Beringia Days Conference 2K3

The Conference - Beringia Days 2003

The Beringia International Heritage Park may never come about in a physical sense, the politics on both sides are too heavily stacked against it. Chukotka, after 85 years of Soviet repression is unwilling to allow the federalization of any more of its territory. Article III of the Russian Federation Treaty empowers Chukotka to reject federal incursions into land use. The notion of preserves and parks under territorial rule seems possible but may get caught up in indigenous rights issues. The U.S. despite committing the Western Arctic National Parklands (a 12 million acre piece comprised of four national park areas) to a possible international venture seems to think it can only be involved federal government to federal government. Parklands in another country is not enough for their idea of "international".

There are other hurdles too, money is a major one. The National Park Service does devote a very small staff of excellent people and scientists to the Beringia Program run through the Alaska Regional Headquarters in Anchorage. One of its main functions is the moderation and planning for the annual Beringia days conference; a daunting task. It also manages a very small budget of seed and grant moneys for various Beringia related pursuits. Moscow too, through the auspices of the Russian Academy of Sciences, still pursues cooperation but there is little money. Perhaps the most problematic is there is no apparent successor to David Hopkins, no one person with the fortitude and dream and independence to make it happen.

But the Beringia International Heritage Park is a reality. It may not be a physical manifestation or cross border ecological preserve but it is people, people who share common goals, common cultures and common visions. It is Beringia Days and the work and devotion that lead up to this annual event and conference.

Most folks would think that Beringia Days is just a scientific conference. Though science is part of it, it is more a gathering of governments, economists, cultural experts and those that live the cultures, economic developers, tour agencies, conservationists, park managers, transportation experts, artists and many others. Beringia Days builds upon the past but is very much about today.

Some of the wonderful people at Beringia Days