Obama bars oil, gas development in Alaska's Bristol Bay

President Obama has placed an indefinite ban on oil and gas development in Alaska's Bristol Bay. Environmental groups hailed the move Tuesday, billed by the president as a necessary safeguard, while the state's U.S. senators offered a mixed response. “These waters are too special and too valuable to auction off to the highest bidder,” Obama said in a surprise video announcement from the Oval Office posted to the White House website. Bristol Bay is part of the 32.5 million-acre North Aleutian Basin Planning Area in Southwest Alaska. Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, had hoped to open the region for leasing. Newly inaugurated Alaska Gov. Bill Walker responded positively to Obama's move, a sharp departure from previous Gov. Sean Parnell's often adversarial take on federal actions concerning Alaska. Walker said he had received advance notice of the decision from Jewell. “The pristine waters of Bristol Bay feed some of the world’s most premier fisheries," Walker said in a statement. "I look forward to working cooperatively -- in Alaska’s clear interest -- with the federal government to safely and economically develop regions of our state and offshore waters for oil and gas. Bristol Bay, however, is not that place.”...more