HJR 40: Commending the governor and the administration for aggressively working to enforce the rights of the state in R.S. 2477 rights-of-way; urging the governor and the attorney general to develop a working alliance with other western states to protect and enforce the states' interests in ensuring access using rights-of-way authorized by R.S. 2477; urging the governor and the attorney general to support the State of Utah and the southern counties of Utah in a lawsuit against the federal government concerning R.S. 2477 rights-of-way, including filing an amicus brief in support of Utah; urging the governor to dedicate state resources to establish, protect, and enforce the state's interests in R.S. 2477 rights-of-way and to preserve state rights-of-way against encroachment by the federal government; urging the governor to reestablish a federalism section in the Department of Law and sections in the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Fish and Game to support the preservation of the state's rights and powers in compact cases; and urging the governor to prepare an appropriation request to fund an aggressive effort by the state to resolve issues relating to R.S. 2477 rights-of-way, including possible litigation, and to continue to work to preserve the rights of the state in regard to R.S. 2477 rights-of-way.
00 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 40 01 Commending the governor and the administration for aggressively working to enforce 02 the rights of the state in R.S. 2477 rights-of-way; urging the governor and the attorney 03 general to develop a working alliance with other western states to protect and enforce 04 the states' interests in ensuring access using rights-of-way authorized by R.S. 2477; 05 urging the governor and the attorney general to support the State of Utah and the 06 southern counties of Utah in a lawsuit against the federal government concerning R.S. 07 2477 rights-of-way, including filing an amicus brief in support of Utah; urging the 08 governor to dedicate state resources to establish, protect, and enforce the state's 09 interests in R.S. 2477 rights-of-way and to preserve state rights-of-way against 10 encroachment by the federal government; urging the governor to reestablish a 11 federalism section in the Department of Law and sections in the Department of Natural 12 Resources and the Department of Fish and Game to support the preservation of the 13 state's rights and powers in compact cases; and urging the governor to prepare an
01 appropriation request to fund an aggressive effort by the state to resolve issues relating 02 to R.S. 2477 rights-of-way, including possible litigation, and to continue to work to 03 preserve the rights of the state in regard to R.S. 2477 rights-of-way. 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 WHEREAS, in 1866, R.S. 2477 granted rights-of-way across unappropriated federal 06 land to encourage the development of western land; and 07 WHEREAS R.S. 2477 rights-of-way were perfected by simple use or development; 08 and 09 WHEREAS R.S. 2477 rights-of-way were established in the state through use or 10 development until virtually all federal land in the state was withdrawn in 1969; and 11 WHEREAS, when R.S. 2477 was repealed in 1976 under the Federal Land Policy 12 Management Act (43 U.S.C. 1701), valid existing rights under R.S. 2477 were expressly 13 protected; and 14 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature has recognized 602 rights-of-way in statute, 15 and the Department of Natural Resources has identified 67 additional valid R.S. 2477 rights- 16 of-way; and 17 WHEREAS historic R.S. 2477 rights-of-way represent a key component of the 18 mandate in art. VIII, sec. 1, of the Constitution of the State of Alaska to encourage the 19 settlement of the state's land and the development of the state's land and resources; and 20 WHEREAS the United States Department of Interior and the United States Forest 21 Service refuse to recognize an R.S. 2477 right-of-way unless adjudicated and validated in a 22 decision by a court of competent jurisdiction; and 23 WHEREAS unilateral resistance by the federal government to the existence of the 24 state's rights-of-way causes great harm to the ability of the state to execute its duty to manage 25 state resources by making them accessible and available for maximum use consistent with the 26 public interest, as required in art. VIII, sec. 1, of the Constitution of the State of Alaska; and 27 WHEREAS the State of Utah recently filed notices of intent to sue to enforce its 28 interests in more than 18,000 R.S. 2477 rights-of-way in that state; and 29 WHEREAS the State of Alaska and the State of Utah share similar objections to the 30 large withdrawals of Federal Conservation Units that are managed by the United States
01 Department of the Interior and the United States Forest Service, agencies that both 02 unilaterally deny the existence of valid state easements; and 03 WHEREAS virtually all of the state's natural resource development projects are 04 unnecessarily burdened by numerous federal laws, including the Endangered Species Act, the 05 Clean Water Act, and myriad arbitrary federal regulators and policies implementing and 06 enforcing those and other federal laws; 07 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature commends the governor and the 08 administration for aggressively working to protect the interests of the state in rights-of-way 09 under R.S. 2477 and urges the governor and the attorney general to develop a working 10 alliance with the governors, attorneys general, and legislatures in other western states to 11 protect and enforce the states' interests in ensuring access using rights-of-way authorized by 12 R.S. 2477; and be it 13 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the governor and the 14 attorney general to support the State of Utah and southern counties of Utah in a lawsuit to 15 enforce Utah's interests in R.S. 2477 rights-of-way, including filing an amicus curiae brief in 16 support of Utah against the federal government; and be it 17 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the governor and the 18 attorney general to develop a strategy for resolving the dispute over the right to continued 19 access using R.S. 2477 rights-of-way in the state, including the possibility of bringing a 20 lawsuit against the federal government to preserve the state's interest in each right-of-way; 21 and be it 22 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the governor to 23 further strengthen the resources of the state for protecting the state's rights by reestablishing a 24 federalism section within the Department of Law that will focus on defending the state's rights 25 and powers in compact cases and by establishing sections in the Department of Natural 26 Resources and the Department of Fish and Game to work with the Department of Law to 27 support the preservation of the state's rights and powers in compact cases; and be it 28 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature asks the governor to 29 submit to the 28th Alaska Legislature a request for an appropriation specifically to fund an 30 aggressive effort by the state to resolve issues relating to the state's right to use R.S. 2477 31 rights-of-way and to preserve the rights of the state against federal encroachment on the state's
01 rights in regard to R.S. 2477 rights-of-way.