Word is out already on one initiative President Obama is likely to announce while he’s in Alaska — a plan to put the Denali Commission in charge of a project on village relocation. That came out in Nome this week, at a meeting of The U.S. Arctic Research Commission.
Renewable energy, climate change and port development were all highlighted at the U.S. Arctic Research Commission’s second day in Nome, but it was a special announcement about the president’s upcoming visit to Alaska that got the room buzzing.
“Next week when the president is here, he’s going to announce that the Denali Commission is going to be the lead agency to look at the environmentally threatened communities in Alaska,” says Lorraine Cordova, project manager of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Alaska Deep-Draft Arctic Port Study. She broke the news Wednesday. The Denali Commission is an independent federal agency that has provided infrastructure and economic support throughout Alaska since 1998.
The project will focus on 31 communities throughout the state, from Barrow on the North Slope down to Port Heiden on the Bering Sea and east to Eyak. Over a span of three years, the Denali Commission’s efforts will help determine whether each community should “protect in place” or relocate due to the effects of climate change.
“It’s a difficult community question to answer. Do we move or do we stay. What parts do we move. What moves first. I mean, it’s not as easy as one might suggest,” Cordova said.
In a public teleconference organized by the Denali Commission Friday morning, Lt. Gov. Byron Mallot says the White House intends to put Sen. Lisa Murkowski at the reigns of the project.
Denali Commissioner and President of the Alaska Federation of Natives Julie Kitka chimed in with her approval about the historic announcement
“I think that this is unprecedented to have the president of the United States mention the Denali Commission and be willing to engage and have his administration step up the effort to meet community needs, and I really do think that what we’re doing today, and as we move forward, is going to be incredible. I really do think it really is pretty darn historical, she said.”
Obama is expected to unveil more details about the Denali Commission’s role in the project during his visit to Kotzebue on Wednesday.
