We think it’s strange, more than anything else – this near-universally held view among energy reporters from the Lower-48 that all native Alaskan communities oppose the responsible development of the state’s abundant energy resources.

Now, we’re not saying that the native population is a monolith on this question; some have consistently opposed exploration for their own unique reasons. Here, the Gwich’in community comes to mind – folks whose principles are so strongly aligned against development that they opposed exploration on the coastal plain of ANWR without even living there. But, by and large, the natives’ position on energy exploration is pretty similar to the rest of the Alaska’s: If you can do it right, and do it safely, and generate revenue and jobs in the process – why the hell would anyone oppose a thing like that?

Heck, according to the dispatch we read in the Anchorage paper this morning, some native groups are actually teaming up with local energy producers to ensure this work gets off the ground offshore:

Shell is partnering with Olgoonik Corp., the Native village corporation for the Chukchi Sea coast village of Wainwright, and Ukpeaegvik Inupiat Corp., the Native village corporation for Barrow, to operate logistics bases in Wainwright and Barrow this summer, Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said.

And apparently Shell’s not the only operator in the area looking to partner with local native communities to turn Wainwright into an effective logistics hub for its offshore exploration activities. Conoco’s contributing to the effort as well:

Conoco Phillips anticipates using Wainwright as a base for small vessels and as a helicopter base in its early exploration of the Chukchi Sea, a Conoco spokeswoman said. Conoco plans to drill in the Chukchi in 2012.