Alaska lawmakers tell Jewell of frustrations with Obama administration

Declaring that litigation and dialog appear to be getting the state nowhere, several Alaska lawmakers said after a meeting with the U.S. interior secretary on Monday that they’ll be looking to the Alaska congressional delegation for help thwarting a federal government they claim is out of control. Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young, reached late Monday night, said they’re eager to help -- and work with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, chair of the Senate Energy Committee, which oversees the Interior Department. The state legislators, led by Senate President Kevin Meyer and House Speaker Mike Chenault, said an hourlong exchange with Sally Jewell in the Northwest Alaska city of Kotzebue was productive. But they suggested in a press conference after the meeting that they want Congress to tighten the Interior Department’s budget and pass legislation to limit executive actions. They’re angered by recent announcements from the Obama administration that the feds will seek to turn the potentially oil-rich coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge into a wilderness area and are removing areas of the U.S. Arctic Ocean from potential oil and gas development...more