Resolution 17-059 Restoration of Full Funding Federal Agencies Supporting Economy of Homer.

CITY OF HOMER
HOMER, ALASKA

Lewis

RESOLUTION 17-059

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF HOMER, ALASKA ENCOURAGING THE U.S. SENATE AND U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO RESTORE FULL FUNDING TO FEDERAL AGENCIES THAT PROVIDE VITAL SUPPORT TO THE ECONOMY OF HOMER, ALASKA.

WHEREAS, The City of Homer, Alaska rests on the shores of Kachemak Bay in lower Cook Inlet, and as a maritime community depends on the bounty of the sea for a large portion of its economy; and

WHEREAS, The City of Homer, Alaska’s traditional maritime commerce includes commercial, charter, sport, and subsistence fishing; mariculture, tourism, and marine-related arts; and

WHEREAS, Many local residents depend on harvesting marine resources in order to lower their cost-of-living, enjoy healthy outdoor activity, and meet increasing demand for locally grown products;  and

WHEREAS, The vitality of the Kachemak Bay’s private sector and the food security of local residents depends significantly on the scientific services that the public sector has reliably provided, which has been essential for sustainably managing our marine resources and for  monitoring  ocean conditions to assure safe travel; and

WHEREAS, The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge within the Department of Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is headquartered in Homer and employees of this refuge are contributing members of Homer’s community and economy; and

WHEREAS, The R/V Tiglax, the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge’s research vessel which is home-ported in the Homer Harbor, provides an important platform for research on marine birds and mammals, oceanography, volcanoes, cultural and historic resources, botany, entomology, genetics, and more; and

WHEREAS, The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge conducts critical studies on marine birds in the Gulf of Alaska, North Pacific, Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea, and Chukchi Sea, including documentation of the widespread common murre die-off and subsequent colony failure in 2015 and 2016 that may be a harbinger of climate change impacts on marine resources important to Homer’s maritime economy; and

WHEREAS, The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge sponsors the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival during spring shorebird migration each spring, an event that brings hundreds of visitors to Homer to kick off the tourist season and educates diverse groups of people and area schools  about the importance of birds and bird habitats to human wellbeing and international connectivity ; and

WHEREAS, The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge is due to update its comprehensive conservation plan that includes the Alaska portion of the Valor in the Pacific National Monument which adds protections for certain World War II features in the Aleutian Islands; and

WHEREAS, Lower Cook Inlet is the intersection of two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, which are self-directed partnerships between federal agencies, states, tribes, and non-governmental organizations, universities, and other entities to collaboratively define science needs and jointly address broad-scale conservation issues; and

WHEREAS, Homer, Alaska is the home of the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, a partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Alaska Anchorage, and employees of the reserve are contributing members of Homer’s community and economy; and

WHEREAS, The Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve monitors and studies oceanography, plankton, salmon, marine invasive species, harmful algal blooms, ocean acidification, and changing species distributions; and

WHEREAS, The research and monitoring performed by the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve is used by the City of Homer for understanding the threats to coastal communities from our changing marine climate, other agencies for regulatory decision-making, and the public to better understand the ecology of Kachemak Bay; and

WHEREAS, Kachemak Bay is the home of the Kasitsna Bay Laboratory, in the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (National Ocean Service), and operated in partnership with the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and employees of the lab are contributing members of Kachemak Bay’s communities and economy; and

WHEREAS, The Kasitsna Bay Laboratory monitors and studies coastal oceanography and habitats, environmental triggers for harmful algal blooms and paralytic shellfish poisoning events, ocean acidification, and intertidal and benthic ecosystem ecology of Kachemak Bay and lower Cook Inlet; and

WHEREAS, The Kasitsna Bay Laboratory documented the coastal ecosystem effects of the Pacific warm anomaly, including paralytic shellfish poisoning events  and sea star wasting disease in Kachemak Bay, both of which have implications for fishery and shellfish resources important to Homer, Alaska’s economy; and

WHEREAS, The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, and Kasitsna Bay Laboratory provide environmental education opportunities to school groups, 60,000 to 70,000 visitors, and interested local individuals about the marine environment of Kachemak Bay and the Gulf of Alaska; and

WHEREAS, The U.S. Coast Guard Hickory and its crew is home-ported in Homer, Alaska, and performs critical functions such as aids to navigation,  search and rescue,  maritime law enforcement,  marine environmental protection and homeland security; and

WHEREAS, The U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment based in Homer, Alaska, provides marine safety, marine environmental protection, commercial fishing vessel exams, pollution response, facility inspections, port state control, domestic vessel inspections, port waterways and coastal security, and community outreach services; and

WHEREAS, Kachemak Bay federal, state, and local agencies have been recognized by others as a good example of how good collaboration amongst agencies provides citizens with cost-effective use of public funding, more user-oriented science, and added economic stimulus from visiting scientists.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of Homer, Alaska hereby encourages the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives to recognize the importance of these federal agencies to the economy of Homer, Alaska and to restore full funding to these critical programs in the fiscal year 2018 budget so that they may continue their long-standing contributions to Kachemak Bay residents and visitors.

                PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Homer City Council, this 12th day of June, 2017.

CITY OF HOMER

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BRYAN ZAK, MAYOR

ATTEST:

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MELISSA JACOBSEN, MMC, CITY CLERK