Critical Habitat Areas — the name says it all.
In response to requests from many local citizen groups, the Alaska legislature created a number of critical habitat areas. The purpose of creating these 32 areas was to preserve critical habitat for the preservation of fish and wildlife so that present and future generations would have the best hope of sustaining our diverse populations. Most Alaskans associate wide open spaces and abundant fish and wildlife as an integral part of who we are and what being an Alaskan means.
Governor Parnell through Administrative Order 266 has ordered the Department of Fish and Game to roll back protections of these areas so that development can be streamlined. Most specifically he wants to avoid public input in the permitting process.
This is insane. Every Alaskan know what happens when powerful special interests are given carte blanche to exploit Alaskan lands. A very few get much more wealthy, some get temporary jobs and the rest of us are left living with devastated land that we all can remember being much more productive.
Please sign the petition at akhabitat.com and join the effort to prevent degradation of our Critical Habitat areas. What part of that name does our governor not understand?