Kawerak Opposes Oil and Gas Leasing in the Waters of the Bering Strait Region
On January 5th, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released its Oil and Gas Leasing Draft Proposed Program, potentially opening offshore Oil and Gas Leasing/Exploration in various parts of Alaska that were previously not included in previous lease sales.
Kawerak, Inc. opposes oil and gas leasing / exploration in the Hope, Navarin, St. Mathew Hall, and Norton Basins. These basins are where tribes from our region have harvested subsistence resources for millennia and where local people from our region fish and crab commercially. With the proposed draft, these basins will be exposed and open to oil and gas leasing/exploration in 2023. These basins are vitally important to our survival and oil and gas activities pose a serious threat to marine life and safety in these areas.
Kawerak encourages individuals from the Bering Strait region to review and comment on BOEM’s Draft Proposed Program. You may learn more about the draft proposed program and access links to submit comments at https://www.boem.gov/National-Program/. Online commenting at regulations.gov begins on Monday, January 8, 2018. There will be a public meeting in Anchorage at the Dena’ina Center on January 23rd from 7pm-10pm.***UPDATE The Anchorage comment hearing for the BOEM Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing proposal has cancelled.**** PUBLIC NOTICE: https://www.boem.gov/note01222018/
For additional questions and information please feel free to reach out to the Kawerak Marine Program at (907) 443-4368 or email aahmasuk@kawerak.org.
Click here for the full press release: Kawerak Press Release on BOEM
Eskimo Walrus commission also released a statement on the BOEM Leasing Draft Program. Click here for the full release: EWC Press Release on BOEM
