CSSSHJR 49(RES): Relating to opposition to a moratorium on the building of roads in the roadless areas of national forests.
00CS FOR SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 49(RES) 01 Relating to opposition to a moratorium on the building of roads in the roadless 02 areas of national forests. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS the Clinton Administration has directed the United States Department of 05 Agriculture to establish an interim policy regarding roadless areas in national forests; and 06 WHEREAS the United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, is 07 considering a proposed two-year moratorium on the building of roads in those roadless areas; 08 and 09 WHEREAS the National Forest Management Act of 1976 requires that amendments 10 to a forest plan be done in accordance with regulations that, among other things, allow the 11 public to participate in the development, review, and revision of land management plans for 12 national forests such as the Tongass National Forest and the Chugach National Forest; and 13 WHEREAS, after an extensive public process, the Tongass Land Management Plan 14 has already considered the management of roadless areas on the Tongass National Forest; and
01 WHEREAS the application of such a moratorium to the Tongass National Forest 02 would be a unilateral amendment to the Tongass Land Management Plan, which the Forest 03 Service has just revised at a cost to taxpayers exceeding $13,000,000; and 04 WHEREAS, under the Tongass Land Management Plan, the United States Department 05 of Agriculture, Forest Service, plans to offer an average of only 200,000,000 board feet of 06 timber annually, which is far below the 300,000,000 board feet needed for the timber industry 07 as determined by the Governor's Timber Task Force; and 08 WHEREAS the proposed moratorium could eliminate the timber industry that remains 09 in Southeast Alaska by reducing the allowable sale quantity on the Tongass National Forest 10 to nearly zero; and 11 WHEREAS application of the proposed moratorium in the state also violates the spirit 12 of the "no more" provision of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 13 (ANILCA), which prohibits federal agencies from establishing new wilderness areas in the 14 state without an act of Congress; 15 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature opposes any moratorium on the 16 development of the roadless areas of national forests that overrides the forest planning process 17 provided for by the National Forest Management Act of 1976, which allows full public 18 participation in decisions affecting the multiple use of national forest lands; and be it 19 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature opposes any moratorium, 20 restriction, or unilateral amendment to the Tongass Land Management Plan and the Chugach 21 Land Management Plan that overrides the forest planning process required by the National 22 Forest Management Act of 1976, which allows full public participation in decisions affecting 23 the multiple use of national forest lands. 24 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the 25 United States; the Honorable Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and President 26 of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Dan Glickman, Secretary of Agriculture; and to the 27 Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the 28 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.