There is more brush now than there has ever been in the past they have had to change where they go. This is real. I just left and there is no snow on the ground in fairbanks. It was 30 degrees when i left. That has a real impact as well. When it ices over they have a harder time getting to their food. I hope to see that this body recognizes that. Thank you mr. Alexander. Thank you. Senator lee. Thank you very much. I want to add my support for the opening up of a coastal plain region. This proposal makes sense on a number of levels, from an Economic Perspective opening up this small small remote area will provide billions of dollars in federal revenues alone over the next few decades which could be used to chip away at our staggering budget deficits that we are guessing. And new development will be for alaska, a state struggling for high unemployment and for its own budget shortfalls. Opening up the coastal plane makes sense. Energy development meets some of the most rigorous in the entire world. This is especially true in alaska. Responsible Energy Production occurred without undue harm including polar bear habitats. Developers can access hundreds of miles of oil perhaps the reason is because it is widely supported by the people of alaska and particularly those who live in that part of refuj. Im a strong believer that local input should play a role in Land Management issues. Coming from the state of utah i fully understand the frustrations of alaskans whose lives and livelihoods are subject almost constantly to the whims and wishes of well connected interest groups, regulators in washington d. C. So in your testimony you articulated these frustrations very clearly and very pal passionately that we should take into account, the importance of incorporating local knowledge in major land decisions including decisions like the ones that we are discussing today. Can you talk to us about the sentiment of people immediately effected by the land on decisions like these. Yes. I would have to say that also what brought about the technological advances was the participation and rules and conditions and stipulations they put in place to ensure that this is done right. And living in the Arctic National wildlife is troublesome in the sense that we have limited access to our lands, to the mountains during the summer season. We cannot travel over the tundra without harming because it is wetland. Throughout most of the year it is frozen to go to the areas we need to find what we are looking for. So you experienced the land differe differently, you a different familiarity with it than washington d. C. Would have. I want to thank you for being here. We had a chance to visit the north slope to see a number of the developments that have occurred there in the bay area and to visit the refuge as well. I was struck by the connection with the navajo people. That really surprised me. In listening to everyone here today what struck me was the way you talked about this place and how different it was from the way my colleagues talked about this place. Our people think of this place as the heart. You probably think thats not a good idea, right . Thats not a good idea. So when we talk about the refuge and we talk about the land it is tied to our language and understanding of the world and you know, we are connected to them and we recognize that. I hear this talk about development all of the time. We need to develop this. We need to develop that. We are not sitting here asking. We are saying we need hospitals. We need schools. We need all of these things. We are not saying give us money. We are saying let us live. We already recognize the wealth that we have as people and theres nothing that you can give us. We recognize its something that can be taken away from us. So when we talk about the land, when we talk about the caribou it is in reference to them. I keep hearing the locals, lets hear what the locals have to say. You know what the locals are . They are caribou. Thats why we are here. And then to the south and east are mountains and this is the place where the caribou flow like a river and this is the spring and if you loose the spring you lose the whole river dont you . Absolutely. You will only harm part of the herd or maybe they will move over a little bit. There is not that option with them. We are talking about the destruction of the herd and irreparable damage, to people that have been living there tens of thousands of years. Im not making up numbers. There is a place thats oldest known human camp side. Thank you. Thank you. Senator cassidy. Thank you all for being here. Im from louisiana. Believe it or not even though your average temperature one of the reasons i think this is such a positive thing is there are so many folks in our state that didnt go to college who make good incomes because they are able to work in the oil and gas industry and which is economically beneficial. I can also apply what we do in louisiana to some of the stuff that we see here. Everybody discusses responsible oil and gas and i can say that in the gulf of mexico that technology has progressed so that you can dynamically drill going from a Central Point far out and then tieing back therefore limiting the pad, if you will. So it is similar to whats here. I look at that because if you look at what senator sullivan gave us it took a 65 acre gravel pad in 1970 to do 3 square miles of drilling. And now for future extended reach drilling it will take a 12 acre gravel pad to do 125 square miles. It is very similar to what we are currently doing in the gulf of mexico. Once you have the rig you go far out and then tie back in a way which minimizes impact. So i will say that. I understand theres currently a project in alaska that has a grilling well of 35,000 feet and so its not just the gulf of mexico it is also in alaska. We actually have everything we are discussing. Since the drilling has begun not far from section 102 how has development effected the area and how have these advances that we have spoken of, if you will, modify that impact . The technological capacity as you just described is working on the north slope. The ability to reduce the footprint, the ability to reach out is taking place as we speak. There has been no impact on the 1002 area simply because that is the issue before us today to allow that potential to be tapped. There have been comments have been spills and other negative consequences of a massive decades Long Development on the north slope producing billions of barrels of oil. What i can say to that is that technology has again allowed us to be aggressively responsive, that the Regulatory Regime has changed, will continue to evolve and the technology has our ability to respond to difficulty has grown. The ability to maintain the habitat literally the eco systems has been aggressively managed and issued responded to and that is of course part of the emphasis of our testimony today is to say that we can deal both with the need for the development, the production resource, to manage the future of the Renewable Resources let me just mention because im about to run out of seconds, just to emphasize your point from picture about your way to do responsible drilling senator sullivan gave this out. It shows ice pads being used for this rig and when it thaws you see no roads, no pads because they are ice pads and ice road and they all melt away. The only thing left is an 8 by 8 foot well house that remains but nothing else seen. Yall have done a very nice job of preserving the eco system without trace except for an 8 by 8 foot well house. That is exactly right. The amount of time i yield back. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you gentlemen for the conversation today. I would like to start with mr. Shethan. You have extensive background in conservation. I was director of the past five years. Can i ask you this, my understanding of the 1980 law and purpose of the refuge states four things, to conserve fish and wildlife populations in their natural diversity, to fulfill obligations of the United States with respect to fish and wildlife and their habitats, to provide in a manner consistent with one and two and to ensure Water Quality and necessary water quantity within the refuge. Are those still true today . Yes, absolutely. So then can you explain to me how if we are to open up to oil and gas drilling how thats compatible with those purposes . Thank you, senator. As part of the 1980 that you referenced it certainly established criteria and thats still being fulfilled. When you talk about compatibility, in the 1997 wildlife refuge act each should be managed as well as the specific purpose for which that was established and at the time that was established section 1002 and 1003 created an avenue for exploratory work and drilling down in the future under section 1003. So at this point the department of interior and the president and secretary are committed to honoring the desires of the state, honoring the desires of need for Energy Independence and still fulfilling the law which provided opportunity under that law to perform these types of angttiveties. So theres no compatibility standard . You feel its in the law that you have the authority to come in and listen to the locals . This is what they want so this is what they going to do, is that correct . Certainly we strive to make every action compatible as best we can. As has been mentioned multiple times today it is an area. About a billion and a half of that are in the 1002 area. If this body of congress intends to elect for the development in that area well work to ensure come pat ability with other exists uses. So is your position today that u. S. Fish and wildlife doesnt youre going to really do whatever we youre not advocating one way or the other . No. Im saying that the come pate blt of that refuge will be for which that was established. Is it different than i just identified previously . It is those poor elements but also the potential exploration and development of other uses as we heard from multiple members. Zb ok okay. Thank you. Thank you so much for joining us today. You know, we have been instructed to raise a billion dollars in this economy as part of fiscal year 18 budget do you have an understanding of that at all . I have a general understanding. I have seen the materials and i have seen the analysis. It seems very clear that with the Prospective Development and the already existing analysis of the size of the reserve or reserves that very significant revenue can accrue to the federal and state governments. Do you think it will be a billion dollars . Well, i believe it will be many multiples of that number, yes. Based on the numbers that you have seen . Yes. Okay. I appreciate that. I notice my time is up. Thank you senator. I was with senator in the spring and had an opportunity to visit the Pipeline System. It is my understanding that on the pipeline peaked in the late 80s and has declined to about 20 of the pipeline capacity. Could you explain why it is so important to maximize on that pipeline . The pipeline is at 25 of its capacity. The need to continue to utilize it and is full capacity is clear when we look at the National Security interest of our nation, when we look at the revenue needs of our state, when we look at the revenue needs of our nation. And the impact on the economy of our state, the impact on the economy of our nation are each very clear. The opportunity to allow our nation and our state to have revenue not just to meet the full range of existing budgetary needs but to be responsive to a changing climate particularly in our state is very real and must be addressed and if not by our nation then by our state our National Security interest is vulnerable. We are in an area where modest capacity of Destructive Force that we can be a target. We know that a changing arctic is changing the security interests of each of the nations involved. Those are open questions as we speak. We also support and believe with that kind of National Security interest that the full range of interests that allow us to live reasonable responsible good lives create a society for our state are significantly tied in with the pipeline and ability to deliver petroleum to our nation and to our world. I agree. Thats the same assessment that i had. I wanted to follow up, given to close proximity to the Pipeline System and other development, do you believe there are opportunities to conduct mitigation projects that could improve habitat wildlife . Yes. It has a robust Resource Management program, the state of alaska and fish and Wildlife Management and our department of Environmental Conservation will work as hard as we can in order to maintain and where opportunities present to grow the full range of fish and wildlife and other Natural Resources on those lands. Do you have anything you might want to add to that in terms of opportunities to improve existing wildlife habit habitat . Thank you, senator. Certainly there is work that is going on throughout those areas now for mitigation but theres also a lot of Research Going on up there. We are trying to avoid challenges that could exist so that if we do have this type of work done down the road that its done responsibly and its best that can be with the wildlife resources. Thank you i have some what technical questions. I dont see any witnesses that can strictly address them. Youll get the question and hopefully well be able to get this. First question is, as i understand this proposed legislation which we havent seen yet but that the house bill talks about a 2,000 acre limitation. Is that a con tig youous or is that 12 acres here and 10 over there . Do you know what that 2000 acres means . Ill have to defer that question. I cant respond to that. It was presented to me as the size of dallas airport. I think what it means is its scattered all over the place and if you add it all together its 2,000 acres. Second, do you know how many wells are contemplated in this development . Again, i think it depends on whats passed by the body of this congress. It seems to me we have to do calculations. It is always dangerous to turn me loose with a calculator, we are talking several thousand wells to produce 10 billion barrels over 10 years. Again, i think its an important question to assess the impact. Are we talking 10 wells, 100 wells or a thousand wells . Any idea how this is going to get out from all of these wells . How does it get any where . Well, again, i suspect that the most likely method of moving that would be via pipelines. Thats how most of that oil is moved now. We are not only talking about these 12 acre pads wibut now we are talking about pipelines and presumably roads to get to these various places. Any ideas on the cost of extraction, what we are talking about whether this is 50 barrel oil . Well, it is economically recoverable at 42 barrel. They say there would be a 12 profit blt factor, if you will or 12 margin on that. So thats the price point that was done in analysis in 2009 and certainly oil prices a little higher than that today. It is hard to say what they could be. I understand that youre a resource guy and youre not an oil and gas guy. It does bother me that youre telling us that this is an okay deal without knowing the answers to my questions. I dont see how you can say this looks fine unless you know how many wells and how many miles of pipeline, where they will be located. I mean i just we are being asked to make an assessment here, but i dont see how you can make that evalwaluation witt knowing the answers to the questions that i have raised. Thank you. Without having a full set of legislation, knowing what that direction is to us, it would be hard for myself or even oil and gas expert to answer all of those questions. But what i will say is that, you know, there are difficult choices to make here. I agree with that. I want to know what choices im making. I dont want to make choices where i dont understand what the impact will be. Yes. And what i will say today is that we support responsible development in whatever form or fashion it best occurred in. We know what technologies are available if and when this effort takes place which could be many years from now. I expect there will be we voevo technologies. I hope that well have the material and data necessary to answer the questions that i have raised. I dont see how we can make this decision without answering the question of how many wells are we talking about . How many miles of pipeline . We cant make that tradeoff without having that data. I respectfully request that we have an opportunity to explore that data before we are asked to mark up a bill. And i hope youre able to stick around for the second panel. Well have an opportunity to get into more of the specifics but again, recognizing that in terms of what may actually be produced. Again, it depends on a lot of variables that awe are going to make assumptions on. I looked down a list and didnt see anyone i thought would be responsive to those particular questions. My colleagues and i feel strongly we want to see something and understand it before we vote on it. It is hard to believe it will take place by next wednesday. We are certainly not voting on anything we dont have in front of us. And to understand the impact of the interior department. My colleague is saying he wants to understand what that impact is. Todays hearing is an opportunity for us to hear about the 1002 area, something that this committee hasnt had an opportunity to do so in about seven years now. Lets go to senator danes. Thank you. I know its a long flight from alaska to washington d. C. Thank you for making that journey. I must tell you as somebody who respects the voice of the states and voice of the people that live in those states, i am deeply struck fwi faby the fact we have had both u. S. Senators, their lone congressman, 90 kt of the Alaska Legislature and 7 support moving forward as we are proposing to do with drilling in the 1002. And i just think its a bit arrogant for folks that are a long ways away from alaska to be in some what dictating the future of what alaskans want to do. Your voice should count in this city and to this senator it does. Thank you for making the journey. In my home state like alaskans and those from colorado we have a blend of protecting the environment as well as responsibility develop