00 Enrolled HCR 10                                                                                                         
01 Urging the Governor to exercise all available legal options to restrain the United States                               
02 Department of the Interior, National Park Service, from intruding on the sovereign right of the                         
03 state to exercise jurisdiction over navigable water and submerged land and urging the                                   
04 Governor to allocate sufficient resources to the Department of Law, the Department of                                   
05 Natural Resources, and the Department of Fish and Game to defend the state's right to manage                            
06 the public use of its navigable water.                                                                                  
07                                         _______________                                                                 
08 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                             
09      WHEREAS, under the equal footing doctrine, the Alaska Statehood Act, and 43                                      
10 U.S.C. 1301 - 1315 (Submerged Lands Act of 1953), the state assumed ownership of all                                    
11 submerged land of navigable waterways within the boundaries of the state and all land                                   
12 permanently or periodically covered by tidal water between the line of mean high tide and                               
13 seaward to a line three geographical miles from the coastline of the state, except for                                  
14 submerged land specifically reserved by the United States Congress; and                                                 
15      WHEREAS the state acquired full power and control over the navigable water of the                                
01 state for use of watercraft, placer mining, recreation, commerce, and many other public uses,                           
02 regardless of the upland ownership, except where the United States Congress specifically                                
03 limited the state's authority; and                                                                                      
04      WHEREAS the Constitution of the State of Alaska, state statutes, and state                                       
05 regulations clearly address and reiterate state ownership of and the power of the state to                              
06 manage its submerged land and navigable water, and the people of the state have free and                                
07 unrestricted access unless restricted by state law; and                                                                 
08      WHEREAS the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act clearly states that                                  
09 regulations adopted for the management of conservation system units such as national parks                              
10 apply only to federal land within those units; and                                                                      
11      WHEREAS the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service,                                     
12 began regulating public use of navigable waterways in 1996 and thereby usurped the state's                              
13 sovereign management of the public use of those navigable waterways; and                                                
14      WHEREAS, as a result of its incursion on state authority, the United States                                    
15 Department of the Interior, National Park Service, has directly affected the people of the state                        
16 in a number of ways, including prohibiting the use of certain types of watercraft that are                              
17 authorized by the state, requiring commercial riverboat operators and dog mushing tours to                              
18 secure federal permits, and restricting the methods and means used in the recreational and                              
19 subsistence fisheries; and                                                                                              
20      WHEREAS the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service,                                   
21 continues to expand the restrictions on the public use of navigable water of the state, thereby                         
22 voiding the state's legitimate authority and jurisdiction; and                                                          
23      WHEREAS the state has tried unsuccessfully for 12 years to resolve administratively                              
24 the issue of state authority over submerged land and navigable water;                                                   
25      BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Governor to exercise                                  
26 all available legal options to restrain the United States Department of the Interior, National                          
27 Park Service, from intruding on the sovereign right of the state to exercise jurisdiction over                          
28 submerged land and navigable water; and be it                                                                           
29      FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Governor to                                         
30 allocate adequate resources to the Department of Law, the Department of Natural Resources,                              
31 and the Department of Fish and Game to defend and advocate for the state's right to manage                              
01 the public use of its navigable water.