2006 Annual Meeting and Arctic Forum | Abstracts

Alaska's North Slope Science Initiative; Managing Oil and Gas Development through Science on Alaska's North Slope

Kenton P. Taylor¹, John F. Payne², Ann Claerbout^3
1North Slope Science Initiative, Bureau of Land Management, 222 W. 7th Avenue, #13, Anchorage, AK, 99513, USA, Phone 907-271-3131, Fax 907-271-4596, kenton_taylor@ak.blm.gov
²Alaska State Office, Bureau of Land Management, 222 W. 7th Avenue, #13, Anchorage, AK, 99513, USA, Phone 907-271-3431, Fax 907-271-5479, jpayne@ak.blm.gov
³Bureau of Land Management, 222 W. 7th Avenue, #13, Anchorage, AK, 99513, USA, Phone 907-271-3278, Fax 907-271-5479, ann_claerbout@blm.gov

The mission of the North Slope Science Initiative (NSSI) is to enhance the quality and quantity of the scientific information available for aquatic, terrestrial and marine environments on the North Slope and to make this information available to decision-makers, governmental agencies, industry and the public.

Formalized in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, The NSSI is composed of the land and resource management agencies at the local, state and federal level. The Oversight Group includes: Mayor, North Slope Borough; President, Arctic Slope Regional Corporation; Commissioners of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources; State Director, Bureau of Land Management; Regional Directors, Fish and Wildlife Service, Minerals Management Service, National Park Service, National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Geological Survey. The U.S. Arctic Research Commission and U.S. Department of Energy serve in an advisory capacity to the group. A Science Technical Group was established by the Secretary of the Interior to advise the Oversight Group on science needs.

NSSI objectives include:
- Develop an understanding of information needs for regulatory and land management agencies, local governments and the public;
- Identify and prioritize information needs for inventory, monitoring and research activities to address impacts of past, ongoing and anticipated development activities on the North Slope;
- Coordinate ongoing and future inventory, monitoring and research activities to minimize duplication of effort, share financial resources and expertise, and assure the collection of quality information;
- Identify priority needs not addressed by existing agency science programs and develop a funding strategy to meet these needs;
- Maintain and improve public and agency access to accumulated and ongoing research, and to contemporary and traditional local knowledge; and
- Ensure through appropriate peer-review that the science conducted under the oversight of the NSSI and by participating NSSI agencies and organizations is of the highest technical quality.