Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC), the North Slope Borough and a coalition of Alaska Native groups from the North Slope, Northwest, and Southwest Alaska have notified the Department of the Interior of their intent to sue the federal government over its decision to designate more than 187,000 square miles of land and sea ice as critical habitat for polar bears.
The plaintiffs believe the federal government broke the law when it ignored concerns of the Alaska Native community and designated an area larger than California as critical habitat for polar bears.
The letter, signed by Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, the North Slope Borough, Bering Straits Native Corporation, NANA Regional Corporation, Calista Corporation, and a number of other Native corporations was sent to the Department of the Interior last month. Federal law requires a 60-day notification before a lawsuit is officially filed. It is the coalition’s hope that the Secretary of the Interior will use this time to address the plaintiffs’ concerns.
“This is a poor attempt to legislate climate change through regulation,” said Rex Rock, Sr., President and CEO of ASRC. “The Department has recognized that the designation will not have any impact on the primary threat to polar bears – the loss of sea ice habitat – but it could cripple our communities.”
Worldwide populations of polar bears have gone from around 5,000 in the late 1960s to between 20,000 to 25,000 today.
An independent economic analysis into the critical babitat designations found the financial burden to the State of Alaska, North Slope Borough and ASRC could reach into the billions of dollars. As an example, a 1% reduction in oil production within critical habitat could lead to a loss of more than 200 jobs and nearly $100 million in output statewide. Over the past five years, an average of 85 percent of Alaska’s revenue – outside of federal and investment income – has come from the oil and gas industry. Almost half of the North Slope oil production comes from an area within the critical habitat designations.
“The critical habitat designation does not get at the problem of melting sea ice, so it won’t help the polar bear,” said North Slope Borough Mayor Edward S. Itta. “It will only restrict normal community growth in our villages and threaten access to our traditional subsistence hunting areas. As a solution, this completely misses the mark.”
Governor Sean Parnell welcomed the effort from the Native community to fight critical habitat designations. “I share the concerns of ASRC and the many other corporations that realize this designation was overreaching and improper,” Governor Parnell said. “The designation will have a negative economic impact and would delay jobs, increase the costs of, or even prevent resource development projects that are crucial to Alaskans.”
Last month the State of Alaska notified U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar of its intent to sue over the critical habitat designation.
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