As Arctic is becoming strategically crucial due to polar sea ice melts state and federal lawmakers need to plan now for future transportation, fisheries and resource development activities and for the well-being of indigenous groups. According to witnesses lawmakers need to know more that is happening there recently.
Gov. Sean Parnell has testified that the Arctic, literally, needs to be put on the map. Scientific research and economic exploration are set back by low quality, decades-old mapping data. Parnell told that there is no accurate baseline to measure change, to identify trends and patterns, or predict potential outcomes.
Murkowski told that the main task is to make sure that we can put things in place before we see the level of activity increase. The Anchorage meeting was a field hearing for the Homeland Security subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, chaired by Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia. Witness testimony was largely on the need for increased research into what a changing Arctic will look like and what an Arctic strategy will require.
Coast Guard commandant Adm. Thad Allen said that the steady recession of the ice edge has continued to open new water in the summer months, and there has already been an increase in traffic as fishing vessels move north and eco-tourism increases. Itta said that if offshore oil and gas resources are developed and marine transportation increases throughout the area, the need for an expanded Coast Guard presence will be critical, especially in the event of an oil spill.
It is said that the Arctic needs more research before strategic policy can be set for the region, the panel concluded. But where the money for that research will come from is unknown.
