Begich Bill Would Share Arctic Revenues With State, Alaska Natives. Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) yesterday introduced a bill that would send billions of dollars in offshore energy revenue to Alaska, its local governments and its Native people. The bill would provide 37.5 percent of bonus bids and royalty from energy development -- both conventional and renewable -- off Alaska's coast to help shore up public-sector infrastructure, mitigate development impacts and bolster emergency response capacity. E&E News

Legislator Aims "Lucy Lawless bill" at Environmental Activists. An Alaska lawmaker has introduced legislation that would make it a felony to interfere with permitted oil and gas, timber or other development projects. Rep. Eric Feige is calling HB92 the "Lucy Lawless bill," after the actress who last year boarded a Shell drill ship before it left New Zealand for the U.S. West Coast. She and other Greenpeace activists were arrested. Lawless, from New Zealand, is best known for her TV series, "Xena: Warrior Princess." Anchorage Daily News

Alaska Senate to Hear Testimony on Federal Overreach. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hear testimony on federal overreach on Friday. Legislators are meeting to gauge public opinion on SJR2, which lauds the governor, attorney general, and natural resources commissioner for protecting the state's authority on managing its resources. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Blending Former Prisoners Back Into Alaska Society. The tide is slowly changing on how Alaskans view prisoner reentry and rehabilitation, and the people involved hope it may spark dialogue in Alaska communities. Four local prisoner reentry coalitions have formed across the state in recent years in an urban hub like Anchorage along with the Mat-Su, Kenai and Juneau. But now that's shifting to rural Alaska-specifically the rural hub of Dillingham. The Western Alaska community of about 2,300 on Nushagak Bay is working toward getting a coalition of its own, with the help of a massive grant from the US Department of Justice. Alaska Dispatch

 More Autonomy on Horizon for Northwest Territories of Canadian Arctic. An agreement with the federal government to extend more province-like powers to Northwest Territories is expected to be signed in the coming months. The deal would give the territory more control over its land and resources. Under the Canadian federal system, Canada's three territories-N.W.T., Nunavut and Yukon-have fewer powers than provinces to manage public lands and natural resources, raise taxes, and borrow money. "We're very close to the finish line," Northern Development Minister John Duncan said in Ottawa Wednesday morning. Alaska Dispatch

 Arctic Council Should be Cautious About New Observer Hopefuls: Inuit Org President. Many are knocking but few should enter, says Terry Audla, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. Speaking to an audience of 120 or so bureaucrats, political aides, consultants, scientists, students and diplomats during a panel discussion in Ottawa Jan. 30, Audla said the Arctic Council should be cautious about opening up observer status to applicants such as China and the European Union who haven't always respected indigenous rights, both abroad and at home. "It's a dilemma," said Audla, considering the Inuit tradition of dialogue and negotiation. Nunatsiaq Online

Despite Setbacks, Shell Remains Focused on Alaska. Shell's controversial plan to explore for oil in the Arctic offshore Alaska has suffered multiple setbacks, from lawsuits and pressure from environmental groups to equipment failures and difficulties with regulators. It even looks as if there's a chance the company may not drill this year as its two drilling rigs need work before they can be re-deployed. The company is also awaiting the conclusion of internal and external reviews into their performance last year. Wall Street Journal

 Study Names Nome, Port Clarence as Best Region For Deepwater Arctic Port. The state's long held dream of an Arctic deep water port has moved one step closer to reality. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a draft report Wednesday that names the Nome/Port Clarence region as the best location for the port. It will be the subject of an upcoming feasibility - level study which will help further determine a site. Alaska Public Radio

Canada's Arctic Leadership Stint Worries Drillers, Shippers and Environmentalists. Canada will begin a two-year stint at the helm of the eight-nation Arctic Council amid a clamour of competing calls for leadership, as the ice recedes and the race heats up to extract resource riches while protecting a fragile and now-exposed environment. While there's near-unanimity that Canada will need to lead when it takes over from Sweden in May, the direction and pace remain in sharp dispute. The oil industry wants to get busy drilling; ocean shippers are eyeing cost-saving shortcuts across long-frozen seas, while environmentalists fear the melting polar pack leaves the Arctic vulnerable to unrestrained ravage. The Globe and Mail

Job Announcement: The State Department recently released a solicitation for applications for a Bering Strait Commissioner. The announcement remains open until February 12th. Please see USAJobs for more information.

Alaska Forum on the Environment, February 4-8, 2013, Anchorage. Hosted by The Alaska Forum, Inc. the 2013 Alaska Forum on the Environment will follow up on previous forums by offering training and information, includes plenary sessions, on: climate change, emergency response, environmental regulations, fish and wildlife populations, rural issues, energy, military issues, business issues, solid waste, contaminants, contaminated site cleanup, mining and others.  For 2013, the forum will expand forum content to provide information to help better understand issues surrounding coastal communities. This will include tsunami impacts, marine debris, and coastal erosion.

Alaska Native Language Archive, February 22, 2013, Fairbanks. Please join ANLA and the Rasmuson Library for a Grand Opening Celebration to dedicate the new ANLA public service point on the second floor of the Rasmuson Library. The event will begin with an open house featuring collections in the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections, the Oral History Collection, and of course ANLA. This will be followed by a special panel session entitled Honoring Alaska's Native Languages: Past, Present, Future, reflecting on 50 years of Native language archiving at UAF.

Arctic Observing Summit 2013, April 30- May 2, 2013, Vancouver, BC, CA. The Arctic Observing Summit is led by the International Study of Arctic Change (ISAC). It is a Sustaining Arctic Observing Network (SAON) task and part of the broader SAON implementation process, which is led by the Arctic Council jointly with the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). AOS is a high-level, biennial summit that aims to provide community-driven, science-based guidance for the design, implementation, coordination and sustained long term (decades) operation of an international network of arctic observing systems. The AOS will provide a platform to address urgent and broadly recognized needs of arctic observing across all components of the arctic system, including the human component. It will foster international communication and coordination of long-term observations aimed at improving understanding and responding to system-scale arctic change. The AOS will be an international forum for optimizing resource allocation through coordination and exchange among researchers, funding agencies, and others involved or interested in long term observing activities, while minimizing duplication and gaps.