Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area
On December 9, 2016, President Obama signed Executive Order 13754, creating the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area (NBSCRA). President Biden reinstated this order on his first day in office.
Executive Order 13754 provides that:
[i]t shall be the policy of the United States to enhance the resilience of the northern Bering Sea region by conserving the region’s ecosystem, including those natural resources that provide important cultural and subsistence value and services to the people of the region.
Executive Order 13754 creates a Task Force on the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area, co-chaired by the Department of the Interior, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Coast Guard, with a mandate to advance U.S. policy relating to the NBSCRA. The Executive Order also provides for an Intergovernmental Tribal Advisory Council to work in partnership with the Task Force and to provide “input and recommendations on activities, regulations, guidance, or policy that may affect actions or conditions in the NBSCRA, with attention given to climate resilience; the rights, needs, and knowledge of Alaska Native tribes; the delicate and unique ecosystem; and the protection of marine mammals and other wildlife.”
Charter of the Task Force on the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area can be found here.