Gov. Bill Walker will fly to Alaska with President Barack Obama on Monday.
Walker’s office announced in a release Saturday that Walker will accompany the president aboard Air Force One from Washington, D.C. The president will address a State Department global warming conference Monday afternoon in Anchorage. He also has visits planned in Seward, Dillingham and Kotzebue on the three-day trip, during which he will become the first president to visit the American Arctic.
Walker says he intends to tout Alaska’s benefits to the nation and wants to discuss opportunities for the state and federal governments to work together to improve the state’s economy.
The governor says he will also take the opportunity to personally thank Obama for his leadership in approving permits for Royal Dutch Shell to drill for oil off Alaska’s northern coast.