U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) John Pearce Alaska Science Center Anchorage, AK

USGS The mission of the USGS is to provide sound, timely and impartial scientific information to the public and to DOI management agencies, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Bureau of Land Management, and the National Park Service The USGS is the science agency for the Department of Interior, does not manage lands, have management authority over any wildlife species, nor make management decisions based on the scientific information collected and produced.

USGS Research Planning Process The process for research planning by the USGS in the Arctic involves conversations with DOI partners who use scientific information for their management decision-making and through priorities set by our national headquarters and USGS Science Center offices. Research plans are reviewed internally for scientific rigor and to determine what kind of public or agency communication, stakeholder engagement, and permits are needed.

USGS Stakeholder Engagement Regularly provide briefings to North Slope Borough offices of Planning and Wildlife Management, the NPR-A Subsistence Advisory Panel, and to the residents of North Slope villages where we conduct research. The USGS informs co-management groups such as the Eskimo Walrus Commission, Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, and the Alaska Nanuuq Commission.

USGS Stakeholder Engagement We maintain an list that includes all of our key Native partners, and we use this list to inform when a new scientific paper has been accepted for publication and to offer to provide a briefing on the paper. We post advertisements of our activities in North Slope Borough villages near where we will be working and on the NPR-A Subsistence Advisory Panel Facebook page.

USGS Stakeholder Engagement (Polar Bears) Specifically for polar bear work, every spring the USGS meets with the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management and lays out field plans to make sure we avoid areas of subsistence activity. When in Kaktovik, we ask the community for permission to operate the whale bone pile hair-snag, and we make the community aware of when we will be arriving and how long we will be staying.

USGS Stakeholder Engagement (Walrus) Specifically for walrus work, research plans are shared with the Alaska Eskimo Walrus Commission during annual meetings. Before field work, we notify North Slope Borough and coastal communities and make sure we know of subsistence hunting activities during times of planned field research.

USGS Stakeholder Engagement (Walrus) Time frames for initiation of local engagement: Early notification of intent to conduct field research Early notification of science products being released by USGS on polar bears and walrus

USGS Sound Sources In 2010 and 2011, the USGS conducted limited nearshore echo sounder surveys to collect bathymetric data near Kaktovik using local boats and operators. Sound sources included a 12 kHz multibeam echo sounder, (Kongsberg EM122), a 3.5 kHz chirp sub- bottom profiler (Knudsen 3260) and a “piloting” echo sounder (ODEC 1500). USGS always chooses the lowest practicable source size and uses frequencies with the least impact.

USGS Research Platforms A helicopter is used to conduct polar bear work over sea ice during March-April. Icebreakers and ice-hardened ships and small skiffs launched from the ships have been used in the past for walrus tagging in the Chukchi Sea. The USGS does not regularly operate a research vessel in the Arctic.

USGS Research Timeframes USGS polar bear work is conducted from mid-March- April. USGS walrus work is conducted from June-July for offshore ship work and August-September for onshore work (such as near Point Lay). In 2016, there is no vessel work planned to support walrus research. USGS coastal marine geology work is conducted before 25 August in the Nuiqsut area to avoid conflict with bowhead whale hunting.