00SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 5                                                                                         
01 Opposing the closure of the former Mount McKinley portions of Denali National                                           
02 Park and Preserve to snowmachine use.                                                                                   
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                              
04  WHEREAS the National Park Service has proposed the closure of the former Mount                                       
05 McKinley portion of Denali National Park and Preserve to snowmachine use for up to three                                
06 years during which time the agency will study imposition of a permanent closure; and                                    
07  WHEREAS the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA)                                                 
08 authorizes, subject to reasonable regulation, the use of snowmachines and other means of                                
09 motorized and nonmotorized access for traditional activities in all conservation system units                           
10 created or expanded by that Act; and                                                                                    
11  WHEREAS ANILCA and regulations of the National Park Service require the                                              
12 National Park Service to document actual impacts and present findings that snowmachine use                              
13 is detrimental to the resource values of the park and preserve before implementing a closure;                           
14 and                                                                                                                     

01  WHEREAS no such findings have been made or presented to the public; and                                              
02  WHEREAS the National Park Service, since the passage of ANILCA, has                                                  
03 inappropriately restricted the use of snowmachines in the former Mount McKinley portion of                              
04 Denali National Park and Preserve through various legally deficient means; and                                          
05  WHEREAS the National Park Service has refused to act on requests from                                                
06 snowmachine groups to develop voluntary measures to limit or restrict snowmachine use                                   
07 within specific areas for the purpose of minimizing potential conflicts with other uses; and                            
08  WHEREAS any action by the National Park Service to restrict snowmachine use in                                       
09 the park and preserve without full and complete compliance with the factual and procedural                              
10 requirements of ANILCA and its implementing regulations would establish a precedent that                                
11 is adverse to access to other conservation system units in Alaska;                                                      
12  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature opposes the closure of any                                          
13 portion of Denali National Park and Preserve to snowmachine use until the National Park                                 
14 Service complies with the full letter and spirit of the Alaska National Interest Lands                                  
15 Conservation Act and the procedural and factual requirements of the National Park Service                               
16 for adopting such closures.                                                                                             
17  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bruce Babbitt, Secretary,                                   
18 U.S. Department of the Interior; to Robert G. Stanton, Director, National Park Service, U.S.                            
19 Department of the Interior; to Steven P. Martin, Superintendent, Denali National Park and                               
20 Preserve, National Park Service, U. S. Department of the Interior; and to the Honorable Ted                             
21 Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young,                                  
22 U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.