00SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 20                                                                                        
01 Relating to the removal of beaver from Washington, D.C.                                                                 
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                              
03  WHEREAS the National Park Service is attempting to remove a young solitary beaver                                    
04 from the vicinity of the Potomac Tidal Basin near the national Mall in Washington, D.C.,                                
05 because the beaver has downed four cherry trees and five white cedar trees; and                                         
06  WHEREAS the National Park Service has declared the beaver to be a very evasive                                       
07 and wily tree predator; and                                                                                             
08  WHEREAS the beaver is only doing what beaver naturally do; and                                                       
09  WHEREAS the federal government is reintroducing grey wolves, grizzly bear, lynx,                                     
10 and bald eagles in several states in order to enhance the biological diversity in those states;                         
11 and                                                                                                                     
12  WHEREAS the return of beaver to Washington, D.C., can only enhance the biological                                    
13 diversity of the nation's capital; and                                                                                  
14  WHEREAS the National Park Service is closing Glacier Bay National Park and                                           

01 Preserve to fishing for crabs because the crabs are an essential element of the ecosystem of                            
02 the park and the long established and sustainable crab fishery is inconsistent with the                                 
03 preservation of natural crab populations; and                                                                           
04  WHEREAS the policy of the National Park Service in Alaska is to remove people                                        
05 rather than the animals when there is a conflict between people and wildlife; and                                       
06  WHEREAS Washington, D.C., and the nation as a whole, would benefit from greater                                      
07 efforts on the part of the National Park Service to assist and protect wildlife by excluding                            
08 people from areas where wildlife is attempting to reestablish a foothold in the nation's capital;                       
09  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that the                                      
10 National Park Service cease its efforts to remove the beaver from the Potomac Tidal Basin                               
11 in Washington, D.C., and assist the reestablishment of a healthy beaver population in the                               
12 nation's capital; and be it                                                                                             
13  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the                                         
14 National Park Service to investigate the habitat requirements for beaver in Washington, D.C.,                           
15 and the adaptions that beaver have made to cope with the unique urban environment of                                    
16 Washington, D.C., establish protected beaver habitat areas in Washington, D.C., and use good                            
17 science in its actions regarding beaver in Washington, D.C.                                                             
18  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President                                
19 of the United States and President of the U.S. Senate; to the Honorable Bruce Babbitt,                                  
20 Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior, to Robert G. Stanton, Director, National Park                               
21 Service, U.S. Department of the Interior; to all members of the U.S. Congress; and to the                               
22 Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the                                         
23 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.