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May 21, 2014

 

Cumulative Impacts and Landscape Initiatives: A Sustainability Check During Climate Change, May 18-22, 2014 (Anchorage, Alaska). US-IALE fosters landscape ecology in the United States, providing a link among practitioners in landscape ecology in the U.S. and the international community, and promoting interdisciplinary research and communication among scientists, planners, and other professionals concerned with landscape ecology. Program highlights will include plenary sessions with featured speakers, symposia and contributed papers, in-depth workshops on key topics, field trips, and networking events.

 

capital Today's Congressional Action:   

The House and Senate are in session and expected to consider non-Arctic legislation.

 

 

Media 

 

polar bear matt Sick Polar Bears on Slope Can Now Get Onshore Medical Treatment. If a sick or distressed adult polar bear is spotted on Alaska's North Slope, wildlife managers have few options. They can observe the bear from afar and hope it recovers or, if conditions deteriorate, they can euthanize it. But soon there will be another possible response. A mobile, foldable and easily transported bear-holding module, with two attachable transport cages, will soon be sent to the North Slope and added to the arsenal of equipment available when emergencies strike on the oil fields or outlying areas. Anchorage Daily News 

 

caribou Inuit Org Threatens Nunavut Government With Lawsuit Over Southampton Caribou. As the Southampton Island caribou herd continues to crash and wildlife managers grapple with how to limit its harvest, the issue is now threatening to degenerate into a grudge match between lawyers. Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., on May 20, accused the Government of Nunavut of breaching the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement by proposing a "basic needs level" for the herd that is lower than NTI's. Nunatsiaq Online 

 

[Editorial] The Race for the Arctic Oceans: Alaska Can't Afford Delays in Evolving Shipping Lanes off its North Coast. Change is coming to the [A]rctic, and we owe it to ourselves to be ready. We're not talking about climate change specifically, although the residents of Kivalina and other coastal villages are already having to adapt to eroding shores and melting permafrost. Developments in Alaska and across the circumpolar arctic - some related to climate change and some not - could profoundly alter the way our state works. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner 

 

Homeland Chief to Speak at Coast Guard Academy. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is scheduled to deliver the keynote address during the U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduation. The 133rd commencement takes place Wednesday at the academy in New London. Inclement weather plans call for the graduation ceremony to be held in Leamy Hall Auditorium. Vice President Joe Biden spoke at last year's commencement, telling graduating cadets that the nation will increasingly rely on the service for missions including more remote Arctic operations and fighting maritime crime alongside the U.S. Navy. CBS Connecticut 

 

Senator Says Nation at Risk of Undermining Status in Region. With the Government Accountability Office (GAO) releasing a breakthrough 74 page study confirming Alaskans' suspicions of the nation's anemic engagement in the Arctic region, Senator Lisa Murkowski joined a number of her Congressional colleagues in calling attention to the need for more action at this juncture. Tied to America's impending role as Chair of the Arctic Council, the GAO report is entitled "Better Direction and Management of Voluntary Recommendations Could Enhance U.S. Arctic Council Participation." Among the findings are the need for leadership, collaboration among agencies, and a point person to synthesize America's efforts and priorities in the region - all of which Senator Murkowski has previously pressed the administration about. Senator Lisa Murkowski 

 

IMO Approve New Safety Regulations for Polar Navigation. The Danish Maritime Authority (DMA) informs that the United Nations' International Maritime Organization (IMO) has approved global binding regulations intending to enhance safety of navigation in polar areas. This means, inter alia, new requirements for passenger ships. The IMO Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) has approved a new set of regulations on navigation in Arctic waters. Thus, the IMO has today taken a decisive step towards making the so-called Polar Code internationally binding. The entire palette of navigation in polar areas is covered by the Polar Code - from ship design and construction, over crew training and navigation to improved coordination of search and rescue operations. The Polar Code will apply to passenger ships and cargo ships with a gross tonnage of more than 500. MarineLink 

Legislative Actionfutureevents  

 

No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.

Future Events

 

International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences, May 22-24, 2014. ICASS is held every three years, bringing together people from all over the world to share ideas about social science research in the Arctic. ICASS VII, held in Akureyri in June 2011, attracted 450 participants from 30 different countries. ICASS VIII's theme is Northern Sustainabilities. By using the plural, ICASS underscores both that 'sustainability' has social, cultural, economic, political and environmental dimensions, and that definitions of the concept vary. Yet, while debating specific definitions, most would agree that working toward sustainable ways of living in the North and on approaches to sustainable engagement with the North, are critical both to the North's and to the world's future. Community sustainability in the North, whether for small settlements or large urban conglomerations, requires new models of food and energy security, and of access to employment, health care and social and cultural services for residents.

 

Arctic in the Athropocene. June 23-July 2, 2014 (Potsdam, Germany). Under the overarching theme "Arctic in the Anthropocene", this two-week interdisciplinary and interactive event will be the first in a series of Potsdam Summer Schools to be held annually. The goal is to bring together early-career scientists and young professionals from research departments, governmental and non-governmental agencies and organizations, as well as the private sector from all around the world. Participants will deal with global challenges and address urgent questions on how to shape sustainable futures in the Arctic and beyond from a scientific and socioeconomic point of view. 

 

Alaska Policy Commission. August 26-27, 2014 (Kotzebue-Nome, Alaska). The Alaska Arctic Policy Commission (AAPC) has more important work to do in 2014. The Commission will strive to gather public input and engage with Alaskan communities, state agencies, federal partners, and the international organizations working in the Arctic. In order to meet our goals AAPC will convene three in-person meetings over the course of 2014 and focus on implementation and final recommendations. 

 

2014 Week of the Arctic, October 6-11, 2014 (Nome, Kotzebue and Barrow, Alaska, USA). The Institute of the North will host the 2014 Week of the Arctic. The 2014 Week of the Arctic is a platform for community leaders, subject matter experts and interested stakeholders to learn about the Arctic while contributing to a growing list of priorities and perspectives. Presentations, roundtable discussions and workshops will be held in Nome, Kotzebue and Barrow. Throughout the week, presentations and interviews will be captured on video for distribution through social media and web-based sharing.

 

2014 FAMOS School and Workshop #3, October 21-24, 2014 (Woods Hole, MA). The Forum for Arctic Ocean Modeling and Observational Synthesis (FAMOS) is an international effort to focus on enhancing collaboration and coordination among Arctic marine and sea ice modelers, theoreticians and observationalists synthesize major results from the field studies and coordinated numerical experiments. The major themes of workshop include but not limited by studies focused on: predictions; Arctic observational and modeling initiatives; fate of sea ice in models and observations; atmospheric, sea ice and ocean dynamics; process studies and parameterizations; model validation and calibration; numerical improvements and algorithms; ecosystems, biological issues, and geochemistry.

 

Arctic Circle, October 31-November 2, 2014 (Reyjavik, Iceland).

The Arctic Circle is nonprofit and nonpartisan. Organizations, forums, think tanks, corporations and public associations around the world are invited to hold meetings within the Arctic Circle platform to advance their own missions and the broader goal of increasing collaborative decision-making without surrendering their institutional independence. The Arctic Circle will organize sessions on a variety of issues, such as: Sea ice melt and extreme weather; Polar law: treaties and agreements; The role and rights of indigenous peoples; Security in the Arctic; Shipping and transportation infrastructure; The prospects and risks of oil and gas drilling; Clean energy achievements and sustainable development; Arctic resources; Business cooperation in the Arctic; The role of Asian and European countries in the Arctic; Greenland in the new Arctic; Fisheries and ecosystem management; The science of ice: global research cooperation; Arctic tourism; The ice-dependent world: the Arctic and the Himalayas. 

 

Alaska Policy Commission. November 13-14, 2014 (Anchorage, Alaska). The Alaska Arctic Policy Commission (AAPC) has more important work to do in 2014. The Commission will strive to gather public input and engage with Alaskan communities, state agencies, federal partners, and the international organizations working in the Arctic. In order to meet our goals AAPC will convene three in-person meetings over the course of 2014 and focus on implementation and final recommendations. 

 

The Arctic Biodiversity Congress, December 2-4, 2014. (Trondheim, Norway). The Arctic Biodiversity Congress will present and discuss the main scientific findings of the ABA; facilitate inter-disciplinary discussion, action and status updates on the policy recommendations in the ABA; provide scientific, policy, management, NGO, academia, Indigenous peoples and industry audiences the opportunity to collaborate around the themes of the ABA; advise CAFF on national and international implementation of the ABA recommendations and on the development of an ABA Implementation Plan for the Arctic Council; highlight the work of CAFF and the Arctic Council on circumpolar biodiversity conservation and sustainable development; and, contribute to mainstreaming of biodiversity and ecosystem services, ensuring that the recommendations of the ABA are implemented by not just governments, but many organizations and people across disciplines.

 

Arctic Change 2014, December 8-12, 2014 (Ottawa, Canada). The international Arctic Change 2014 conference aims to stimulate discussion and foster collaborations among people with a vested interest in the Arctic and its peoples. Coinciding with the pinnacle of Canada's chairmanship of the Arctic Council and marking ArcticNet's 10th anniversary, Arctic Change 2014 welcomes researchers, students, Northerners, policy makers, and stakeholders from all fields of Arctic research and all countries to address the numerous environmental, social, economical and political challenges and opportunities that are emerging from climate change and modernization in the Arctic. With over 1000 participants expected to attend, Arctic Change 2014 will be one of the largest trans-sectoral international Arctic research conferences ever held in Canada. 

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