Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources aims to save $1.5 million by cutting a program dedicated in part to preserving access to federal lands, the Public Access Assertion and Defense Unit. And it plans to save another $226,000 by scaling back its office named for the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, whose employees coordinated the state’s comments on the federal government’s recently released plan to designate much of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as off-limits to oil exploration and drilling.
The Department of Law, meanwhile, is proposing to save another $450,000 by cutting a pair of attorneys who work on conflicts between the state and federal government over the Endangered Species Act and other areas. And it hopes to save another $300,000 by ending a contract with an outside law firm that works on endangered species issues.
Walker, through a spokesperson, said he’s still committed to Alaska’s defense of what he termed “state sovereignty,” and officials at both departments maintained that they’d continue doing the same work.
“The proposed reductions do not reflect a change in policy or philosophy,” Walker said in a prepared statement. “The Department of Law and Department of Natural Resources are currently working together to assess resources necessary to defend state sovereignty and the most efficient way to do so in a shrinking budget environment.”
But Walker’s budget documents acknowledge that the cuts will have some impact, and a top official at the natural resources department said that the proposal could be a way to “force the dialogue” about changing the state’s posture towards the federal government.
“We've spent a lot of money on some of this federal overreach stuff, and litigation. And I think what we're saying is, Alaskans need to have that discussion of: ‘How effective have we actually been?’ ” Ed Fogels, the deputy natural resources commissioner, said in a phone interview. “Quite frankly, it's cost a lot and we’ve had limited effectiveness.”
The planned budget cuts mark a shift from the previous administration of Sean Parnell, which hired several law firms and moved aggressively to fight federal government efforts to limit oil and gas exploration and attempts to preserve habitat viewed by environmental organizations as critical for animals like polar bears and sea lions.
