Board of Game asks for more protection of Tangle Lakes region

The Alaska Board of Game is asking Gov. Sarah Palin to strengthen wildlife protection measures in the Tangle Lakes region west of Paxson. Read more

Alaska Native appointed to Board of Game

Gov. Palin made her new appointment to the Board of Game - Craig Fleener of Fort Yukon is to replace Teresa Sager-Albaugh, the former president of the Alaska Outdoor Council, Alaska’s largest outdoor sportsmen’s organization. Read more

Board of Game nominee quits

ADN:

“A growing dispute between Native leaders and Gov. Sarah Palin may have been defused late Wednesday when Teresa Sager-Albaugh, a former Alaska Outdoor Council president, turned down her new appointment to the state Board of Game. Sager-Albaugh said she was withdrawing her name so that the growing controversy did not get in the way of the Game Board’s important work. Native leaders began protesting last week after Palin filled three vacancies on the Game Board, leaving no Native or off-road rural resident as members for the first time ever. The board sets policies for wildlife, hunting and subsistence on state and private lands in Alaska.”

Read the full story here: ADN

 

Palin reverses Murkowski move

Gov. Sarah Palin said Tuesday she will move the state Division of Habitat back into the Department of Fish and Game.The move would reverse the controversial change made by former governor Frank Murkowski.

Murkowski then claimed the move was made in order to “streamline” the permitting process and promote development.

Critics of the Murkowski move pointed out that the environment would be better protected with Habitat under Fish & Game. Palin’s executive order will take place in January 2009.

Alaska takes seriously its job of protecting polar bears

By GOV. SARAH PALIN

It’s that time of year when the entire world will see animated holiday images of cute, cuddly polar bears smiling and dancing — and pitching cold soft drinks on TV and movie screens.

That’s the closest most Americans will ever get to a polar bear.

To steal a line from one of the commercials, it’s not “the real thing.”

It’s unfortunate, because polar bears are magnificent animals, not cartoon characters. They are worthy of our utmost efforts to conserve them and their Arctic habitat.

For Alaska, that means recognizing that while climate change is a serious concern for everyone on the planet, it is not the only issue surrounding polar bears.

To help ensure that polar bears are around for centuries to come, Alaska has engaged in research and worked closely with the federal government to protect them. This includes enacting a ban on most hunting — only Alaska Native subsistence families can hunt polar bears — and taking habitat protection measures such as set-asides around known denning areas to prevent bear harassment.

We are also participating in international efforts aimed at conserving polar bears worldwide.

The state takes very seriously its job of protecting polar bears and their habitat and is well aware of the problems caused by climate change.

But we know it will take more than protecting what we have — it means learning what we don’t know. Which is why state biologists are studying the health of polar bear populations and their habitat.

As a result of these efforts, polar bears are more numerous now than they were 40 years ago. Despite what some may wish you to believe, the polar bear population in the southern Beaufort Sea off Alaska’s North Slope has been stable for 20 years.

I strongly believe that listing the bears under the Endangered Species Act is the wrong move at this time. My decision is based on a comprehensive review by state wildlife officials of scientific information from a broad range of climate, ice and polar bear experts.

Despite emotional arguments to the contrary, there is insufficient evidence that polar bears are in danger of becoming extinct within the foreseeable future — the trigger for protection under the Endangered Species Act. And there is no evidence that polar bears are being mismanaged through existing international agreements and the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.

We’re not against protecting species under the Endangered Species Act. Alaska has supported listings of other species, such as the Aleutian Canada goose. The law worked as it should — the species was near extinction, and a recovery plan resulted in goose recovery and delisting under the act.

Listing the goose — then taking the bird off the list — was based on science. However, the possible listing of a currently healthy species such as the polar bear is based on uncertain modeling of possible effects. The listing is simply not justified.

What is justified is worldwide concern over the proven impacts of climate change.

The group asking for the polar bear listing recently disclosed that its goal is to force the government to either stop or severely limit any public or private action that produces, or even allows, the production of greenhouse gases. Such limits should be adopted through an open process where environmental issues are weighed against economic and social needs, and where scientists debate and present information that policymakers need to make the best decisions. But the Endangered Species Act is not the correct tool to address climate change — the act actually prohibits any consideration of broader issues.

There is little doubt that the world’s climate is warming. I established a Cabinet-level task force to address the effects of climate change in Alaska, charging the task force with developing recommendations to deal with the effects of climate change.

Climate change is a serious issue. I urge all Alaskans to become involved by offering comments and suggestions to the task force for constructive action by the state. Listing the polar bear as threatened is the wrong way to get to the right answer.

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Sarah Palin is governor of Alaska.

Printed in The New York Times, The Seattle Post Intelligencer and International Herald Tribune