ANCHORAGE - The Bureau of Land Management Alaska will host the second workshop for the northeast National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) regional mitigation strategy on September 24 and 25. The workshop is open to the public and will take place at the Inupiat Heritage Center in Barrow, Alaska from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sept. 24 and from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Sept. 25.
The BLM will present draft elements of a Regional Mitigation Strategy for public consideration in order to compensate for impacts from the proposed Greater Mooses Tooth One (GMT1) project and future oil and gas developments in the northeast NPR-A. Participants are expected to include oil industry representatives, federal and state government staff, Alaska Native interests, North Slope community members, conservation groups, and other interested stakeholders.
“This stakeholder driven process will provide a mitigation framework that will increase consistency, predictability, and certainty for future oil and gas development, while providing for environmentally responsible development of resources within the northeast NPR-A," said BLM State Director Bud Cribley. “It will also ensure the sustainability of natural resources in the Arctic, including important subsistence wildlife populations."
The Regional Mitigation Strategy, along with best management practices and mitigation measures required by the NPR-A Integrated Activity Plan, was part of the Record of Decision authorizing the development of GMT1.
The BLM also plans to discuss the Regional Mitigation Strategy with the NPR-A Working Group in Barrow on the afternoon of September 25.
For more information, visit the BLM Alaska website at: http://www.blm.gov/ak; the NPR-A Working Group website at: www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/res/NPR-A_Working_Group.html or contact Serena Sweet at (907) 271-4543 or ssweet@blm.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
