In a 20-page report to Congress and the Obama administration, RDC pointed out Alaska is responsibly developing natural resources that provide jobs, stimulate the economy, and ultimately increase national security by lowering America’s dependence on foreign countries.
RDC included recommendations for Congress and the new administration to consider as legislation and policies are developed to revitalize the economy and provide affordable energy.
“We strongly encourage you to become familiar with the issues that affect natural resource development in Alaska, as they have significant impacts on the rest of the country,” said RDC Executive Director Jason Brune, in a cover letter to the report, which outlines the organization’s federal policy positions.
In the report, RDC noted that resource development drives Alaska’s economy and provides jobs and income that have powered five decades of economic expansion. RDC said that while the state’s economy is dominated by oil production, significant revenues and jobs are generated from mining, fishing, timber, and tourism.
In order to put the issues in a proper context, RDC pointed out that much of the state is currently off limits to development, preserved in vast conservation system units. It also outlined land ownership, noting less than one percent of Alaska is in conventional private ownership. The report also spoke to the congressional intent behind the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and the special Alaska protections enacted under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA).
“Given the state’s reliance on natural resource development for economic stability and the funding of essential public services, it is imperative the Obama Administration and Congress provide for balanced federal policies that encourage multiple use activities on our vast federal lands and responsible resource development on state, Alaska Native, and private lands,” Brune noted in the introduction to the report.
The report focuses on oil and gas, mining, forestry, and tourism issues, as well as ANILCA special protections, federal land withdrawals, Endangered Species Act (ESA) listings, ESA reform, climate change, oversight of federal fisheries, renewable energy, wetlands and federal agency funding.
The report is available online at akrdc.org.
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