BRISTOL BAY, Alaska — August 17, 2012 — Alaska has more coastline than all of the other U.S. states combined, but unlike all those other states, Alaskans have no say in how their coasts are managed or developed.
If Outside and foreign corporations have their way, that's how it will remain.
A successful coastal zone management program has been in place since the 1970s, but the program expired last year when lawmakers and Gov. Sean Parnell failed to agree on its extension. Despite constant criticism of "the feds" always trying to butt into Alaska's business, the state surrendered authority to guide and control development of its coastline to the U.S. government. That didn't rest well with the majority of Alaskans. More than 33,000 residents signed a petition to reinstate a coastal management program and to put the question to voters as a ballot initiative this fall. On Aug. 28, Alaskans will decide if they want to have a voice at the table.
That's brought out some big guns to defeat the pro-vote. Opponents say the ballot initiative is poorly worded and would create more bureaucracy and hurdles to coastal permitting decisions. The opposition is mostly non-Alaska based entities, according to the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC).
Disclosures from April through July show that $776,000 has been spent to prevent the coastal management initiative from ever making it to the ballot. Of that, 70 percent came from Outside and foreign interests.
Shell Oil of the Netherlands, for example, gave $150,000. Four Canadian-owned mining companies gave a total of $135,000, including Barrick Gold, a major backer of the Chuitna coal project at Upper Cook Inlet. An Idaho-based mining company contributed $75,000. Donations by the Alaska Oil and Gas Association also can be traced to its 15 member companies, 14 of which are based outside of the state. Those numbers are likely to go much higher when the next APOC report comes out on Aug. 21.
"We assumed all along big Outside money would oppose our local voices, but we didn't expect such a huge flood of non-Alaska funding. These mostly foreign companies are opposing Alaskans having a say in how our coastal lands are managed" said Terzah Tippin Poe, codirector of the Alaska Sea Party, a grassroots group formed to regain a coastal voice.
Read the full story at the Bristol Bay Times.