The changing arctic presents opportunity to thrive, if we act now.

• Author: Duncan, Ron
• Position: ARCTIC OPINIONS - Editorial

The United States has been an Arctic nation since it purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867, yet no sitting president had ever ventured to the Alaska Arctic until President Obama arrived here in late August to address a conference on Arctic issues. While he focused on climate change, an important issue that affects us all, it should be one of many dimensions to our nation's Arctic strategy.

There are many who have called the Arctic home for generations and expect to for generations to come. There is much to be addressed in the Arctic to sustain our people's presence here and to assert our nation's stewardship of the region. The timing is urgent, particularly in light of increased human activity from many nations related to shipping, oil and gas development, commercial fishing, military, and even tourism.

As Alaskans, we call for a two-pronged strategy to effectively advance US interests in the Arctic.

Invest

First, we must invest in critical infrastructure necessary to support core government missions and increased human activity. At a minimum, new ports and safe harbors, equipment and facilities for oil spill response, and additional Polar class icebreakers for the US fleet are required for safe maritime traffic in the Arctic.

Currently, there are only two active Coast Guard icebreakers in the US fleet, the Polar Star and the Healy, one of which is nearing retirement and the other primarily used for research. Despite record low sea ice levels, most of the northern waters are still covered in some degree of sea ice. The US must provide the Coast Guard with the needed tools to address its mission including new icebreakers and other boats with Arctic capacity, as recently proposed by US Senators Lisa Murkowski and Maria Cantwell of Washington state.

Arctic communities have excellent search and rescue response on a smaller scale, but aren't prepared for larger emergency events. With the anticipated increase in human and vessel traffic, communication, search and rescue, law enforcement, and disaster response--capabilities are even more critical. The harsh Arctic environment requires that the response time to any disaster must be executed swiftly. The nearest permanent Coast Guard facility is in Kodiak, 945 nautical miles south of Barrow, the population center on the North Slope of Alaska. It is time for the Coast Guard to expand its northern presence to include a permanent Arctic station.

Another essential investment is a deepwater port in the...