The Alliance January 22

Mayor Ben Nageak Opening Remarks

Good morning. I'm pleased to be able to meet with all of you today to discuss our common interests, problems and concerns. For those of you who have been around as long as I have - and I hate to admit how long that is but I do remember when dog teams were used for something other than racing - my appearance as a speaker here is indicative of the progress that has been made by industry in working with the North Slope Borough. Together we have created environmentally sound exploration and development techniques for the Arctic.

In the mid seventies, as exploration and development were first impacting us on the Slope, many of our Elders attended meeting after meeting with state and federal officials to voice their concerns over the potential for catastrophic environmental problems that might arise because of industrial activities. They were afraid that the noise would affect caribou migration, whale calving, and the routine of a host of other wildlife on which my people depend for survival.

Almost 30 years later, our worst fears have never been realized. Industry on the North Slope can proudly point to an excellent environmental record. Despite some occasional problems with spills on the North Slope, no unmitigated disasters have occurred there. The oil industry has been a good neighbor and partner. They have trained and employed local people. They have contributed to a variety of causes that have improved the quality of life for my people. And they have slowly but surely reduced the footprint they leave behind with each new parcel explored

We all know about this already. We all know that the industry's record cannot be gauged by one disaster, no matter how far reaching that disaster was. But because these lands and seas are so precious to my people. the North Slope Borough took the position of watchdog on development and held industry to high standards of environmental protection. Industry has responded by creating standards and techniques we could support with confidence.

So the question now arises as to why we meet so much resistance on the national level to any industrial activity on the North Slope. The people who live, work and hunt there believe that development can happen in an environmentally safe and sound manner. Why then are people outside this state seemingly so determined to lock this state's resources up in a wide variety of extremely restrictive environmental bills?

These are bills they would never tolerate in their own states. But Alaska for most Americans is more of a concept than a reality. They've never been here but dream about it as an untouched wilderness, the last fragment of Eden left in our badly damaged world. Many feel that having destroyed the ecology in their own states, Alaska is their last chance to do things right. And Alaska is so far away that it is pretty much an "out of sight, out of mind" issue on their part. Alaska seems so untouched that by saving it they can make up for the environmental devastation created in their own back yards. Unfortunately, they equate balancing environmental concerns with the kind of restrictive legislation that can destroy our local economy.

Those of us who live on the North Slope also question the sincerity of government officials who claim they are saving the North Slope from environmental devastation while fighting us as hard as they can over the issue of cleaning up sites that were contaminated by the Department of Defense. After many years of arguing and litigation, we are finally sitting down with representatives of the military to talk about clean up of Barrow's landfill - a landfill built by Navy CBs in 1947 and used to dump any and everything the Navy wanted to get rid of. Even the military now admits that they kept no records of what was buried in our landfill - a landfill that is not more than a hundred feet from our ocean. How can they complain about industry's environmental record when they are still unwilling to face the pollution they caused in the Arctic?

As we enter the new millennium. I can think of no greater task before us than that of explaining Alaska to the rest of this country in a way that permits them to grasp the greatness and vastness of this state and it's resources. it is our responsibility as government and business leaders to show people that Alaskans are good stewards of their land and would not allow it to be degraded for any reason. And then we have to explain to people that development does not mean irreversible degradation of any ecosystem when done in an environmentally responsible fashion. It's at that point that our hardest battle begins - educating people to the fact that industry can produce cost efficient results in an environmentally sound process.

As an example of what people in the lower '48 read about Alaska, let me quote the opening of a recent article in the December 1998 Outside Magazine. In it, Dirk Olin wrote:

"The vast, treeless expanse of arctic coastal plain that lies along Alaska's frozen northwest shoulder may look like a wasteland, but each summer this immense sweep of water-braided permafrost hosts a teeming spectacle of life. In late spring, North America's biggest caribou herd, nearly half-a-million strong, thunders across the spongy hummocks of sedge, lichen, and moss to breed in its traditional calving zones. Between May and June. millions of migratory wildfowl pierce the pale light to converge on hundreds of icy ponds etched into the landscape. And all season long, peregrine falcons and rough-legged hawks nest in the bluffs along the Colville River as it arcs northward to the Beaufort Sea."

Notice what is missing from that description? People, that's what's missing. My people, the Inupiat people. We are as much a part of that land as any caribou herd or peregrine falcon. But the people in the lower 48 don't hear about us. Everything north of the Brooks Range is presented as some kind of pristine wilderness that has never seen the footsteps of man. If we are ever going to convince the rest of this country that development can and has happened in a safe and environmentally sound fashion, then the only people who can carry that message with credibility are the Inupiat people. And the message must be carried to the average American who can relate to such simple issues as jobs and basic sanitary services. We need to put people onto the map of the North Slope.

I believe that the Inupiat are your best weapons in this endeavor. We have been stewards of this land for many thousands of years. Our footprints have always appeared nest to that of the polar bear, the caribou, and the geese. Our land has never been a virgin wilderness untouched by man. My people have always used its resources to survive. As such, we have the right and responsibility to see that our land continues to be used to the benefit of our people. There was a time when that meant unrestricted access to fish and game. But as we enter the 21st century, that definition is changing to mean access to the vast wealth of our land in order to maintain the basic services local government now provides. And I do mean basic services - flush toilets and clean water are not considered luxuries anywhere else in this country and they should not be considered luxuries in the Bush.

I propose that we consider the following approaches to the problem of creating an understanding of Alaska and its needs to the policy makers and people in the lower forty eight. The first approach would be to Disney Chairman Michael Eisner. If congress wants to tie up our most valuable resources in untouchable land parcels, then let's just invite Disney in and let them create "Alaska World". They can hire every citizen in this state to be an employee by virtue of just being a resident. That would take care of both our unemployment and trash problem because - as I'm sure you all know - trash is not allowed in Disney theme parks.

If this solution doesn't capture them, then the only other viable program is one that allows Alaskans to develop their resources to sustain their economy. We must show the rest of America that Alaska is a mature, responsible state that can plot the course of its own destiny.

A lot of time and money has been spent bringing members of Congress and their staff to the North Slope to see the coastal plains of ANWR and the National Petroleum Reserve. While this has had some success as a persuasive tool, the reality is that Alaskans didn't elect these congressmen to office and Alaskans won't be voting to re-elect them. The people of their state did that and they are the people we need to focus on.

What I am proposing here is no quick fits. I am proposing a long term, sustained effort. We need to make people in the lower 48 fully understand not only the vastness of the state compared to the relatively small areas we want to develop, but also that the needs of the people here are the same as people's needs anywhere else. We need to develop our resources to sustain our economy to create jobs that allow us to feed, clothe and house our families. We must make a connection with the people of the lower 48 and then let them tell their legislators how they want them to vote.

Alaska sometimes prides itself on claiming that we are different from the rest of the country - we do things our way. Well, as delightfully colorful as that may be to people who love the idea of living on the last frontier, it has also harmed us in that people in the rest of the country sometimes find it hard to relate to us. While I don't think we will ever convince most people that 25 below just isn't as bad as it sounds - when it's a dry cold - we should be able to convince them that we have more in common than not.

The Inupiat people have come to more than a living accommodation with industry on the North Slope. We have come to view them as partners and friends in our efforts to bring our people the services routinely enjoyed by most other Americans Now that we have forged that bond, our next task is to use that bond to bring Alaska and Alaskans to the lower 48. Bring my people to Maine and California. Let them talk to the people of those states about what it was like before we had tax dollars to spend on services. Let my people express their love of the land and its wildlife. Give them the opportunity to educate people to the fact that we would never allow the sacred trust we hold with our ancestors for our children to be violated. And then let them tell their senators and congressmen how Alaska should be treated.

Thank you for your attention this morning. I hope to have a chance to spend some time with each of you today to share these ideas more fully. I know that if we work together, we can create a sensible development policy for this state that will satisfy all but the most extreme fringes of any concerned group.