It is found that the visit of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to Alaska is worthwhile as dozens of speakers with various opinions on offshore development stated their cases in hearings that began at 8 a.m. and finished around 9 p.m. Aleutians East Borough Mayor Stanley Mack said that AEB, is the local Alaskan government nearest to Lease Sale 214 in the North Aleutian Basin. One of our borough communities, Nelson Lagoon, is approximately 30 miles away from the proposed lease sale. The AEB has cooperating agency status for purposes of the EIS (environmental impact statement) process and looks forward to continuing to partner with (the Department of the Interior) throughout this process.
The Aleutians East Borough stretches over 300 miles along the eastern side of the Aleutian Islands and consists of the communities of Sand Point, Nelson Lagoon, King Cove, False Pass, Cold Bay and Akutan, with a total of 2,600 residents. All of these communities are dependent on subsistence and commercial fishing. They can only be accessed by plane or boat, and are situated in the most remote and rugged terrain in the United States. Employment and economic opportunities for Aleutians East Borough residents are extremely limited.
They are almost entirely dependent on commercial fishing. Our fisheries are healthy from a sustainability standpoint, but economically it is a different situation. It is also said that they are losing many of our long-term residents. The population of school-age children has plummeted. These changing economic circumstances have forced the borough to examine other economic opportunities and to be creative in seeking them out.
Opponents of the North Aleutian Basin sale have mislabeled it, implying the sale would occur in Bristol Bay. The Bristol Bay communities are 200 miles away. It is the Aleutians East Borough communities that are closest to the sale area. Comments in the media also make it sound like the sale is opposed by ‘Bristol Bay. Protecting the environment is important. But we can’t ignore the need for jobs.
