Senate Kills Measure to Defund Policy 'Czars.' The Senate voted 47-51 on Thursday to kill an amendment offered by Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) that would have ended the ability of the White House to appoint policy "czars," and prohibited the use of federal funds for the salaries and expenses of czars already appointed. The measure needed 60 votes to pass. Before the vote, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), the Senate's third-ranking Democrat, decried the amendment from the floor as an attempt to weaken the Democratic presidency and as a "poison pill" for the underlying legislation. "It is a poison pill designed to handcuff the president's ability to assemble a team of top-flight advisers and aides," Schumer said. The Hill 

USGS Report Finds Gaps in Arctic Data: Authors recommend specific areas to study. A new U.S. Geological Survey report identifies gaps in scientific data available to make decisions on oil and gas activities on the Outer Continental Shelf. The authors recommend more information be collected to fill in these gaps, as well as more comprehensive planning and knowledge of the level of preparedness necessary before allowing industrialization. The document specifically suggests gathering more data on weather, climate change,and on environmental and subsistence impacts, plus on effects relating to various species, fisheries, shipping and tourism. Juneau Empire 

Time to Ratify Law of the Sea? Even when referring to it by its more colloquial name, the Law of the Sea treaty evokes pirates, planks and scurvy. It sounds like something that might have been fought for in another century, the subject of a Joseph Conrad novel, perhaps, when imperial nations were plotting to dominate trade in ivory and cocoa beans, gold and human labor. The full name, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, sounds even more anachronistic, and to some who bristle at anything to do with the U.N., even nefarious. Alaska Dispatch 

No Arctic Science 'Silver Bullet.' A long-awaited federal report released Thursday points to numerous holes in scientific knowledge about the Arctic that could shed important light on how oil and gas development would affect the area. Now, the question is: what will anyone do with it? The 272-page document will undoubtedly end up in court, on one side or the other, as legal battles over Arctic development continue. Whether the report's numerous recommendations will be followed remains to be seen. Alaska Dispatch

USGS Report: More Native dialogue needed to address science gaps, including subsistence impacts. The need for more traditional knowledge in Arctic science receives plenty of attention in a new report that highlights gaps in data related to proposed oil and gas drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf in Alaska. "There is a need for additional science dialogue with Native communities to more comprehensively incorporate local traditional knowledge into decisions," reads a fact sheet released with the U.S. Geological Survey report. The 278-page report itself spends a great deal of time calling for more comprehensive and collaborative studies that address potential changes in a broad way. The Arctic Sounder

UAF Research Looks to the Heart of Rehab. Scientists believe research on hibernation of black bears and ground squirrels at the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Institute of Arctic Biology could contribute to treatment of heart attacks and strokes in humans as well as the long-term recovery of people after surgery and of soldiers' recovery from battlefield wounds. The U.S. Army is particularly interested in the latter and U.S. medical researchers are increasingly interested in the former. Both are helping fund work at the institute. Alaska Journal

UAF's New Biological Sciences Program, Facilities Expand. Contractors in Fairbanks are on a fast-track schedule with the University of Alaska Fairbanks' new $108 million Biological Sciences Building, and the plan is to have steel erected and the building closed in by Oct. 1, according to Brian Barnes, director of UAF's Institute of Arctic Biology, which will occupy the building when it is finished. The new building will contain new and expanded laboratories for research, and more space for teaching. It will replace antiquated, cramped facilities now being used that have threatened to impair the university's ability to attract research funding, faculty and students. Alaska Journal 

Sen. Begich Pushes New Legislation for Tongass and Law of the Sea, Remains Committed to Arctic Oil Development. Begich discusses shipping in the Arctic as a competitive opportunity for Alaska, the need to ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty, and improvements to Coast Guard operations in the Arctic. [Video] KTVA

Pew Applauds First Step in Developing a Science Plan for U.S. Arctic Ocean. Marilyn Heiman, director of the Pew Environment Group's U.S. Arctic Program, issued the following statement in response to today's release of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Arctic Ocean science review:  "We are pleased that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and the USGS put a high priority on identifying gaps in science regarding America's Arctic Ocean. Although a good deal of research has been completed, very little of it has been synthesized in a way that can guide informed decisions regarding if, when, where and how oil drilling should take place. Sacramento Bee