acres would be available for
leasing, including most land believed to contain oil reserves, Salazar
said.
The proposal provides a potential
route for a pipeline that could transport oil from offshore leases in
the Chukchi Sea east to the trans-Alaska pipeline, which bisects the
state north to south.
The potential for development was balanced with protections for the region's wildlife, Salazar said.
"It is an iconic place on our Earth," Salazar said.
Republican Lisa Murkowski said the
Democratic Obama administration picked the most restrictive management
plan possible for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, an area created
by President Warren Harding in 1923 that is roughly the size of
Indiana.
The environmentally sensitive
Teshekpuk Lake area, renowned for its habitat for migratory birds,
including black brant, Canada geese and greater white-fronted geese,
already was under a 10-year deferral for additional study, she said.
The reserve also includes the
325,000 animals in the Western Arctic Caribou Herd and the 55,000
animals in the Teshekpuk Caribou Herd, sources of subsistence food for
40 northern and western Alaska Native villages.
The Utukok River Uplands special area would protect calving grounds and an area where caribou seek relief from insects.
Read more: http://www.adn.com/2012/08/13/2586742/salazar-proposes-plan-for-alaska.html
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