Scientist Letter to President Barack Obama: Protect U.S. Arctic Important Marine Areas June 16, 2016 The President The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President: The Arctic is home to vibrant communities of indigenous peoples, provides vital marine habitats for iconic wildlife such as beluga whales, walruses, and ice seals found nowhere else in the United States, and plays a critical role in global climate systems. As you witnessed during your trip to Alaska this past summer, the region is profoundly affected by climate change—including loss of sea ice, acidification of the ocean, and increased access for industries that pose significant risks to the ocean environment. Careful planning and management can help protect and sustain this valuable ecosystem in the face of these and other threats. We applaud the leadership you showed in 2015 by withdrawing 9.8 million acres of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas from future oil and gas leasing. This important action to conserve parts of the U.S. Arctic Ocean was a significant step toward protecting Arctic marine ecosystems. We are encouraged by your comprehensive joint vision for the Arctic with Prime Minister Trudeau, which includes taking steps to conserve Arctic biodiversity through science- based decision-making. As scientists and natural resource managers, we support additional steps to protect vital habitats in the Arctic Ocean. More action is needed to ensure the resilience of the Arctic marine ecosystem and sustain the people who use its living resources to thrive. No new oil and gas leasing or exploration should be allowed in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas in the foreseeable future, including in the next five-year leasing plan. Additional ecologically important and sensitive marine habitats should be placed off-limits to oil and gas activity, while honoring subsistence hunting, fishing, and other uses and access for indigenous peoples, to protect the long-term health and function of these waters. We know your administration is committed to ensuring sound, science-based decision-making. It is clear that certain offshore areas—often those with durable physical or oceanographic attributes—make critically important contributions to ecosystem functioning and subsistence. Most or all of these areas can be expected to remain productive and essential to ecosystem well-being even as climate change continues to reduce sea ice, alter the food web, and otherwise affect Arctic waters. As you yourself have said, “some areas are too special to drill.” Beyond those areas you already have withdrawn from oil and gas leasing, there are additional places that warrant consideration because they encompass especially diverse habitats, support high species richness, provide habitat for wildlife during critical life stages, host extraordinary productivity, or otherwise sustain the resilience of the Arctic marine ecosystem. Examples are long-established migration routes for seabirds and bowhead whales, foraging hotspots, subsistence use areas, rich seafloor habitats, lingering ice habitat, and areas where algae and phytoplankton thrive. We, the undersigned, ask you to remove the two Arctic planning areas, which together comprise nearly the entire U.S. Chukchi and Beaufort seas, from the 2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf Leasing Program. We further ask that you consult with indigenous communities and tribes, who have extensive traditional knowledge relevant to decision- making, and with Arctic scientists to identify and permanently withdraw additional important marine areas to promote a sustainable, resilient future for this extraordinary ecosystem. Sincerely, The Honorable Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D. John Teal, Ph.D. Dr. Thomas C. Shirley Marine Ecology Scientist Emeritus Professor Emeritus Oregon State University Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Texas A&M Univ.-Corpus Christi Former Administrator of NOAA Professor Emeritus Kathleen Stafford, Ph.D. University of Alaska Fairbanks C. Scott Baker, Ph.D. Principal Oceanographer Associate Director Applied Physics Laboratory Stuart Pimm, Ph.D. Marine Mammal Institute University of Washington Doris Duke Chair of Conservation Oregon State University Duke University Anne K. Salomon, Ph.D. Enric Sala, Ph.D. Associate Professor Kate Moran, Ph.D. Explorer-in-Residence Simon Fraser University Ocean Networks Canada National Geographic Society Victoria, BC, Canada Henry P. Huntington, Ph.D. Professor James Hansen International Arctic, Science Director Thomas E. Lovejoy Climate Science Awareness and The Pew Charitable Trusts Environmental Science and Policy Solutions, The Earth Institute George Mason University Columbia University Peter H. Raven, Ph.D. President Emeritus Paul R. Ehrlich, Ph.D. Carl Safina, Ph.D. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis Ecology Endowed Professor for Nature and Stanford University Humanity, School of Marine and Sylvia A. Earle, Ph.D. Atmospheric Sciences National Geographic Explorer in Mark Hixon, Ph.D. Co-chair, Alan Alda Center for Residence Professor and Hsiao Endowed Chair Communicating Science steering in Marine Biology committee, School of Journalism Gordon H. Orians University of Hawaii Stony Brook University Professor Emeritus of Biology University of Washington Peter Abrams F. Stuart Chapin III, Ph.D. Professor Distinguished Professor Emeritus Brendan P. Kelly, Ph.D. University of Toronto, Canada University of Alaska Fairbanks Executive Director Study of Environmental Arctic Robert M. May, O.M., A.C., F.R.S. Paul K. Dayton, Ph.D. Change President, Royal Society 2000-2005 Distinguished Professor Emeritus University of Alaska Fairbanks Distinguished Professor Emeritus Scripps Institution of Oceanography Oxford University, UK Trevor A. Branch, Ph.D. George L. Hunt Jr., Ph.D. School of Aquatic and Fishery Robert Elsner, Ph.D. Research Professor Sciences Professor Emeritus Aquatic & Fishery Sciences University of Washington School of Fisheries and Ocean University of Washington Sciences The Honorable Sherburne B. Abbott University of Alaska Fairbanks Daniel Pauly, Ph.D. University Professor Professor of Fisheries Syracuse University Kai Chan, Ph.D. University of British Columbia Associate Director OSTP/EOP Associate Professor 2009-2011 Environmental Science and Stanley Senner, M.S. Sustainability Vice President for Bird Conservation P. Dee Boersma, Ph.D. University of British Columbia Pacific Flyway Wadsworth Endowed Chair in Nation Audubon Society Conservation Biology Philip Alatalo, M.S. University of Washington 2 John Alcock, Ph.D. Simona Bartl, Ph.D. Ocean Conservancy Emeritus Professor of the School of Life Sciences Nathan Basiliko, Ph.D. Allesandro Bocconcelli Arizona State University Associate Professor and Canada Research Specialist Research Chair in Environmental Woods Hole Oceanographic James Allen, Ph.D. Microbiology Institution Biobehavioral Health & Population Laurentian University, Canada Sciences Walter J. Bock, Ph.D. University of Minnesota Medical Trina Bayard, Ph.D. Evolutionary Biology School Audubon Washington Columbia University David J. Anderson, Ph.D. Giovanni Bearzi, Ph.D. Bazartseren Boldgiv, Ph.D. Department of Biology Dolphin Biology and Conservation Department of Ecology Wake Forest University National University of Mongolia David L. Bechler, Ph.D. Jacob Anderson, M.S. Professor Emeritus Finn Borchsenius, Ph.D. Geosciences Valdosta State University Aarhus University, Denmark Boise State Valdosta, GA William D. Bowman, Ph.D. Todd Anderson, Ph.D. Jessie Beck Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Professor of Biology Wildlife Biologist University of Colorado, Boulder San Diego State University Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge Bert Boyer, Ph.D. William D. Anderson, Jr., Ph.D. Paul Beier, Ph.D. Director, Center for Alaska Native Systematic Ichthyology Regents' Professor of Conservation Health Research Grice Marine Biological Laboratory Biology University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Charleston Northern Arizona University Richard Bradley, Ph.D. Ricardo Antunes, Ph.D. Craig Benkman, Ph.D. The Ohio State University Ocean Giants Program Professor of Zoology & Physiology Wildlife Conservation Society University of Wyoming M. Syndonia Bret-Harte, Ph.D. Associate Professor Caroline Armon John A. Berges University of Alaska Fairbanks Marine Ecology Educator Professor, Biological Sciences and Salish Sea Association of Marine Freshwater Sciences Carol A. Brewer, Ph.D. Naturalists University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Professor Emerita University of Montana, Missoula Janet Armstrong David M. Bird, Ph.D. Aquatic and Fishery Sciences Emeritus Professor of Wildlife Kenneth T. Briggs, Ph.D., D.V.M University of Washington Biology Mercy Pet Hospital McGill University Citrus Heights, CA Lauri Arvola, Ph.D. Environmental Research Jeff Black, Ph.D., D.Sc. Paul Broady, Ph.D. University of Helsinki, Finland Department of Wildlife University of Bristol, U.K. Humboldt State University Marta Azzolin, Ph.D. Annette Broderick, Ph.D. Life Sciences and Systems Biology Sandra Black, D.V.M. Associate Professor of Marine Department University of Calgary Faculty of Conservation University of Turin, Italy Veterinary Medicine, Department of University of Exeter, UK Ecosystem and Public Health Christopher R. Barnes, Ph.D. Franziska Broell, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, Earth and Ocean Harvey D. Blankespoor, Ph.D. Department of Oceanography Sciences Professor Emeritus of Biology Dalhousie University University of Victoria, BC 1991 U.S. CASE U.S. Professor of the Year Jamie L. Brusa, M.S. Professor Rob Barrett Tromsø University Museum,