Alaska ? Gov. Sarah Palin returned to the spotlight Tuesday with an appearance in a remote Arctic village where she stood by her perplexing decision to resign just as she tries to elevate her national profile ahead of a possible 2012 presidential run.

Palin signed a bill, in a small town 30 miles north of the Arctic circle called Kotzebue, that is intended to bolster law enforcement in Alaska villages. Many people lingered to get their pictures taken with the popular Republican governor and former vice presidential candidate.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Palin defended her decision to step down after a year in which she has been bombarded with a series of ethics complaints and public records requests that have cost the state nearly $2 million to investigate, according to a tally provided by the governor’s office Tuesday.

“You would be amazed at how much time and resource my staff and I, the Department of Law especially, spend on this every day,” she said. “It is a waste. We are spending these millions of dollars not on teachers and troopers and roads or fish research and other things that are needed in Alaska.”