CSHJR 40(JUD): Commending the governor and the administration for aggressively working to protect the interests of the state in rights-of-way under R.S. 2477; urging the governor and the attorney general to develop a working alliance with the governors, attorneys general, and legislatures in 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 interests of the State of Utah and southern counties of Utah in R.S. 2477 rights-of-way by actively seeking confirmation of R.S. 2477 rights-of-way through various means, including initiating litigation in this state; urging the governor and the attorney general to develop a strategy for resolving the dispute over the right to continued access using R.S. 2477 rights-of-way in the state, including the possibility of bringing lawsuits against the federal government to preserve the state's interest in rights-of-way; urging the governor to further strengthen the resources of the state for protecting the state's rights by continuing to focus the efforts of the Department of Law, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Fish and Game, and other departments on defending the state's rights and powers with regard to access and federalism issues; and urging the United States Congress to enact legislation requiring federal agencies with land management authority to establish a process to recognize valid R.S. 2477 rights-of-way claims expeditiously after a notice of intent to claim an R.S. 2477 right-of-way has been filed without the need to dispute those claims in court and to participate in good faith in the process.
00 CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 40(JUD) 01 Commending the governor and the administration for aggressively working to protect 02 the interests of the state in rights-of-way under R.S. 2477; urging the governor and the 03 attorney general to develop a working alliance with the governors, attorneys general, 04 and legislatures in other western states to protect and enforce the states' interests in 05 ensuring access using rights-of-way authorized by R.S. 2477; urging the governor and 06 the attorney general to support the interests of the State of Utah and southern counties 07 of Utah in R.S. 2477 rights-of-way by actively seeking confirmation of R.S. 2477 rights- 08 of-way through various means, including initiating litigation in this state; urging the 09 governor and the attorney general to develop a strategy for resolving the dispute over 10 the right to continued access using R.S. 2477 rights-of-way in the state, including the 11 possibility of bringing lawsuits against the federal government to preserve the state's 12 interest in rights-of-way; urging the governor to further strengthen the resources of the 13 state for protecting the state's rights by continuing to focus the efforts of the Department
01 of Law, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Fish and Game, and 02 other departments on defending the state's rights and powers with regard to access and 03 federalism issues; and urging the United States Congress to enact legislation requiring 04 federal agencies with land management authority to establish a process to recognize 05 valid R.S. 2477 rights-of-way claims expeditiously after a notice of intent to claim an 06 R.S. 2477 right-of-way has been filed without the need to dispute those claims in court 07 and to participate in good faith in the process. 08 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 09 WHEREAS, in 1866, R.S. 2477 granted rights-of-way across unappropriated federal 10 land to encourage the development of western land; and 11 WHEREAS R.S. 2477 rights-of-way were perfected by simple use or development; 12 and 13 WHEREAS R.S. 2477 rights-of-way were established in the state through use or 14 development until virtually all federal land in the state was withdrawn in 1969; and 15 WHEREAS, when R.S. 2477 was repealed in 1976 under the Federal Land Policy 16 Management Act (43 U.S.C. 1701), valid existing rights under R.S. 2477 were expressly 17 protected; and 18 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature has recognized 602 rights-of-way in statute, 19 and the Department of Natural Resources has identified at least 67 additional valid R.S. 2477 20 rights-of-way; and 21 WHEREAS historic R.S. 2477 rights-of-way represent a key component of the 22 mandate in art. VIII, sec. 1, of the Constitution of the State of Alaska to encourage the 23 settlement of the state's land and the development of the state's land and resources; and 24 WHEREAS the United States Department of the Interior and the United States Forest 25 Service refuse to recognize an R.S. 2477 right-of-way unless adjudicated and validated in a 26 decision by a court of competent jurisdiction; and 27 WHEREAS unilateral resistance by the federal government to the existence of the 28 state's rights-of-way causes great harm to the ability of the state to execute its duty to manage
01 state resources by making them accessible to Alaskans and available for maximum use 02 consistent with the public interest, as required in art. VIII, sec. 1, of the Constitution of the 03 State of Alaska; and 04 WHEREAS the State of Utah recently filed notices of intent to sue to enforce its 05 interests in more than 18,000 R.S. 2477 rights-of-way in that state; and 06 WHEREAS the State of Alaska and the State of Utah share similar objections to the 07 large withdrawals of Federal Conservation Units that are managed by the United States 08 Department of the Interior and the United States Forest Service, agencies that both 09 unilaterally deny the existence of valid state easements; 10 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature commends the governor and the 11 administration for aggressively working to protect the interests of the state in rights-of-way 12 under R.S. 2477 and urges the governor and the attorney general to develop a working 13 alliance with the governors, attorneys general, and legislatures in other western states to 14 protect and enforce the states' interests in ensuring access using rights-of-way authorized by 15 R.S. 2477; and be it 16 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the governor and the 17 attorney general to support the interests of the State of Utah and southern counties of Utah in 18 R.S. 2477 rights-of-way by actively seeking confirmation of R.S. 2477 rights-of-way through 19 various means, including initiating litigation in this state; and be it 20 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the governor and the 21 attorney general to develop a strategy for resolving the dispute over the right to continued 22 access using R.S. 2477 rights-of-way in the state, including the possibility of bringing 23 lawsuits against the federal government to preserve the state's interest in rights-of-way; and be 24 it 25 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the governor further 26 to strengthen the resources of the state for protecting the state's rights by continuing to focus 27 the efforts of the Department of Law, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department 28 of Fish and Game, and other departments on defending the state's rights and powers with 29 regard to access and federalism issues; and be it 30 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 31 Congress to enact legislation requiring federal agencies with land management authority to
01 establish a process to recognize valid R.S. 2477 rights-of-way claims expeditiously after a 02 notice of intent to claim an R.S. 2477 right-of-way has been filed without the need to dispute 03 those claims in court and to participate in good faith in the process. 04 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 05 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 06 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Ken Salazar, United States Secretary of the 07 Interior; the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 08 Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 09 Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, 10 Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Jeff Bingaman, Chair of the Energy and 11 Natural Resources Committee of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Gary R. Herbert, Governor 12 of Utah; Kathy Davis, Assistant Attorney General, State of Utah, Office of the Attorney 13 General, Division of Public Lands; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark 14 Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the 15 Alaska delegation in Congress; and all other members of the 112th United States Congress.