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April 16, 2014

 

capital Today's Congressional Action:   

The House and Senate are not in session.

 

 

Media 

     

Drone (firefighting) Shipping Company Using Drones in the Arctic. Shipping in the Arctic is no easy task. Distances from southern Canada to the country's High Arctic is long. Trips can be slow going, with captains navigating through hazardous ice up to 5 feet thick. But one Montreal-based shipping company called Fednav says it has found a way to make the going a little bit easier by using drones to and from Canada's High Arctic. Alaska Dispatch

 

109th AW Participates in Canadian Forces Arctic Exercise. Nearly 40 Airmen and two Air Force LC-130 Hercules ski-equipped aircraft from the 109th Airlift Wing will be demonstrating their vast capabilities on the Arctic ice as they join the Canadian Forces April 11 to participate in Canada's annual Operation Nunalivut Exercise. Canada's Joint Task Force-North has been conducting this exercise in and around the area of Resolute Bay, Nunavut, Canada, since 2007. Air National Guard

 

Build Icebreakers to Protect US Interests in the Arctic [Opinion]. Republicans in Congress are toting extra heavy campaign baggage as they head into the 2014 election season, and look beyond to 2016. They have virtually no legislative achievements or profile beyond being an impediment. In its desperate attempt to find bipartisan issues to help tout a constructive role, the GOP should embrace modernizing the U.S. icebreaker fleet to protect American interests in the Arctic. Seattle Times

 

Canada Boycotts Arctic Council Moscow Meeting Over Ukraine. Canada will boycott an upcoming meeting of the Arctic Council in Moscow because of the Russian occupation of the Crimean Peninsula. Leona Aglukkaq, the minister responsible for the Arctic Council, says Canada won't be attending a scheduled meeting later this week because of Russia's illegal occupation of Crimea. CBC News

 

Begich Begich Discusses Economic Future. Begich said all the committees he sits on, from veteran's affairs to commerce, which includes transportation, oceans and fisheries, are all advantageous to Alaska. He has adopted issues of the Arctic by bringing them up in the ocean subcommittee. "One thing I have learned in the senate as a chair of a committee, if I start talking about an issue nobody else is, you can take over the issue," he said. "Sure enough now we are doing Arctic stuff which is very important for Alaska because the opportunity is significant." Peninsula Clarion

 

Interior, Enviros Have Until Friday to Settle on Alaska Drilling Response. The Obama administration and environmental activists have until Friday to negotiate the next step in the continuing legal battle over the Interior Department's 2008 oil lease sale in the Chukchi Sea. An Alaska district court judge last week ordered the two sides to settle their differences over how to respond to a January appeals court ruling that invalidated the environmental impact statement used by government regulators to back the lease sale. E&E News

 

Russia Settles Arctic Borders. Russia is setting up its new borders in the East. President Vladimir Putin has ordered the government to come up with proposals on official documenting of the extended continental shelf in the Sea of Okhotsk by the summer of 2014. In March, the UN finally recognized Moscow's right on the whole water area of this sea. So, what has Russia gained? The Voice of Russia

Legislative Actionfutureevents  

 

No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.

Future Events

 

AAAS Forum on S & T Policy, May 1, 2014. (Washington, DC) The American Association for the Advancement of Science will host a forum on science and technology policy. On May 1, AAAS will host a breakout session on US Leadership in the Arctic Council: International Science Cooperation. Presenters include executive director of the US Arctic Research Commission John Farrell.

 

Alaska Policy Commission. May 6-7, 2014 (Anchorage, Alaska). The Alaska Arctic Policy Commission (AAPC) has more important work to do in 2014. The Commission will strive to gather public input and engage with Alaskan communities, state agencies, federal partners, and the international organizations working in the Arctic. In order to meet our goals AAPC will convene three in-person meetings over the course of 2014 and focus on implementation and final recommendations. The draft agenda is available here

 

International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences, May 22-24, 2014. ICASS is held every three years, bringing together people from all over the world to share ideas about social science research in the Arctic. ICASS VII, held in Akureyri in June 2011, attracted 450 participants from 30 different countries. ICASS VIII's theme is Northern Sustainabilities. By using the plural, ICASS underscores both that 'sustainability' has social, cultural, economic, political and environmental dimensions, and that definitions of the concept vary. Yet, while debating specific definitions, most would agree that working toward sustainable ways of living in the North and on approaches to sustainable engagement with the North, are critical both to the North's and to the world's future. Community sustainability in the North, whether for small settlements or large urban conglomerations, requires new models of food and energy security, and of access to employment, health care and social and cultural services for residents.

 

Arctic in the Athropocene. June 23-July 2, 2014 (Potsdam, Germany). Under the overarching theme "Arctic in the Anthropocene", this two-week interdisciplinary and interactive event will be the first in a series of Potsdam Summer Schools to be held annually. The goal is to bring together early-career scientists and young professionals from research departments, governmental and non-governmental agencies and organizations, as well as the private sector from all around the world. Participants will deal with global challenges and address urgent questions on how to shape sustainable futures in the Arctic and beyond from a scientific and socioeconomic point of view. 

 

Alaska Policy Commission. August 26-27, 2014 (Kotzebue-Nome, Alaska). The Alaska Arctic Policy Commission (AAPC) has more important work to do in 2014. The Commission will strive to gather public input and engage with Alaskan communities, state agencies, federal partners, and the international organizations working in the Arctic. In order to meet our goals AAPC will convene three in-person meetings over the course of 2014 and focus on implementation and final recommendations. 

 

Arctic Circle, October 31-November 2, 2014 (Reyjavik, Iceland).

The Arctic Circle is nonprofit and nonpartisan. Organizations, forums, think tanks, corporations and public associations around the world are invited to hold meetings within the Arctic Circle platform to advance their own missions and the broader goal of increasing collaborative decision-making without surrendering their institutional independence. The Arctic Circle will organize sessions on a variety of issues, such as: Sea ice melt and extreme weather; Polar law: treaties and agreements; The role and rights of indigenous peoples; Security in the Arctic; Shipping and transportation infrastructure; The prospects and risks of oil and gas drilling; Clean energy achievements and sustainable development; Arctic resources; Business cooperation in the Arctic; The role of Asian and European countries in the Arctic; Greenland in the new Arctic; Fisheries and ecosystem management; The science of ice: global research cooperation; Arctic tourism; The ice-dependent world: the Arctic and the Himalayas. 

 

Alaska Policy Commission. November 13-14, 2014 (Anchorage, Alaska). The Alaska Arctic Policy Commission (AAPC) has more important work to do in 2014. The Commission will strive to gather public input and engage with Alaskan communities, state agencies, federal partners, and the international organizations working in the Arctic. In order to meet our goals AAPC will convene three in-person meetings over the course of 2014 and focus on implementation and final recommendations. 

 

The Arctic Biodiversity Congress, December 2-4, 2014. (Trondheim, Norway). The Arctic Biodiversity Congress will present and discuss the main scientific findings of the ABA; facilitate inter-disciplinary discussion, action and status updates on the policy recommendations in the ABA; provide scientific, policy, management, NGO, academia, Indigenous peoples and industry audiences the opportunity to collaborate around the themes of the ABA; advise CAFF on national and international implementation of the ABA recommendations and on the development of an ABA Implementation Plan for the Arctic Council; highlight the work of CAFF and the Arctic Council on circumpolar biodiversity conservation and sustainable development; and, contribute to mainstreaming of biodiversity and ecosystem services, ensuring that the recommendations of the ABA are implemented by not just governments, but many organizations and people across disciplines.

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