SCR 25: Relating to the public trust for fish and wildlife in Alaska.
00 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 25 01 Relating to the public trust for fish and wildlife in Alaska. 02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 WHEREAS fish and wildlife in Alaska are reserved to the people for common use by 04 the Constitution of the State of Alaska; and 05 WHEREAS the common use clause of the Constitution of the State of Alaska 06 incorporates certain trust principles guaranteeing access to fish and wildlife into the 07 constitution; and 08 WHEREAS the public trust imposed on fish and wildlife prevents the state from 09 granting exclusive rights or special privileges to fish and wildlife as was frequently the case in 10 ancient royal traditions; and 11 WHEREAS the public trust doctrine provides that the state holds fish and wildlife 12 resources in trust for public use and that government owes a fiduciary duty to manage those 13 resources for the common good of the public as beneficiary; and 14 WHEREAS the state has an obligation to manage fish and game resources to the 15 benefit of all in accord with its public trust duties; and 16 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature shall provide for the utilization,
01 development, and conservation of fish and wildlife belonging to the state for the maximum 02 benefit of the people of the state; and 03 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature is the trustee and the citizens of the state are 04 the beneficiaries of the public trust for fish and wildlife; and 05 WHEREAS the United States Congress has passed into law Title VIII of the Alaska 06 National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), which establishes a preference to rural 07 residents of the state for subsistence uses of fish and wildlife on federal land in the state; and 08 WHEREAS the majority of residents of the state, who reside outside of rural areas, 09 are wholly excluded from participation in the subsistence preference established by ANILCA; 10 and 11 WHEREAS agencies of the federal government are seeking to extend the reach of the 12 rural subsistence preference under ANILCA to include fishery resources present in or passing 13 through certain portions of the navigable waters of the state; and 14 WHEREAS the federal subsistence preference serves to divide residents of the state 15 by providing access to fish and wildlife for subsistence uses to certain residents and denying 16 access to other residents based solely on where they reside in the state; and 17 WHEREAS the federal subsistence preference is inconsistent with common use of the 18 fish and wildlife resources of the state and with the trust principles underlying the public trust 19 doctrine; and 20 WHEREAS the inequitable allocation of access to fish and wildlife resources that is 21 inherent in the federal subsistence preference under Title VIII of ANILCA interferes with 22 common use management of those resources by the state; and 23 WHEREAS federal agencies are seeking to usurp the authority of the Alaska State 24 Legislature to manage fish and wildlife for sustained yield, common use, and the maximum 25 benefit of all of the people of the state in accordance with the public trust doctrine; 26 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature, as trustee of the fish and 27 wildlife resources of the state, has a fiduciary duty to manage fish and wildlife in the best 28 interests of all of the people of the state in accordance with the public trust doctrine; and be it 29 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature must defend itself from 30 the intrusion of the federal agencies into the management of fish and wildlife in the state in 31 order to assure that fish and wildlife are managed for the best interests of all of the people of
01 the state; and be it 02 FURTHER RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that it has the authority 03 under the Constitution of the State of Alaska and the duty as trustee of the public trust 04 resources of the state, and thus has standing, to bring an action in the federal courts to defend 05 the rights of the state as the owner of fish and wildlife in the state, the legislature as trustee of 06 public trust resources in the state, and the people of the state as beneficiaries of the public 07 trust from actions of federal agencies under provisions of Title VIII of the Alaska National 08 Interest Lands Conservation Act that are contrary to the public trust and that usurp state 09 authority to manage fish and wildlife; and be it 10 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature shall, through the 11 Legislative Council, bring an action in the federal courts challenging the actions of the United 12 States Congress in enacting Title VIII of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 13 and the actions of the federal agencies in implementing the provisions of Title VIII of the 14 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.