Alaska Governor Sean Parnell is urging recently-confirmed Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to push ahead with exploration of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

Parnell presented Secretary Jewell with a 187-page proposal for a seven-year program to conduct seismic surveys of ANWR area 1002, which would help to better define the area’s oil and gas potential. The proposal accompanied a letter offering to request up to $50 million from the state’s legislature to support the seismic program, contingent upon federal interest in partnering with the state on the program. ANWR is managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Parnell has been an outspoken advocate of exploring for and developing Alaska’s oil and gas resources, most notably through a push to link gas reserves on the North Slope to a proposed LNG export plant on the state’s southern coast.

Area 1002 is closed to exploration and development. The United States Geological Survey’s mean estimate for economically-recoverable oil was 5.4-6.3 billion barrels in 2005.

ANWR was created to “preserve unique wildlife, wilderness and recreational values”, and its potential development has been the subject of fierce criticism and opposition from environmental groups, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Defense Fund. The state’s exploration proposal addresses potential environmental impacts and suggestions mitigation measures. “Implementation of this proposal will have negligible impacts on the environment and should be acceptable to a wide range of stakeholders,” said Alaska Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan.

The full proposal can be found here.

In separate news, Parnell has announced that he will sign bills into law tomorrow that reform oil taxes to improve the state’s investment climate for oil production activities and authorize the development, financing and operation of an in-state gas pipeline.

For more on Alaska’s oil tax regime, see Oil Company Tax Cut in Alaska Highly Controversial.