North Slope Science Initiative

1. North SlopeScience Initiative Dr. John F. Payne, Executive Director Dr. Denny Lassuy, Acting Deputy Director North Slope Science Initiative www.northslope.org

2. Big Area

3. Big Issues

4. Big Challenges(greater than any 1 agency) • Need collaboration & forum to achieve it • Need good science & means to access it North Slope Science Initiative

5. Energy Policy Act of 2005, Section 348: NSSI Purpose (first NSSI funding = FY07) • “…shall be to implement efforts to coordinate collection of scientific data that will provide a better understanding of the terrestrial, aquatic, and marine ecosystems of the North Slope of Alaska.”

6. Energy Policy Act of 2005, Section 348: NSSI Objectives • Identify and prioritize information needs to address the individual and cumulative effects of past, ongoing, and anticipated development activities and environmental change. • Coordinate ongoing and future inventory, monitoring, and research activities to minimize duplication of effort, share financial resources and expertise, and assure the collection of quality information. • Maintain and improve access to accumulated and ongoing research and contemporary and traditional local knowledge. • Focus on pressing resource management needs, coordination, and cooperation among agencies and organizations.

7. NSSIMission & Vision Mission: Improve scientific and regulatory understanding of terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems for consideration in the context of resource development activities and climate change. Vision: Identify the data and information that management agencies and governments will need in the future to develop management scenarios using the best information and mitigation to conserve the environments of the North Slope.

8. Oversight Group & Executive Director Interagency Staff Committee Science Technical Advisory Panel Organization:

9. Actions to Meet NSSI Objectives • Placed 5 additional hydrologic gauging stations in NPRA & Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (focus on pressing shared need) -- completed 08 -- • Implemented an agreement with UAF for NSSI/GINA(improve access) -- ongoing, functionality Spring 09 -- • North Slope Projects Database/Browser was jump-started Fall 08 under GINA, to access data on P.I., subject, duration, contact, etc. – NPRB format & coordinated among NSSI, AOOS, & others (access) -- ongoing, functionality Spring 09 -- • Water quality & bathymetry remote sensing project (priority shared need) -- ongoing, completion due Fall 09 -- • Landcover baseline and change detection mapping (priority shared need) -- ongoing, field 09, product due 10 --

10. Elevation Hydrography Geodetic control Bathymetry Cadastral Transportation Governmental Units Landcover Digital Orthoimagery GINA – Base Layers

11. Additional Coordination Actions: • Workshops: Caribou, Remote Sensing/GIS, Data Integration, U.S./Canada Oil & Gas Research, Arctic Fish and Fisheries. • Developing closer ties with NSF (AON) and academia to aid managers in understanding research results & their implications. • (NSSI first ever) Report to Congress

12. Where to from here? Continue to: • Identify multi-jurisdictional opportunities. • Add value through all levels of member organizations. • Coordinate with entities inside and outside of NSSI. • Improve access to quality information on North Slope ecosystems with energy development & climate change. • Improve understanding of how to use Traditional Ecological Knowledge to meet the mission of the NSSI. -- Emerging Issues -- Subsistence Species Erosion Permafrost

13. Challenges to Success • Long-term budget – long-term initiatives need to be forward looking and thus positioned for opportunities beyond current budget cycles. • Budget stability – NSSI budget is still a “floating” target, needs to become fixed (line item) for long-term planning. • Staff stability – NSSI staff as “term, temporary, or detail” makes institutional knowledge base fleeting; complex contract/agreement processes learned by experience.

14. Challenges to Success • Making the most efficient & practical use of a wholly volunteer Science Technical Advisory Panel. • Understanding, predicting and adapting to climate change and the related impacts to the terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments. • Misperceptions

15. NSSI (Mis)Perception Misperception: NSSI was created to fund all priority research activities on the North Slope & its offshore waters. Reality: NSSI was established to help coordinate and communicate science activities and serve as a partnering forum to “bridge and supplement” those activities at the direction of the full membership of the Oversight Group. The focus of NSSI remains on those science functions which offer the greatest promise to meet shared information needs that address resource development and climate change.

16. NSSI (Mis)Perception Misperception: NSSI will take over all of the science programs related to inventory, monitoring and research on the North Slope & its offshore waters. Reality: NSSI has no legislative mandate to absorb any entity’s function or individual mission responsibility. NSSI is mandated to maintain and improve public and agency access to accumulated and ongoing research and contemporary & traditional knowledge.

17. Questions: www.northslope.org Contacts: John Payne: john_f_payne@blm.gov, 271-3431 Denny Lassuy: denny_lassuy@fws.gov, 271-4121