Russian Claim to Arctic Seafloor Becomes Palin Issue

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Russian attempts to claim part of the Arctic Ocean seabed have given Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin unique foreign policy experience, the McCain-Palin campaign says, but there is no evidence she has ever been involved with or spoken publicly about them.

Asked to explain Palin's statements that Alaska's proximity to Russia bolsters her foreign policy credentials, campaign spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton said Wednesday that Alaska is involved in "north corridor issues with Russia, Canada, Iceland and the United States of America."

The campaign cited Russia's attempts to claim part of a 1,240-mile underwater mountain range that crosses the polar region as its territory. Last August, a Russian submarine dropped a titanium capsule containing the nation's flag on the sea floor, sparking a multinational race to secure rights to the Arctic seabed.

Campaign spokesman Taylor Griffin said Russia's Arctic moves "give you some interesting international experience that you might not otherwise encounter if, say, you were the governor of Delaware."

Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden is a senator from Delaware and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

Griffin said Palin has talked about the Russian Arctic claims with her staff, but he was unable to detail what she said or any position or action she's taken.

Mead Treadwell, chairman of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, said he briefed Palin once in the spring on matters that included the need for icebreakers, energy issues and the treaty under which nations are pursuing Arctic seabed claims. The commission develops national Arctic research policy and works with the administration, Congress, the National Science Foundation and other institutions.

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the State Department say Alaska state officials are not involved in their work, which includes three State Department continental shelf mapping expeditions off Alaska over the past two summers. They took place far beyond any territory over which the state has jurisdiction, department spokeswoman Barbara Moore said Wednesday.

The data gathered could bolster any underwater territorial claims the U.S. might make, though any formal claim is at least a couple years off, Moore said. The Russian claim under "Law of the Sea" has not yet been decided.

While Alaska would be affected by any eventual resource development, like oil discoveries, the state is not participating in their work, she said.

"Folks have been working not with the state as much as the Native communities because of the work going on in the Arctic," Moore said.

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