00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 16                                                                     
01 Opposing the designation of any area in the state as a world heritage site, biosphere                                   
02 reserve, or any other type of international designation without the consent of the Alaska                               
03 State Legislature.                                                                                                      
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05       WHEREAS the United Nations has designated over 60 sites in the United States as                                 
06 "world heritage sites" or "biosphere reserves," which altogether are equal in size to the State                         
07 of Colorado, the eighth largest state; and                                                                              
08       WHEREAS art. IV, sec. 3, United States Constitution, provides that the United States                            
09 Congress shall make all needed rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property                         
10 belonging to the United States and nothing in the constitution shall be construed to prejudice                          
11 any claims of the United States or of any state; and                                                                    
12       WHEREAS many of the United Nations' designations include private property                                       
13 inholdings and contemplate buffer zones of adjacent land; and                                                           
14       WHEREAS some international land designations, such as those under the United                                    
15 States Biosphere Reserve Program and the Man and Biosphere Program of the United Nations                                

01 Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, operate under independent national                                  
02 committees such as the United States Man and Biosphere National Committee that have no                                  
03 legislative directives or authorization from the United States Congress; and                                            
04       WHEREAS local citizens and public officials concerned about job creation and                                    
05 resource-based economies usually have no say in the designation of land near their homes for                            
06 inclusion in an international land use program; and                                                                     
07       WHEREAS these international designations are an open invitation to the international                            
08 community to interfere in domestic economies and land use decisions; and                                                
09       WHEREAS environmental groups and the United States Department of the Interior,                                  
10 National Park Service, have been working to establish an international park, a world heritage                           
11 site, and a marine biosphere reserve called Beringia covering parts of western Alaska, eastern                          
12 Russia, and the Bering Sea; and                                                                                         
13       WHEREAS foreign companies and countries could use these international                                           
14 designations in western Alaska to block economic development that they perceive as                                      
15 competition; and                                                                                                        
16       WHEREAS animal right activists could use these international designations to                                    
17 generate pressure to harass or block harvesting of marine mammals by Alaska Natives; and                                
18       WHEREAS these international designations could be used to harass or block                                       
19 commercial activity, including pipelines, railroads, and power transmission lines; and                                  
20       WHEREAS the United States Department of the Interior, in cooperation with the                                   
21 Federal Interagency Panel for World Heritage, has identified the Aleutian Island Unit of the                            
22 Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Cape                                         
23 Krusenstern National Monument, Denali National Park, Gates of the Arctic National Park,                                 
24 and Katmai National Park as likely to meet the criteria for future nomination as world heritage                         
25 sites; and                                                                                                              
26       WHEREAS, under current law, the United States Secretary of the Interior can                                   
27 nominate world heritage sites, and the United States Secretary of State can nominate                                    
28 biosphere reserves, both without approval by the Congress;                                                              
29       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature recognizes and reaffirms the                                   
30 constitutional authority of the Congress as the elected representatives of the people over the                          
31 federally owned land of the United States; and be it                                                                    

01       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature objects to the nomination                                    
02 or designation of any site in Alaska as a world heritage site, biosphere reserve, or any other                          
03 type of international designation without the prior consent of the Alaska State Legislature; and                        
04 be it                                                                                                                   
05       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                      
06 Congress to pass and the President to sign legislation that will require approval by an Act of                          
07 Congress before any area in the United States or its territories can be nominated as a world                            
08 heritage site, biosphere reserve, or any other type of international designation.                                       
09       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President                              
10 of the United States; the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice-President of the United States                              
11 and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Gale Norton, United States Secretary of the                             
12 Interior; the Honorable Condoleezza Rice, United States Secretary of State; the Honorable J.                            
13 Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Bill Frist,                                 
14 Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Harry Reid, Minority Leader of the U.S.                               
15 Senate; the Honorable Tom DeLay, Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives;                                  
16 the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the                                   
17 Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable                                
18 Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and, by                                   
19 electronic transmission, all other members of the 109th United States Congress.