As many of you know, the Exxon Valdez Trust Council (EVOSTC) played a major role in the establishment of the Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC) – they provided about half of the initial capital ($26m) of funding to build the facility and established a ‘chain of control’ over the center’s operations that defines the basic rules on how operate today.
The Council has worked over the past 20 years on a comprehensive strategy of funding research and restoration activities that target areas and communities affected by the spill. The Council comprises 3 Federal Trustees and 3 State Trustees and is advised by both a public advisory committee and a science advisory committee. ASLC and UAF staff member, Dr Lori Polasek was recently appointed to the PAC representing the public at large. Dr Bob Spies (formerly ASLC Board chair and Science Director) serves on the SAC – there are also many other partners of the Center involved in these committees.
The Council recently made the decision to refocus its research activities. “The Council, recognizing that the restoration funds remaining from the Exxon Valdez settlement continue to diminish, seeks to narrow and refine the scope of the Council’s restoration efforts and to enable a more discrete and efficient funding mechanism by which to direct these remaining funds. In the NOI, the Council proposes to focus their restoration efforts to five defined restoration categories: herring; lingering oil; long-term monitoring of marine conditions; harbor protection and marine restoration; and habitat acquisition and protection” (see http://www.evostc.state.ak.us/universal/documents/NEPA/NOIRelease.pdf for full details).
The EVOSTC will be conducting a public meeting on their proposals in Seward on March 16th in the Rae Building from 6-8 pm.
During our recent Deep Blue 2020 strategic planning discussions we identified this process as a key opportunity for the Alaska Sealife Center to more directly engage with the Council in better understanding the impacts of the spill on affected communities (both biological and social). We will therefore be attending the Seward meeting and submitting a detailed set of comments in writing by the EVOSTC deadline of April 1st to explain to Council representatives and members why there is a strong case for the ASLC to play a greater role in understanding spill impacts and building a stronger capacity for future response.
I encourage all interested ASLC staff and friends in the community to attend and to make comment to help the Trust Council representatives understand just how significant their investment has been in delivering:
• extraordinary scientific impact – 209 peer-reviewed publications by ASLC researchers to date and counting!
• unparalleled capacity to respond to injured and dead marine wildlife throughout Alaska – we have handled more than 100 marine mammals alone!
• unrivalled capacity to educate visitors and students about Alaska’s seas – 1.74 million people so far!
• jobs, experience and education to more than 750 employees and some 300 interns as well as hundreds of volunteers over the past 12 years – the Center is now the largest private employer in Seward and one of the largest in the Kenai Peninsula.
Perhaps most significantly, the initial capital investment of $26m approved by the EVOSTC in 1994 to build the center has generated ongoing capital and operating investments totaling $164m – a return of more than $6 for every $1 invested!!
We are asking the Trustees to consider options for “nurturing the goose that has lain these golden research, education, conservation and strandings response eggs” by directing funds for future targeted research to a network of capable local institutions in Cordova, Seward, Homer and Kodiak working with the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. Details are still being resolved, but long term support of research and education activities at the SeaLife Center and in these other institutions would be a very significant and enduring legacy of the Trust Council. It would enable both a long term understanding of spill impacts and assist communities in the affected area to be better prepared to deal with future spills and other marine environmental changes.
I encourage all staff, members, supporters and friends of the Alaska SeaLife Center to both attend the Seward meeting next week or to otherwise let the Trust Council know that you support the proposal to keep investing in the great science and education work done by institutions such as the Alaska Sealife Center within spill-affected communities.
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