President Bush on Tuesday lifted the drilling ban for AlaskaÂ’s Bristol Bay, clearing the way for the Interior Department to open the fish-rich waters to oil and natural gas development. Alaska officials as well as some local communities had asked for the ban to be lifted, but environmentalists and some fishermen have warned against drilling in the bay, which is the gateway for the largest wild salmon runs in the world as well as a major source for crab and cod. "Bristol Bay is one the most important fisheries in America and in the world," Sierra Club director Carl Pope said in a statement. "It's incredibly reckless to risk such an outstanding natural resource just to satisfy Big Oil."Three local governments said they felt the ban should be lifted so that the bay could be tested for oil deposits, adding that they would back drilling only if they felt it was environmentally sound. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said one or two lease sales in about 5.6 million acres of Bristol Bay will be considered for leasing in the departmentÂ’s upcoming five-year 2007-2012 lease plan.
Separately, Bush lifted a drilling moratorium in an area of the central Gulf of Mexico known as Lease Area 181, making that area available to drilling. The Gulf waters acted upon by the president is a small part of a much larger 8.2 million acres that were approved for oil and gas development by Congress last month in one of its last acts before adjournment.