Revised recommendations by the Obama administration call for designating 12.28 million acres (5 million hectares) as wilderness in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the White House said on Friday.
U.S. President Barack Obama, in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner released by the White House, said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made the recommendation in its revised conservation plan aimed at protecting the state’s Arctic refuge. The service has also finished its environmental impact statement for the area, the letter said.
Via reuters.com
There’s a growing theme with this Administration; bad news can only be delivered on holidays or weekends. They think they can hide from their shameful decisions while the minds of Alaskans are elsewhere, but they cannot.
“Today’s formal announcement shows us that the concerns of the Alaskan people mean absolutely nothing to this Administration. Only Congress has the ability to act on this matter, which is clearly defined in law by ANILCA. This Administration and its environmental allies would go through the roof if future Administrations began managing 12 million acres of ANWR for resource development without an Act of Congress, and this move by President Obama and Sally Jewell should be viewed no differently.
“This President’s callous decision to manage ANWR, not for the people of the Arctic but for his party’s environmental elite, sends a clear and resounding message – he is not Alaska’s friend. I don’t take these actions lightly and I will continue fighting against decisions that jeopardize Alaska’s future and social and economic well being. I look forward to passing ANWR legislation in the House for the 13th time and sending this Administration a message of my own – responsible resource development remains a top priority for Congress.
image credit the real ANWR
