00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 21                                                                     
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 and affected local governments; and urging the United States Congress                                 
04 to enact legislation to require congressional approval before an area in the United States                              
05 may be considered for an international designation.                                                                     
06 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
07       WHEREAS the United Nations has designated over 60 sites in the United States as                                 
08 "world heritage sites" or "biosphere reserves," which altogether are equal in size to the State                         
09 of Colorado, the eighth largest state; and                                                                              
10       WHEREAS art. IV, sec. 3, United States Constitution, provides that the United States                            
11 Congress shall make all needed rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property                         
12 belonging to the United States and nothing in the constitution shall be construed to prejudice                          
13 any claims of the United States or of any state; and                                                                    
14       WHEREAS many of the United Nations' designations include private property                                       
15 inholdings and contemplate buffer zones of adjacent land; and                                                           

01       WHEREAS some international land designations, such as those under the United                                    
02 States Biosphere Reserve Program and the Man and Biosphere Program of the United Nations                                
03 Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, operate under independent national                                  
04 committees such as the United States Man and Biosphere National Committee that have no                                  
05 legislative directives or authorization from the United States Congress; and                                            
06       WHEREAS local citizens and public officials concerned about job creation and                                    
07 resource-based economies usually have no say in the designation of land near their homes for                            
08 inclusion in an international land use program; and                                                                     
09       WHEREAS these international designations are an open invitation to the international                            
10 community to interfere in domestic economies and land use decisions; and                                                
11       WHEREAS environmental groups and the United States Department of the Interior,                                  
12 National Park Service, have been working to establish an international park, a world heritage                           
13 site, and a marine biosphere reserve called Beringia covering parts of western Alaska, eastern                          
14 Russia, and the Bering Sea, and in Glacier Bay National Park; and                                                       
15       WHEREAS foreign companies and countries could use these international                                           
16 designations in western Alaska to block or inhibit economic development that they perceive                              
17 as competition; and                                                                                                     
18       WHEREAS animal rights activists could use these international designations to                                   
19 generate pressure to harass or block harvesting of marine mammals by Alaska Natives; and                                
20       WHEREAS international designations may be used to harass or block industrial                                    
21 development in the state, including projects related to fishing, mining, timber harvesting,                             
22 railroads, power transmission lines, pipelines, and other oil and gas development; and                                  
23       WHEREAS the subsistence and recreational use of fish and game resources in the                                  
24 state could be severely and negatively affected by international land use designations; and                             
25       WHEREAS the United States Department of the Interior, in cooperation with the                                   
26 Federal Interagency Panel for World Heritage, has identified the Aleutian Island Unit of the                            
27 Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Cape                                         
28 Krusenstern National Monument, Denali National Park, Gates of the Arctic National Park,                                 
29 Glacier Bay National Park, and Katmai National Park as likely to meet the criteria for future                           
30 nomination as world heritage sites; and                                                                                 
31       WHEREAS, under current law, the United States Secretary of the Interior can                                   

01 nominate world heritage sites, and the United States Secretary of State can nominate                                    
02 biosphere reserves, both without approval by the Congress;                                                              
03       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature recognizes and reaffirms the                                   
04 constitutional authority of the United States Congress as the elected representatives of the                            
05 people over the federally owned land of the United States; and be it                                                    
06       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature objects to the nomination                                    
07 or designation of any site in Alaska as a world heritage site, biosphere reserve, or any other                          
08 type of international designation without the prior consent of the Alaska State Legislature and                         
09 affected local governments; and be it                                                                                   
10       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                      
11 Congress to pass and the President to sign legislation that will require approval by an Act of                          
12 Congress before any area in the United States or its territories can be studied as a potential, or                      
13 nominated to be, a world heritage site, biosphere reserve, or any other type of international                           
14 designation.                                                                                                            
15       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President                              
16 of the United States; the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice-President of the United States                              
17 and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Dirk Kempthorne, United States Secretary of                             
18 the Interior; the Honorable Condoleezza Rice, United States Secretary of State; the Honorable                           
19 Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Harry Reid,                                   
20 Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader of the                               
21 U.S. Senate; the Honorable Steny Hoyer, Majority Leader of the U.S. House of                                            
22 Representatives; the Honorable John Boehner, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of                                       
23 Representatives; the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S.                                       
24 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska                                       
25 delegation in Congress; and all members of the 110th United States Congress by electronic                               
26 transmission.