Idea of the Day: Creating a U.S- Russian Preservation Park

August 4, 2009

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The United States and Russia operate two national parks/nature preserves on opposite sides of the Bering Strait: the Beringia Nature Ethnic Park in Russia and the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve in Alaska. Despite an agreement in 1990 between Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President George H.W. Bush to establish an international nature preserve and national park in the Bering Strait, this idea has not advanced beyond the concept phase.

The Obama administration should revive this proposal and work toward the establishment of a joint heritage and natural preservation park in the Bering Sea region. The bilateral administration of such a park could help regulate practices harmful to the Arctic environment such as overfishing; serve as a means for further U.S.-Russia cooperation in the Arctic; and preserve the rich cultural and natural heritage of the Bering region.

For more on this topic please see:

• After the "Reset": A New Strategy and New Agenda for U.S. Russia Policy by Samuel Charap.