No Surprises in Obama's Visit to Alaska, Despite Push by NGO for National Monument Designations
SEAFOODNEWS.COM by John Sackton Sept. 4, 2015
There were no surprises during President Obama's visit to Alaska this week.
Previously, he had assured both Gov. Walker and Sen. Murkowski that he would not be making new announcements about expanding protected areas or curtailing arctic oil drilling.
Although the waters around Alaska have more extensive marine protections than any other parts of the US, NGO's continue to push for more marine reserves. One group, PEER (Public Employees for Enviornmental Responsibility, had petitioned NOAA for an Aleutian Islands National Marine Sanctuary. But earlier this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration denied that request as being overbroad in scope and lacking in widespread support.
This prompted the group to push for executive action by Obama in declaring a marine national monument.
The Care 2 petition was authored by Richard Steiner, a member of the PEER Board of Directors and a retired University of Alaska professor of marine conservation, who said “Designating marine monuments would be the only viable means for permanently shielding Alaska's offshore waters
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