With the purchase of Alaska in 1869, the United States became an Artic nation. Though it shares that honor with several other countries, its goals in the region have not been strictly coordinated. KDLG’s Chase Cavanaugh has the details on a government appointment that hopes to change that.
The US State Department has announced the creation of two positions that will deal with America’s interests in the Arctic. The first, the US Special Representative to the Arctic, is an high level diplomat that will represent the United States with regard to Arctic issues. It will be filled by Admiral Robert Papp, former Commandant of the US Coast Guard. Complementing him is Alaskan Fran Ulmer. The head of the US Arctic Research Commission, Ulmer will serve as special advisor to the Secretary of State for Arctic Affairs.
Alaska Senator Mark Begich was pleased with the appointments, particularly Admiral Papp’s diplomatic role.
“I consider it really equal to almost an ambassador level, it’s a top level envoy. It’s gonna be on US-Arctic issues, and also having Fran Ulmer participating as an officer to Secretary Kerry really gives us a unique role to make sure we start coordinating all these different policies that are being developed by different agencies and NGOs, and we actually bring all these together, we have one focal point.”
Other members of Alaska’s congressional delegation also expressed support. Congressman Don Young said Ulmer had a strong history of advocating for Alaska, while Senator Lisa Murkowski said Papp’s knowledge of the Arctic is “as vast as the region itself.” All three expressed their support at advancing America’s interests in the region, such as energy, trade, and security. Compared to other nations, Begich says the US has been slow to act, but is currently on the right path.
“We have been able to get language in other parts of a Coast Guard bill two years ago to start focusing on the Arctic. We have the Coast Guard finishing up some work on determining the right location for a deepwater port. We have the Corps of Engineers doing the same thing. We’ve had the military now focused on reexamining the Arctic from a military perspective and the need to make sure we have security up there. We have Arctic Shield. The Coast Guard is in its second year now of testing its capacity to respond to situations in the Arctic. We have more science being developed because of oil and gas, with NOAA participating. In a lot of ways, we are behind, but we have a lot of pieces moving.”
Papp and Ulmer’s appointments also set up a solid delegation for America in the Arctic Council. In addition to the US, this intergovernmental body consists of Canada, Russia, Scandinavia, Denmark, and Iceland, and provides a discussion forum for these Arctic nations. The United States will have chairmanship of the Council in 2015.