CSSCR 25(JUD): Relating to the public trust for fish and wildlife in Alaska.
00 CS FOR SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 25(JUD) 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, as a consequence of Alaska Statehood, the federal government's 04 authority to manage wildlife resources within Alaska was extinguished, and thereafter the title 05 to and ownership of all wildlife resources became the sole property of the people of Alaska; 06 and 07 WHEREAS fish and wildlife resources in Alaska are specifically reserved to the 08 people for common use by art. VIII, Constitution of the State of Alaska, which incorporates 09 trust principles guaranteeing all Alaskans access to fish and wildlife resources; and 10 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature is the trustee and the citizens of the state are 11 the beneficiaries of the public trust for fish and wildlife resources; and 12 WHEREAS the public trust doctrine provides that the trustee of the public trust for 13 fish and wildlife resources has the affirmative fiduciary duty to protect and manage, and 14 provide for the utilization of, these resources for the maximum benefit of the Alaska 15 beneficiaries without special privilege; and 16 WHEREAS the legislature's public trust obligation and public trust duties are
01 affirmative duties that cannot be abandoned and require the trust assets to be defended; and 02 WHEREAS the United States Congress has passed into law the Alaska National 03 Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), which establishes a preference to rural residents 04 of Alaska trust resources for subsistence uses of fish and wildlife and other renewable 05 resources on federal land in the state without regard to resource abundance; and 06 WHEREAS the majority of residents of the state, who reside outside of rural areas, 07 are wholly excluded from participation in the federal subsistence preference, based solely on 08 where they reside in the state; and 09 WHEREAS agencies of the federal government have adopted regulations extending 10 the reach of the ANILCA preference to include allocating wildlife resources on state lands 11 and to fishery resources present in Alaska's marine and coastal waters and certain portions of 12 Alaska's navigable waterways; and 13 WHEREAS the ANILCA subsistence preference violates the trust responsibility to 14 manage the fish and wildlife resources of the state for the benefit of all beneficiaries and has 15 been unanimously held to be without authority on state lands and navigable waters by the 16 Alaska Supreme Court; and 17 WHEREAS the inequitable harvest and allocation of Alaska's fish and wildlife 18 resources that the ANILCA subsistence preference regulations have implemented constitute 19 an illegal taking, allocation, and misappropriation of Alaska fish and wildlife resources to 20 which the federal government does not have title or ownership; and 21 WHEREAS federal agencies are illegally usurping the authority of the Alaska State 22 Legislature to manage fish and wildlife resources for sustained yield, common use, and the 23 maximum benefit of all of the people of the state, in accordance with the public trust doctrine; 24 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature, as trustee of the fish and 25 wildlife resources for the people of Alaska, has a fiduciary duty to protect and defend the 26 assets of the public trust for the maximum benefit of all the people of the state in accordance 27 with the public trust doctrine; and be it 28 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature, as trustee for the citizen 29 beneficiaries of Alaska, shall defend Alaskans from further illegal allocations by the intrusion 30 of the federal agencies into the management of Alaska's fish and wildlife resources in order to 31 protect the people of Alaska and assure that Alaska's fish and wildlife resources are managed
01 for maximum benefit of all of the people of the state; and be it 02 FURTHER RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that it has the authority 03 under art. VIII, Constitution of the State of Alaska, and the duty as trustee for 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 common owners of Alaska's fish and wildlife resources from the federal 06 subsistence regulations and other actions of federal agencies brought under color of the 07 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act that are contrary to the public trust and that 08 usurp the authority of the State of Alaska to conserve, manage, and allocate fish and wildlife 09 resources; 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 federal subsistence 12 regulations and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act and other actions of the 13 federal agencies in implementing the provisions of the Alaska National Interest Lands 14 Conservation Act.