Document reJxqjQz37zJgxe2qmDq4RXdv

Conversation Contents Arctic National Wildlife Refuge permit issue "Houseknecht, David" <dhouse@usgs.gov> From: Sent: To: CC: Subject: "Houseknecht, David" <dhouse@usgs.gov> Fri Aug 11 2017 08:52:09 GMT-0600 (MDT) barbara_wainman@fws.gov Murray Hitzman <mhitzman@usgs.gov>, Walter Guidroz <wguidroz@usgs.gov>, Aimee Devaris <adevaris@usgs.gov> Arctic National Wildlife Refuge permit issue Barbara: Following the May 31 release of Secretarial Order 3352, I submitted an application for a permit for scientific work in the Refuge Wilderness Area and in the "1002 Area." The Refuge staff responded that a permit could be granted for the 1002 Area but not the Wilderness Area. The normal deadline for submitting applications for scientific work in the Wilderness area is in October each year because a long review process is necessary to fulfill the requirements of the Wilderness Act. The exchange of letters and emails led to a conference call between me and several members of the Refuge staff, which was hosted by USGS Regional Director for Alaska, Aimee Devaris. During the conference call, the Refuge staff explained the rationale for declining my permit application for the Wilderness Area, and offered to assist with our accessing key sites by providing staff to help transport our gear by foot or boat to avoid the necessity for helicopter landings. Although this was a generous offer, our work schedule and limited field season precluded this option. Instead, I revised our 2017 application to include additional sites in the 1002 Area and and sites in the Wilderness Area that we could access by landing the helicopter outside and hiking a short distance into the Wilderness Area. Part of that work was completed during July 29 - August 5, and part of that work was not possible to complete because of adverse weather that precluded helicopter flights. I informed the Refuge staff that we will submit a new application in September to access a few key sites in the Wilderness Area by helicopter during an early summer field season in 2018. That application also will include sites in the 1002 Area that we did not access in 2017 because of weather. If that permit is granted and weather cooperates, we will have sufficient time to have laboratory analyses completed on samples in time to meet the DOI deadline for updating the resource assessment for the 1002 Area. Fortunately, we were granted permits for work in the Wilderness Area in 2014 and 2015 to conduct work as part of a regional study, and the results of that previous work place us in a good position to complete the directive of the secretarial order with a relatively minor amount of additional work, which we hope to complete in 2018. In summary, Acting Refuge Manager Steve Berendzen and the Refuge staff did all they could within the requirements of the Wilderness Act to offer alternative ways to access the critical sites within the Wilderness Area, and granted us all requested sites within the 1002 Area. Although frustrated that we could not access the key sites within the Wilderness Area this year, I completely understand the reasons why a permit could not be issues and have no criticism of the Refuge staff for their actions. I'm pleased with our past and recent history of cooperation with the Refuge, and hope we can continue to have a positive relationship. Feel free to contact me if you need additional information. Hope your new assignment is going well! Dave Houseknecht U.S. Geological Survey 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive MS 956 Reston, VA 20192 (703) 648-6466 "Wainman, Barbara" <barbara_wainman@fws.gov> From: Sent: To: CC: Subject: "Wainman, Barbara" <barbara_wainman@fws.gov> Fri Aug 11 2017 08:58:28 GMT-0600 (MDT) "Houseknecht, David" <dhouse@usgs.gov> Murray Hitzman <mhitzman@usgs.gov>, Walter Guidroz <wguidroz@usgs.gov>, Aimee Devaris <adevaris@usgs.gov> Re: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge permit issue Thanks much Dave, I will share this with the folks that were asking here about the situation. Come see me if you are downtown and tell everyone at USGS I said 'hi" Barbara W. Wainman Assistant Director, External Affairs US Fish and Wildlife Service (202) 208-5256 On Fri, Aug 11, 2017 at 10:52 AM, Houseknecht, David <dhouse@usgs.gov> wrote: Barbara: Following the May 31 release of Secretarial Order 3352, I submitted an application for a permit for scientific work in the Refuge Wilderness Area and in the "1002 Area." The Refuge staff responded that a permit could be granted for the 1002 Area but not the Wilderness Area. The normal deadline for submitting applications for scientific work in the Wilderness area is in October each year because a long review process is necessary to fulfill the requirements of the Wilderness Act. The exchange of letters and emails led to a conference call between me and several members of the Refuge staff, which was hosted by USGS Regional Director for Alaska, Aimee Devaris. During the conference call, the Refuge staff explained the rationale for declining my permit application for the Wilderness Area, and offered to assist with our accessing key sites by providing staff to help transport our gear by foot or boat to avoid the necessity for helicopter landings. Although this was a generous offer, our work schedule and limited field season precluded this option. Instead, I revised our 2017 application to include additional sites in the 1002 Area and and sites in the Wilderness Area that we could access by landing the helicopter outside and hiking a short distance into the Wilderness Area. Part of that work was completed during July 29 - August 5, and part of that work was not possible to complete because of adverse weather that precluded helicopter flights. I informed the Refuge staff that we will submit a new application in September to access a few key sites in the Wilderness Area by helicopter during an early summer field season in 2018. That application also will include sites in the 1002 Area that we did not access in 2017 because of weather. If that permit is granted and weather cooperates, we will have sufficient time to have laboratory analyses completed on samples in time to meet the DOI deadline for updating the resource assessment for the 1002 Area. Fortunately, we were granted permits for work in the Wilderness Area in 2014 and 2015 to conduct work as part of a regional study, and the results of that previous work place us in a good position to complete the directive of the secretarial order with a relatively minor amount of additional work, which we hope to complete in 2018. In summary, Acting Refuge Manager Steve Berendzen and the Refuge staff did all they could within the requirements of the Wilderness Act to offer alternative ways to access the critical sites within the Wilderness Area, and granted us all requested sites within the 1002 Area. Although frustrated that we could not access the key sites within the Wilderness Area this year, I completely understand the reasons why a permit could not be issues and have no criticism of the Refuge staff for their actions. I'm pleased with our past and recent history of cooperation with the Refuge, and hope we can continue to have a positive relationship. Feel free to contact me if you need additional information. Hope your new assignment is going well! Dave Houseknecht U.S. Geological Survey 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive MS 956 Reston, VA 20192 (703) 648-6466 "Hitzman, Murray" <mhitzman@usgs.gov> From: Sent: To: Subject: "Hitzman, Murray" <mhitzman@usgs.gov> Fri Aug 11 2017 09:00:51 GMT-0600 (MDT) "Houseknecht, David" <dhouse@usgs.gov>, Walter Guidroz <wguidroz@usgs.gov> Re: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge permit issue Dave do you what provision of the Wilderness Act prevents helicopter access by USGS. the only portion I can see that affects this is: (2) Nothing in this Act shall prevent within national forest wilderness areas any activity, including prospecting, for the purpose of gathering information about mineral or other resources, if such activity is carried on in a manner compatible with the preservation of the wilderness environment. Furthermore, in accordance with such program as the Secretary of the Interior shall develop and conduct in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, such areas shall be surveyed on a planned, recurring basis consistent with the concept of wilderness preservation by the Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines to determine the mineral values, if any, that may be present; and the results of such surveys shall be made available to the public and submitted to the President and Congress. To me, this would seem to allow you do what you wanted to do. anyway, just wondering what they are saying is the legal restriction on USGS doing work there via heliocopter - is there special legislation on the Wilderness area of ANWR? murray On Fri, Aug 11, 2017 at 10:52 AM, Houseknecht, David <dhouse@usgs.gov> wrote: Barbara: Following the May 31 release of Secretarial Order 3352, I submitted an application for a permit for scientific work in the Refuge Wilderness Area and in the "1002 Area." The Refuge staff responded that a permit could be granted for the 1002 Area but not the Wilderness Area. The normal deadline for submitting applications for scientific work in the Wilderness area is in October each year because a long review process is necessary to fulfill the requirements of the Wilderness Act. The exchange of letters and emails led to a conference call between me and several members of the Refuge staff, which was hosted by USGS Regional Director for Alaska, Aimee Devaris. During the conference call, the Refuge staff explained the rationale for declining my permit application for the Wilderness Area, and offered to assist with our accessing key sites by providing staff to help transport our gear by foot or boat to avoid the necessity for helicopter landings. Although this was a generous offer, our work schedule and limited field season precluded this option. Instead, I revised our 2017 application to include additional sites in the 1002 Area and and sites in the Wilderness Area that we could access by landing the helicopter outside and hiking a short distance into the Wilderness Area. Part of that work was completed during July 29 - August 5, and part of that work was not possible to complete because of adverse weather that precluded helicopter flights. I informed the Refuge staff that we will submit a new application in September to access a few key sites in the Wilderness Area by helicopter during an early summer field season in 2018. That application also will include sites in the 1002 Area that we did not access in 2017 because of weather. If that permit is granted and weather cooperates, we will have sufficient time to have laboratory analyses completed on samples in time to meet the DOI deadline for updating the resource assessment for the 1002 Area. Fortunately, we were granted permits for work in the Wilderness Area in 2014 and 2015 to conduct work as part of a regional study, and the results of that previous work place us in a good position to complete the directive of the secretarial order with a relatively minor amount of additional work, which we hope to complete in 2018. In summary, Acting Refuge Manager Steve Berendzen and the Refuge staff did all they could within the requirements of the Wilderness Act to offer alternative ways to access the critical sites within the Wilderness Area, and granted us all requested sites within the 1002 Area. Although frustrated that we could not access the key sites within the Wilderness Area this year, I completely understand the reasons why a permit could not be issues and have no criticism of the Refuge staff for their actions. I'm pleased with our past and recent history of cooperation with the Refuge, and hope we can continue to have a positive relationship. Feel free to contact me if you need additional information. Hope your new assignment is going well! Dave Houseknecht U.S. Geological Survey 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive MS 956 Reston, VA 20192 (703) 648-6466 Murray W. Hitzman U. S. Geological Survey Associate Director - Energy and Minerals 12201 Sunrise Valley Dr., MS 102 Reston, VA. 20192 703-648-4576 "Houseknecht, David" <dhouse@usgs.gov> From: Sent: To: CC: Subject: "Houseknecht, David" <dhouse@usgs.gov> Fri Aug 11 2017 09:02:31 GMT-0600 (MDT) "Hitzman, Murray" <mhitzman@usgs.gov> Walter Guidroz <wguidroz@usgs.gov> Re: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge permit issue Let's discuss in AK next week. On Fri, Aug 11, 2017 at 11:00 AM, Hitzman, Murray <mhitzman@usgs.gov> wrote: Dave do you what provision of the Wilderness Act prevents helicopter access by USGS. the only portion I can see that affects this is: (2) Nothing in this Act shall prevent within national forest wilderness areas any activity, including prospecting, for the purpose of gathering information about mineral or other resources, if such activity is carried on in a manner compatible with the preservation of the wilderness environment. Furthermore, in accordance with such program as the Secretary of the Interior shall develop and conduct in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, such areas shall be surveyed on a planned, recurring basis consistent with the concept of wilderness preservation by the Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines to determine the mineral values, if any, that may be present; and the results of such surveys shall be made available to the public and submitted to the President and Congress. To me, this would seem to allow you do what you wanted to do. anyway, just wondering what they are saying is the legal restriction on USGS doing work there via heliocopter - is there special legislation on the Wilderness area of ANWR? murray Following the May 31 release of Secretarial Order 3352, I submitted an application for a permit for scientific work in the Refuge Wilderness Area and in the "1002 Area." The Refuge staff responded that a permit could be granted for the 1002 Area but not the Wilderness Area. The normal deadline for submitting applications for scientific work in the Wilderness area is in October each year because a long review process is necessary to fulfill the requirements of the Wilderness Act. The exchange of letters and emails led to a conference call between me and several members of the Refuge staff, which was hosted by USGS Regional Director for Alaska, Aimee Devaris. During the conference call, the Refuge staff explained the rationale for declining my permit application for the Wilderness Area, and offered to assist with our accessing key sites by providing staff to help transport our gear by foot or boat to avoid the necessity for helicopter landings. Although this was a generous offer, our work schedule and limited field season precluded this option. Instead, I revised our 2017 application to include additional sites in the 1002 Area and and sites in the Wilderness Area that we could access by landing the helicopter outside and hiking a short distance into the Wilderness Area. Part of that work was completed during July 29 - August 5, and part of that work was not possible to complete because of adverse weather that precluded helicopter flights. I informed the Refuge staff that we will submit a new application in September to access a few key sites in the Wilderness Area by helicopter during an early summer field season in 2018. That application also will include sites in the 1002 Area that we did not access in 2017 because of weather. If that permit is granted and weather cooperates, we will have sufficient time to have laboratory analyses completed on samples in time to meet the DOI deadline for updating the resource assessment for the 1002 Area. Fortunately, we were granted permits for work in the Wilderness Area in 2014 and 2015 to conduct work as part of a regional study, and the results of that previous work place us in a good position to complete the directive of the secretarial order with a relatively minor amount of additional work, which we hope to complete in 2018. In summary, Acting Refuge Manager Steve Berendzen and the Refuge staff did all they could within the requirements of the Wilderness Act to offer alternative ways to access the critical sites within the Wilderness Area, and granted us all requested sites within the 1002 Area. Although frustrated that we could not access the key sites within the Wilderness Area this year, I completely understand the reasons why a permit could not be issues and have no criticism of the Refuge staff for their actions. I'm pleased with our past and recent history of cooperation with the Refuge, and hope we can continue to have a positive relationship. Feel free to contact me if you need additional information. Hope your new assignment is going well! Dave Houseknecht U.S. Geological Survey 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive MS 956 Reston, VA 20192 (703) 648-6466 Murray W. Hitzman U. S. Geological Survey Associate Director - Energy and Minerals 12201 Sunrise Valley Dr., MS 102 Reston, VA. 20192 703-648-4576 Dave Houseknecht U.S. Geological Survey 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive MS 956 Reston, VA 20192 (703) 648-6466 Murray W. Hitzman U. S. Geological Survey Associate Director - Energy and Minerals 12201 Sunrise Valley Dr., MS 102 Reston, VA. 20192 703-648-4576