IJC Commissioners, Federal, State, and Tribal Leaders Discuss Transboundary Issues
JUNEAU, AK – U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), joined by U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK), today led a roundtable discussion on transboundary issues, bringing together federal, state, tribal, and local leaders as well as visiting Commissioners from the International Joint Commission (IJC), the bilateral panel under the Boundary Waters Treaty between the United States and Canada. The roundtable discussion focused on educating IJC Commissioners about Alaska’s transboundary watersheds, Alaska’s water quality monitoring, concerns Alaskans have voiced about upstream mining activity in British Columbia, and actions made by Alaskans to engage with Canadian counterparts to raise such concerns.
In addition to U.S. Senators Murkowski and Sullivan, roundtable participants included IJC Commissioners Jane Corwin, Rob Sisson, and Lane Yohe from the U.S. Section of the IJC and Commissioner Pierre Beland, Chair of the Canadian Section of the IJC. Other participants included Alaska Dept. of Natural Resources Commissioner, Corri Feige; Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game Commissioner, Doug Vincent-Lang; Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation Commissioner, Jason Brune; Rob Sanderson of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes, AK Senator Jesse Kiehl, Representative Sara Hannan, Representative Dan Ortiz; and representatives from the Office of Governor Michael Dunleavy, Alaska Miners Association, Council of Alaska Producers, Salmon Beyond Borders, United Fishermen of Alaska, EPA-Region 10, U.S. Geological Survey-Alaska Science Center, U.S. Forest Service-Alaska Region, and National Marine Fisheries Service.
“Alaskans know that development can be done properly with the appropriate standards and oversight in place—we have proven this in our own backyard. This is the conversation that the Alaska Delegation has been pushing our State Department to engage in with their Canadian counterparts for more than 7 years. Senator Sullivan and I have also been proactive in engaging directly with leaders in Ottawa and British Columbia,” said Senator Murkowski. “The more people we can educate on this issue, the better –especially those serving at high levels in our government.”
“I want to thank Senator Murkowski and her team for setting up this important meeting,” said Senator Sullivan. “We are finally making real progress on the transboundary mining issue. The best way to build on this momentum is for Canadian officials to work expeditiously to fully and finally remediate the Tulsequah Chief mine to prevent further pollution into the Taku River. This is an issue I’ve been pressing senior Canadian officials on, including Prime Minister Trudeau. I am hopeful we’ll see progress soon.”
