I’d like to thank Bill Sherwonit for his thoughts regarding my latest blog. I may disagree with his comments, but I respect and appreciate that he took the time to express his views.

That being said, I will further explain the reasons for my anxiety concerning a CHD in Cook Inlet…

I was in third grade. At the time, my family was living in Oregon.

Every night I would watch the local news. And every night their would be pictures of environmental protesters, loggers with chainsaws, and an owl.

A Northern Spotted Owl.

Officially, the controversy centered on the owl. However, the real debate was whether or not to allow logging in old growth forests.

Environmentalists were suing to create a “critical habitat” for the Northern Spotted Owl (sound familiar?). The Timber industry objected, saying that such a move would devastate their livelihood.

The fight dragged on for weeks, months, years... My family moved back up to Alaska, and I lost track of the debate.

But I never forgot the fight.

Fast forward to 2009… I was on a plane, traveling down to Oregon. My seatmate was a pilot from the Portland area.

"What was the outcome of the spotted owl controversy?" I asked.

“Oh, the timber companies were shut down,” he said.

“Really?” I exclaimed. I was surprised that a state would allow such an industry to fail.

My pilot friend was right, though.

In 1990, the Fish and Wildlife Service placed the Northern Spotted Owl on the Threatened Species list.

Environmentalists then sued the Forest Service to stop logging, because critical habitat had not been given for the owl.

In 1991, a judge sided with the environmentalists, stopping timber sales in National Parks. That same judge would not allow timber sales until critical habitat was created by the Northwest Forest Management Act (see: the power of one judge).

Eventually, 6.9 million acres were locked up as “critical habitat.”

The logging industry was devastated. Tens of thousands of jobs were lost.

Oregon’s overall economy was eventually able to recover (yet there are still certain towns that have not recovered). However, Oregon’s recovery was due to their diversity of revenue streams.

Something Alaska does not enjoy.

No, in Southcentral Alaska, all our eggs are in one basket: Cook Inlet.

Like it or not, 400,000 of us Alaskans are completely reliant on the industries that reside in and around the Inlet. We get the vast majority of our electricity from the Inlet’s natural gas; we receive millions of dollars from the Anchorage and Mat-Su ports; we house thousands of military personnel, which provide an economic boon, and national security.

Yet, NOAA considers all industries to be “threats” to the beluga whales.

With a CHD, NOAA will have the power to pull the plug on any and all of these Cook Inlet industries, if they feel (“feel,” being the operative word, as there is very little known about the belugas) that the belugas are being threatened.

Even if NOAA decides to take a hands-off approach to Cook Inlet (we can only hope), environmental groups will not. They will use the lessons of the Spotted Owl war to shut down Cook Inlet development, knowing that a single verdict can devastate an entire industry.

Bill readily agrees that “the feds” may be able “’slow or completely stop any development in Cook Inlet.’”

Yet, if one industry falls, there will be a domino effect on our economy. And if the economy goes south, so to, will most Alaskans (Remember the late 80s?).

Perhaps this is where Bill and I most strongly disagree. He seems to value whales over humans. I do not.

I believe that there must a balance between the environment and development. If, development is given too much preference, the result will be a heavily polluted Inlet replete with diseased fish. If environmentalism is weighted too heavily, there will be major costs in recreation, electricity, and security. Thousands of jobs will be lost.

That is why we need to demand that NOAA conduct extensive studies concerning 1) Cook Inlet belugas 2) Cook Inlet fish 3) and the economic impact of a CHD on Southcentral Alaska (a true EIS is needed)…

Oh -- and guess what happened to the Northern Spotted Owl? Well, their old growth habitat increased, since logging had all but halted. But, their numbers? Well, they continue to fall.

Oops...

Folks, we must learn from this history. We must not play dice with our state’s economy.

Yes, Bill, our future truly is at stake.