Representative Bob Herron, a Democrat from Bethel was elected the chairman of the Arctic Caucus during the 25th summer summit of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region, or PNWER.
The organization gathered in Big Sky, Montana this week. PNWER is a partnership comprised of industry and five U.S. states, three Canadian provinces and the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. As chairman, Herron will help educate policy makers in Washington, D.C., and Ottawa on arctic issues.
David Ramsay is the Minister of Justice and Industry for the Northwest Territories and the current President of PNWER. He says the Arctic Caucus is an important body for raising the economic profile of the north.
“Market access, infrastructure, energy cost, especially in rural and remote communities. The Northwest Territories is no different and faces similar challenges as Alaska so we’re going to continue to work on ways to try to find investment into the Arctic and that includes Alaska, the NWT and the Yukon.”
Ramsay says their November meeting in Yellow Knife will focus on the needs of the arctic as development ramps up. The PNWER meetings wrapped up Thursday.
Lori Townsend is the news director and senior host for Alaska Public Media. You can send her news tips and program ideas for Talk of Alaska and Alaska Insight at ltownsend@alaskapublic.org or call 907-550-8452.
