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Stan Senner
907/276-7034
ssenner@audubon.org

ANCHORAGE, AK, January 31, 2008—Audubon Alaska joined with other conservation and Alaska Native groups to file a lawsuit today in federal district court in Juneau to challenge an oil and gas lease sale in the Chukchi Sea. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) has planned the sale for February 6.

Nearly 30 million acres of essential Arctic marine and ice habitats for polar bear, walrus, four species of seals (e.g., bearded, ringed), bowhead and beluga whales, and millions of migratory birds are at stake.

“The Chukchi Sea is an ecologically rich frontier environment, and it is changing rapidly due to global warming,” said Stan Senner, Audubon Alaska executive director. “We barely know this changing seascape, and this is not the time to move forward with a massive lease sale.”

According to Senner, much of the information about wildlife populations in the Chukchi Sea is decades out of date. The MMS should not sell leases in the area without solid evidence about the possible cost to wildlife, the environment, and the people who live there, he said.

“The MMS has an obligation under law to fully assess and disclose impacts to wildlife and the human environment, including cumulative effects,” Senner said. “By presenting outdated and conflicting information, the agency fails that fundamental test miserably.”

Audubon Alaska has identified 18 “Important Bird Areas” (IBAs) on the U.S. side of the Chukchi Sea, and six more IBAs on the Russian side. Included among these are marine feeding areas for Northern Fulmars and Short-tailed Shearwaters, nesting and feeding areas for huge nesting colonies of Common Murres and Thick-billed Murres, and marine molting areas for Spectacled Eiders, a threatened species.

In addition, at least 15 species of birds on Audubon Alaska’s WatchList use marine and coastal habitats in the Chukchi Sea. The WatchList identifies declining and vulnerable species and populations of birds. Besides the threatened Steller’s and Spectacled Eiders, WatchList species using the Chukchi Sea include Yellow-billed Loons and Red-throated Loons, both of which were impacted by the recent oil spill off the coast of South Korea.

In bringing this lawsuit, Native Village of Point v. Kempthorne, Secretary of the Interior, the public-interest law firm Earthjustice is representing Audubon and 13 other clients, including: The Native Village Of Point Hope, The City Of Point Hope, Inupiat Community Of The Arctic Slope, Alaska Wilderness League, Center For Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council, Northern Alaska Environmental Center, Oceana, Pacific Environment, Redoil, Sierra Club, and The Wilderness Society.

Audubon is celebrating its centennial year of protecting birds and other wildlife and the habitat that supports them. Our national network of community-based nature centers and chapters, scientific and educational programs, and advocacy on behalf of areas sustaining important bird populations, engage millions of people of all ages and backgrounds in positive conservation experiences.

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