Governor Announces ANWR Boundary Fight

Press Release

Governor Sean Parnell today announced the State is seeking priority conveyance of nearly 20,000 acres of land at the western boundary of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). He made the announcement to the Alaska Support Industry Alliance conference in Fairbanks.

"The federal government, through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has been improperly drawing the western boundary of ANWR for some time. We will not sit back while they do this," said Gov. Parnell.

"The Alaska Department of Natural Resources has confirmed the State's position with a detailed on-the-ground analysis. Priority conveyance of this land that is rightfully ours will bring 20,000 acres under State control on the eastern North Slope for oil and gas exploration. A few miles away from this area, we are seeing billions of dollars of investment at the Point Thomson Field."

Alaska selected these lands, but the federal government later claimed them as part of ANWR. The State's previously requested lands, as part of the Alaska Statehood Act and Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, are located between the Staines and Canning rivers.

"Our position is consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court's definition of the refuge's coastal boundary," the governor told conference attendees this morning in Fairbanks. "So I say it's now long past time for the federal government to convey these lands to Alaska so we can put them to use for Alaskans."

DNR filed the State's request for priority conveyance for uplands along the western boundary of ANWR with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Source