Q & A with Commissioner Feige on the future of mining The Alaska Miner asked Corri A. Feige, Commis-
sioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, to share her insight into current and future issues LʬPN_TYRXTYTYRLYO_SP^_L_PZQ_SPTYO`^_]dL__SP local, state and national level. Feige was appointed as Commissioner by Gov. Mike Dunleavy in November 2018.
The governor pledged after election to minimize _SPM`ORP_N`_^LʬPN_TYRLRPYNTP^^`[[Z]_TYR]P^Z`]NP development like yours — what are you doing to make sure that happens?
DNR is working with the Gover- YZ]ɪ^ :ʯNP LYO _SP :ʯNP ZQ 8LY - agement and Budget to demonstrate how every dollar spent on DNR’s ac- _TaT_TP^]P_`]Y^L^TRYTʭNLY_WdSTRSP] amount to the State’s General Fund. We are also taking a very close look within the department at all of our activities, prioritizing them against what grows the economy and jobs, and what services Alaskans rely upon DNR to provide. From that evaluation, we are prioritizing our functions and ensuring that DNR’s structure and
What’s surprised you most? What surprised me most was a realization that the resources sector of the state’s economy is beginning _Z R]Zb TY ^TRYTʭNLY_ bLd^ ɨ ]PLW upticks in mineral exploration as well as oil and gas — but that DNR was incredibly stressed and deplet- ed from the loss of both personnel and resources. It was apparent that we needed to “rally the troops” and
CORRI A. FEIGE
[]ZNP^^P^ L]P L^ Z[_TXTePO LYO PʯNTPY_ L^ [Z^ - sible. We have a responsibility to Alaskans to not be an obstacle to progress and economic growth. How is the relationship between State and Federal agencies changing? The State-Federal relationship has been chal- lenged over the past few years — lots of bureau- cratic deadlock and frustration. But with a new Administration in Washington, D.C., and new leadership in the local Federal agencies like BLM, that dynamic is changing! Our teams are talking more, having meaningful discussions about how to progress important projects like the Ambler Road and lifting Public Land Orders. BLM has been LR]PL_[L]_YP]TY_ST^PʬZ]_4ɪXPYNZ`]LRPO_SL_ we now have real partners in trying to achieve some of Alaska’s long-held priorities. Big new oil discoveries ... are we headed for anoth- er Alaska boom? I believe that we are! These are very exciting times for oil exploration on the North Slope. New technologies and new data have given us new PdP^TY_ZZYPZQ_SPbZ]WOɪ^XZ^_[]ZWTʭN[P_]Z - leum provinces. We expect the exploration boom to continue for the next several years, and I antic- ipate we will have a number of new discoveries as a result of that work.
make some good decisions about how DNR does its work so we can best support explorers and producers to help grow the economy out of the recent recession. How can we miners support and improve the rela- tionship with your team? As project plans begin to take shape, I encour- age people to come talk to DNR early and often. The more clarity we have on a project, the more we can do to help make the regulatory process XZ]PPʯNTPY_BPNLYSPW[LaZTOOPWLd^TQbP`Y - derstand the scope of a project or program. We re- ally want our miners to be successful and to spend L^X`NS_TXPTY_SPʭPWOL^_SPdNLY What are you proudest of so far, related to Alaska mining? I am incredibly proud of the growth in Alas- VLɪ^XTYTYR^PN_Z]4_bL^U`^_LʮPORWTYRTYO`^_]d MLNVbSPY4ʭ]^_NLXP_Z,WL^VLTY $$"LYOYZb T_T^L^TRYTʭNLY_[L]_ZQ_SPUZMML^PTY^ZXPZ`] most remote locations. There is real, grassroots, exploration work going on and discovery success coming as a result; and we have world-class com- panies operating in Alaska. All of that will attract more interest in Alaska’s mineral potential, put- ting us on a very positive trajectory for the mining industry.
The Alaska Miner
October 2019
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