Arctic Daily Update: February 25, 2011

US Arctic Research Commission

February 25, 2011

The House and Senate have recessed for the President's Day district work week.

Canada's Arctic Policy, February 24-25. The Institute of the North will host a policy discussion on Canada's Arctic Policy with Consul Jennifer Loten. The policy forum will consider the Arctic's infrastructure deficit, circumpolar environmental response capacity, and Arctic marine traffic systems.

Media Review

Senate Dems Search for Cuts of Their Own in Bid to Avoid Shutdown. Senate Democrats on Thursday began identifying cuts to the 2011 spending bill that they plan to propose to House Republican leadership in the coming days in order to avert a government shutdown after March 4. An aide said that that Democrats will put the cuts into a proposed seven-month continuing resolution "in the spirit of trying to narrow the gap" between House Republicans and Senate Democrats over this year's spending. The Hill

Scientists: Oldest Human Found in Alaska is a Child, Cremated 11,500 years ago. Some 11,500 years ago, at the end of the last Ice Age, a child died near a river in what is now central Alaska. The people living with the child in a tent-pole house - presumably the parents - placed the 3-year-old's body in their home's cooking pit and lit a fire. After two to three hours of burning, the family covered the remains with dirt and left. That's the dramatic story emerging from the study of the oldest human remains ever found in Alaska - and some of the oldest in all of North America. Washington Post

Murkowski Vows to 'Throw Some Elbows' to Ensure Alaska Oil Production. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Thursday called boosting Alaskan oil production her top priority and claimed that Middle Eastern turmoil and rising prices put drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) "back on the table." Oil production is central to Alaska's economy. Murkowski used a speech to Alaska's legislature to warn that the massive Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) will shut down if production declines continue and the industry cannot access new fields in her state. The Hill

Study Highlights Benefits of Arctic Ocean Drilling. Shell Oil is touting a report it commissioned that says outer continental shelf petroleum development off Alaska's northern shores could create 54,700 new jobs that could be sustained for 50 years. The study was released Thursday by Northern Economics Inc., an Anchorage-based firm, and the University of Alaska's Institute of Social and Economic Research. It comes one day before the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement conducts a scoping meeting in Anchorage to take public testimony on its plan for offshore drilling over the next five years. Bloomberg

Arctic Security More Than Sovereignty. At first glance it conjures up notions of border security and military operations. However, a recent public opinion survey, Rethinking the Top of the World: Arctic Security Public Opinion Survey, commissioned by the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs and the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, showed that most Canadians define Arctic security more broadly. "This project with the Munk Centre and the Gordon foundation is about Arctic security," said Graham White, professor of political science and a member of the Gordon Foundation's Northern Advisory Circle. "A lot of people assume that means Arctic sovereignty and that it's mainly about military overtones. That's a part of it but it's only a relatively small part." PhysOrg

ICC Summit Wraps Up With Lukewarm Consensus. Circumpolar Inuit Fall Short of Common Front. The Arctic is open for business, as long as Inuit get economic benefits and exert influence over environmental protection, leaders from Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Russia said Feb. 24, as they wrapped up a two-day summit on resource development organized by the Inuit Circumpolar Council. "We have agreed with the leaders that we [the Canadian Arctic] are open for business - on certain issues," said Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. "We think it will be on a case-by case-by-basis [because] there are conditions that need to be met." NunatsiaqOnline

Inuit Leaders to Draft Resource Guidelines. Inuit leaders from around the Arctic say they will work on guidelines to boost regulatory standards for mining, offshore drilling and other development in the North. Representatives from Canada, the United States, Greenland and Russia announced in Ottawa on Thursday that their guidelines will be in a declaration they plan to adopt this spring on "responsible resource development principles" on Inuit lands. CBC News

Breaking an Ice-Bound U.S. Policy: A Proposal for Operating in the Arctic. The United States is losing the race to protect its own interests in the Arctic region. It is important to create a sensible policy to field an adequate fleet of U.S.-owned ice-breakers. An adequate, competent, and sustainable fleet is the key to maintaining American presence in the region, protecting U.S. sovereignty, working with allies, and rebuilding the nation's edge in global commerce. Making America more competitive at a time when Washington is looking to cut corners in federal spending requires creative solutions to demanding problems. The U.S. can jump-start its fleet by privatizing ice-breaker operations and using ships as platforms for national security and federal scientific activities. This initiative would save federal dollars by eliminating old, inadequate, and expensive-to-operate assets while greatly expanding U.S. capacity to operate in the Arctic. The Heritage Foundation

Nunavut Inuit Group Puts Uranium Policy on Hold. The president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. says she's putting her organization's uranium mining policy on hold, to ensure Inuit in the territory have been fully informed on the issue. Cathy Towtongie said there was not enough public consultation before Nunavut Tunngavik, the territory's Inuit land-claims organization, approved a policy in September 2007 that opened the territory to uranium exploration and mining. CBC News

Legislative Action

No formal action was taken yesterday.

Future Events

Fiscal 2012 Budget: Interior Department, March 2. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on the fiscal 2012 budget request for the Department of Interior.

Fiscal 2012 Budget: Forest Service, March 3. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on the fiscal 2012 budget request for the U.S. Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture.

International Conference on Arctic Marine Science, International Law and Climate Protection, March 17-18. The German Federal Foreign Office is hosting an event that will take place on the Berlin premises of the Federal Office. The event is co-hosted by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, with additional support from prominent research institutes. The Conference will discuss the legal framework for marine scientific research in the Arctic Ocean at present and in the future. Scholars, scientists and diplomats with an interest in the Arctic Ocean are invited to attend. For more information, please contact 504-s@diplo.de.

Arctic Dialogue & Study Tour, March 22-24, 2011. For the past four years Norway's Bodø University Graduate School of Business, the High North Centre for Business and Governance (affiliated with the University), the International Institute of Energy Politics and Diplomacy (MIEP) at MGIMO University in Moscow, Russia, and HBW Resources have hosted an annual Arctic Dialogue and Study Tour. The tour brings together stakeholders from all Arctic nations (government, industries, academic, native and local peoples) to discuss issues involving resource development in the Arctic, and share common experiences, best practices and solutions. For more information contact Andrew Browning.

Arctic Science Summit Week, Seoul, March 28-April 1, 2011. The purpose of Korean Flag the Arctic Science Summit Week is to provide opportunities for international coordination, collaboration, and cooperation in all fields of Arctic science. The Arctic Science Week 2011 is supported by the Korean government, the Korean Research Council of Fundamental Science & Technology, and the Seoul Tourism Organization, among other groups.

The Arctic as a Messenger for Global Processes- Climate Change and Pollution, May 4-6, 2011. The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), the University of Copenhagen, and Aarhus University. The conference will include talks by invited keynote speakers, oral presentations selected on the basis of submitted abstracts, poster presentations, and short oral presentations of selected posters. A panel discussion will develop messages to be communicated to the Arctic Council Ministerial meeting that will take place in Greenland one week after the conference.

Sixth International Conference on Arctic Margins, May 31-June 2, 2011 at the University of Alaska - Fairbanks. The International Conference on Arctic Margins (ICAM) will examine current geological and geophysical research on the Arctic. Topics include: hydrocarbon potential and gas hydrates; science issues relating to UNCLOS Article 76; geodynamic significance of Arctic magmatism; vertical motions in the Arctic, tectonic, and glacial; geology and palaeogeography of the Arctic continental margins; evolution of the Arctic Ocean basins, including plate reconstructions, magmatism, and sedimentology; modern Arctic environments, including geological, climatic, and oceanographic processes; recent advances in Arctic research technology. More information email.

American Meteorological Society Summer Policy Colloquium, June 5-14. This policy colloquium brings together a group to consider atmospheric policy. The colloquium will cover policy creation basics, interactions with congressional staff, and information on the current atmospheric policy issues.

7th Congress of the International Arctic Social Sciences, June 22-26, 2011. myvatn The 7th Congress, "Circumpolar Perspectives in Global Dialogue: Social Sciences Beyond the IPY," will be held in Akureyri, Iceland. The International Congress of the Arctic Social Sciences is held every three years.

Holocene Glacier Variability from the Tropics to the Poles, July 20-27, 2011. Glaciers respond sensitively to climate change. Recent (Holocene) glacier fluctuations are a valuable proxy for terrestrial interglacial paleoclimate conditions. A main challenge for interpreting paleoclimate from past mountain glacier extents is distinguishing local and regional patterns from global signals. Reconstructing Holocene glacier extents involves many disciplines including terrestrial and marine geology, geochronology and glaciology. Organizers hope to facilitate an inter-hemispheric comparison of glacier records including locations in the Tropics, European Alps, American Cordillera, Southern Alps of New Zealand, Himalaya and Polar Regions and to identify future research questions and directions. For additional information contact: Meredith Kelly.

13th Arctic Ungulates Conference (AUC), August 22-26, 2011. The theme of the conference will be "Challenges of Managing Northern Ungulates." The theme Muskok addresses the difficulties of managing ungulate populations that are faced with the unpredictable effects of climate change and an ever-increasing human presence on the land. The conference will also focus on the challenges associated with developing recovery actions for declining caribou and reindeer populations that are an integral part of Aboriginal cultures and ways of life.

9th International Symposium on Permafrost Engineering, September 3-7, 2011. The Melnikov Permafrost Institute (Yakutsk, Russia), the Institute of Northern Mining (Yakutsk, Russia), the Cold and Arid Regions Engineering and Environmental Research Institute (Lanzhou, China), and the Heilongjiang Institute of Cold Region Engineering (Harbin, China) will host the Ninth International Symposium on Permafrost Engineering to be held in Mirny, Yakutia. The aim of the Symposium is to provide a forum for discussion of permafrost engineering issues, as well as for exchange of practical experience in construction and maintenance of engineering structures on frozen ground. For additional information, please contact Lilia Prokopieva.

4th International Sea Duck Conference, September 12-16. The conference is held to provide researchers and managers with opportunities to share information, research, and conduct workshops.

Lowell Wakefield International Fisheries Symposium, September 14-17, 2011. The 27th Lowell Wakefield International Fisheries Symposium, entitled "Fishing People of the North: Cultures, Economies, and Management Responding to Change," will be held in Anchorage, Alaska. This international symposium will provide a forum for scholars, fishery managers, fishing families, and others to explore the human dimensions of fishery systems and growing need to include social science research in policy processes. The conference is part of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Sea Grant program.

Operating in the Arctic: Supporting the US Coast Guard Challenges Through Research, Sept. 21-23, 2010. This workshop, held at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and co-sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security and the US Arctic Research Commission, explored and identified ways in which scientific research and development can improve the ability of the U.S. Coast Guard to operate and carry out its statutory missions in the Arctic region. Participation in this event included state, local and international stakeholders, academics and researchers, and USCG and other federal agency officials. A funding opportunity associated with this activity is described here.

The Tenth International Conference on Permafrost, June 2012. The conference will be held in Tyumen, Russia, and is organized and hosted by Russia. The last conference was held in Fairbanks, Alaska, in 2008. More details to follow.

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