00                   SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 2                                                                   
01 Requesting the Governor and the Department of Fish and Game to halt and reverse any                                     
02 effort to introduce wood bison into areas planned for development.                                                      
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS the Department of Fish and Game is currently engaged in a program to                                    
05 import and introduce wood bison into wild areas of the state, including into the Nenana                                 
06 Basin/Minto Flats area; and                                                                                           
07       WHEREAS, in June 2008, the Department of Fish and Game imported 53 wood                                         
08 bison from Canada and isolated the animals at the Alaska Conservation Wildlife Center with                              
09 the expectation of releasing them into the wild after holding them for two years in isolation;                          
10 and                                                                                                                     
11       WHEREAS reintroduction of wood bison into the wild would immediately result in a                                
12 classification of the wood bison under the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) as                           
13 endangered because the wood bison is considered "foreign listed" under the Endangered                                   
14 Species Act; because no purebred wood bison are currently found in the United States, the                               
15 United States Fish and Wildlife Service has not listed the species; and                                                 
16       WHEREAS the introduction of endangered lynx in Colorado and three                                               

01 subpopulations of bighorn sheep in California have in the past resulted in Endangered Species                           
02 Act listings that have negatively affected development activities in those two states; and                              
03       WHEREAS, subsequent to an endangered species listing, development activities that                               
04 could adversely affect wood bison or their habitat on land areas into which they have been                              
05 introduced would be viewed as a violation of the Endangered Species Act; and                                            
06       WHEREAS Doyon, Ltd. and other landowners plan to explore for oil and natural gas                                
07 on the Minto Flats and in other areas of the Nenana Basin; and                                                          
08       WHEREAS the presence of the wood bison in those areas would preclude activities                                 
09 essential to oil and gas exploration; and                                                                               
10       WHEREAS introduction of the wood bison and a subsequent listing of the species                                  
11 under the Endangered Species Act would negatively affect potential revenue to the State of                              
12 Alaska, the Alaska Mental Health Trust, and University of Alaska, as well as numerous                                   
13 municipalities and Native corporations; and                                                                             
14       WHEREAS the Governor of Alaska has the authority to direct the Department of Fish                               
15 and Game to halt and reverse its program for introduction of wood bison into the Alaska wild;                           
16       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature requests the Governor to direct                                
17 the commissioner of fish and game to halt and reverse any further efforts to introduce wood                             
18 bison into the Alaska wild.                                                                                             
19       A COPY of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Denby Lloyd,                                           
20 Commissioner, Department of Fish and Game.