The Senate is expected to consider FY 2012 funding vehicles.  The House is in recess.

House Republicans call for termination of NSF Grants for Arctic Research. Congressional Majority Leader Eric Cantor's website, YOUCUT, includes a video of Congressman Joe Walsh proposing elimination of Arctic research grants by the National Science Foundation.     

Congressman Walsh's video is below, and here. 

Congressman Joe Walsh proposes cutting NSF Arctic Research funding

Fran Ulmer, Chair, USARC

House Science Committee Needs Transparency, say Brad Miller. A North Carolina Democrat says a change in House Science Committee rules is keeping members from learning enough about the financial interests of people who testify in hearings. But after being rebuked by Republicans, Rep. Brad Miller says he might no longer use his time in hearings to try to quiz the witnesses about their finances. Instead, he'll pose those questions in writing. Miller tried to press the issue Oct. 4 during a House Science subcommittee hearing on EPA clean-air standards, during which he asked California engineering consultant J. Edward Cichanowicz for financial information related to his testimony. Politico 

Warming Revives Dream of Sea Route in Russian Arctic. Rounding the northernmost tip of Russia in his oceangoing tugboat this summer, Capt. Vladimir V. Bozanov saw plenty of walruses, some pods of beluga whales and in the distance a few icebergs. One thing Captain Bozanov did not encounter while towing an industrial barge 2,300 miles across the Arctic Ocean was solid ice blocking his path anywhere along the route. Ten years ago, he said, an ice-free passage, even at the peak of summer, was exceptionally rare. New York Times 

Native Peoples' Concepts of Health are Displayed at National Medical Library. Standing tall near the entrance to the U.S. National Library of Medicine in Bethesda is a 20-foot totem pole. Carved by Jewell Praying Wolf James of the Lummi Indian Nation of the Pacific Northwest, it was erected last week to inaugurate an exhibit called "Native Voices: Native Peoples' Concepts of Health and Illness." The library, part of the National Institutes of Health, created the exhibition with the help of indigenous groups throughout the United States. Using oral histories, cultural artifacts and interactive media, the exhibit examines such topics as the importance of ceremonies, the "pre-Captain Cook diet" of Pacific islanders, native views of land and food, the lethal epidemics of European disease and the relationship of traditional healing with Western medicine. A timeline points out, among other surprises, that while most early cultures understood anatomy only from examining the remains of animals, the Unangan people, who lived 12,000 years ago on the Aleutian Islands, dissected the bodies of their enemies and slaves, learning skills that enabled them, for example, to suture wounds. The free exhibit will be at the library for about two years and then will travel to museums around the United States. Washington Post 

Cutter Healy: Ice Cold Science. While many Americans took advantage of the last remnants of summer, crewmembers aboard Coast Guard Cutter Healy, the nation's largest icebreaker, were exploring the arctic. Healy was on their second of four missions for their Arctic West Summer-Winter deployment and was joined by the Canadian coast guard as they mapped the sea floor. Military.com 

Science Magazine Publishes Reviews on Lingonberry and Cell Membrane. Lingonberry or cowberry is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra in the Northern Hemisphere of Europe, Asia and America. Under commercial horticultural cultivation, production techniques are similar to that of other important Vaccinium crops such as blueberry and cranberry. Naturally lingonberry grows as a short, evergreen shrub that bears edible red fruits. Due to their sour taste the fruits are usually sweetened before eating in the form of jam, juice or syrup. They contain organic acids, vitamin C, provitamin A, B vitamins, nutrients including calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium, omega-3 fatty acids, and phytochemicals counteracting urinary-tract infections. The review focuses on aspects of cultivation of Lingonberry including micropropagation and use of plastic mulch, effects of pest incidence on domestic and export markets in Newfoundland, and the allelopathic effects (cell growth inhibition) of phenolic constituents in lingonberry shoot powder. San Francisco Chronicle 

US Met Obligations for Polar Bear Protection, Judge Rules. A federal judge ruled Monday that the government did not breach its obligations under the Endangered Species Act by not considering greenhouse gas emissions in efforts to protect polar bears. U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan also concluded that federal officials were within their authority to allow "incidental" harm to polar bears that might occur as a result of oil and gas activities in the Arctic, provided that those activities already are authorized under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The judge did find, however, that the government erred in not undertaking an environmental review before it issued its special rule on polar bears in 2008 -- a shortcoming so serious that he sent the matter back for a new review. Anchorage Daily News   

S. 1717, to prevent the escapement of genetically altered salmon in the United States (Begich, introduced and referred to committee)

Alaska Federation of Natives, October 20-22. The AFN Convention (October 20 to October 22) is the largest representative annual gathering in the United States of any Native peoples. Delegates are elected on a population formula of one representative per twenty-five Native residents in the area and delegate participation rates at the annual convention typically exceed 95 percent. Each year the AFN Convention draws between 4,000-5,000 attendees. The proceedings are broadcast live via television, radio and webcast reaching a diverse audience from Barrow to Ketchikan, from the Aleutian Chain to the Canadian border. During the convention, the entire state of Alaska is blanketed with discussion on current events and issues. International observers are present at most meetings, both exchanging information and learning from the Alaska Native experience.