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Defenders Magazine
Guest Opinion: Defending Alaska
Alaska's wolves and other wildlife are confronting
alarming new threats. Last December, former U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski became
governor of the last frontier and, with single-minded determination, he and his
administration are jeopardizing the future of Alaska's wildlife.
To
flourish naturally, wildlife needs thoughtful oversight, independent regulatory
protection and intact habitat. In less than three months, Murkowski has begun
undermining each of these requirements.
He has appointed six members to
Alaska's seven-member Board of Game — all of whom share his philosophy of
managing game populations for the highest sustainable human harvest. The new
members include the past president of the Alaska Trappers Association; a big
game guide; a board member of the Territorial Sportsmen, an outspoken hunting
advocacy group; and well-known supporters of state wolf kills. As one appointee,
who has been active in past efforts to allow land-and-shoot wolf hunting as a
game-management tool, stated, the board will now "get back to managing game
instead of making everybody feel good about it."
But Murkowski is not
stopping with stacking the Board of Game. He is also gutting independent
regulatory protection. Filled with dedicated biologists, the Alaska Department
of Fish and Game has had the responsibility since statehood of reviewing
proposed development permits for their impact on habitat. Where appropriate,
these biologists have recommended critical mitigation measures to protect
wildlife.
No more. Murkowski has stripped the agency of nearly all of
its habitat-permitting authority. Five former agency commissioners -- who served
under Republican, Democratic and Alaska Independent governors — have pleaded
with Murkowski to abandon this plan, stating: "We share the belief that the loss
of this authority will result in unnecessary and potentially irreversible harm
to these (fish and wildlife) resources." But this administration does not want
independent regulatory protection of habitat getting in the way of
development.
During his campaign and in his State of the State address,
Murkowski repeatedly expressed his support for destructive development projects
that threaten critical areas for Alaska's wildlife. While his obsession with
drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is notorious, the list
of his other habitat destruction schemes is long and equally
alarming.
For decades, Murkowski has tried to increase the rate of clear
cutting in the Tongass National Forest. Protected by President Theodore
Roosevelt more than 100 years ago, the Tongass is the nation's largest national
forest and contains one of the world's most precious and endangered ecosystems:
temperate rainforests. Murkowski seeks to transfer into state ownership 1
million acres of the Tongass National Forest — so that the state can chainsaw
the ancient trees there. With the help of massive federal subsidies, he also
wants to open a new pulp mill and build an abundance of new roads to maximize
clear-cutting.
The Arctic refuge and the Tongass are only the beginning.
Murkowski wants to build a road through congressionally designated wilderness in
the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, one of the most important waterfowl
wetland complexes in the world. He wants to authorize snow machines in the
biological heart of Denali National Park. There's talk about authorizing
thousands of miles of new road right-of-ways throughout Alaska's national parks
and refuges, which would destroy critical wildlife habitat. The list goes on and
on.
After appointing his daughter, Lisa, to serve his remaining two-year
term in the U.S. Senate, Murkowski will seek her assistance in carrying out this
agenda. Together with Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, Lisa Murkowski will use stealth
legislative riders — last-minute attachments to unrelated bills — to try to pass
her father's wish list.
