HJR 20: Urging the United States Congress to enact legislation to clarify and recognize each individual state's authority to manage the fish and wildlife within its borders.
00 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 20 01 Urging the United States Congress to enact legislation to clarify and recognize each 02 individual state's authority to manage the fish and wildlife within its borders. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS sportsmen are the cornerstone of the North American Model of Wildlife 05 Conservation, in which hunters and anglers serve as the foremost funding source of fish and 06 wildlife management; and 07 WHEREAS, over time, the United States Congress has, through various acts, 08 recognized the states' role, authority, and expertise in fish and wildlife conservation; and 09 WHEREAS this state has a history of maintaining fish and wildlife resources for the 10 maximum benefit of the people based on the sustained yield principle; and 11 WHEREAS federal land management agencies are increasingly inconsistent in 12 recognizing the state's primary role in the management of the state's fish and wildlife; and 13 WHEREAS the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has superseded conservation- 14 based, state-authorized hunting and trapping seasons, bag limits, methods, and means for a 15 number of species on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge; and 16 WHEREAS the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has refused to allow the state
01 actively to manage wolves in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge to prevent 02 extirpation of the dwindling Unimak caribou herd and to provide for subsistence and other 03 uses; and 04 WHEREAS the National Park Service has superseded state-authorized hunting and 05 trapping seasons for brown bear and black bear, wolf, and coyote in areas throughout the 06 state; and 07 WHEREAS the National Park Service has restricted the access of state employees 08 and members of the public to state land and water for research, hunting, fishing, and trapping; 09 and 10 WHEREAS the National Park Service has superseded state hunting regulations that 11 recognized traditional hunting for bears in dens using artificial light; and 12 WHEREAS the United States Department of the Interior increasingly asserts 13 management of resident wildlife using precautionary passive management approaches aimed 14 at ensuring "natural diversity" in disregard of the North American Model of Wildlife 15 Conservation; and 16 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature is concerned with the erosion and 17 preemption of the state's authority to manage its fish and wildlife resources; 18 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 19 Congress to enact legislation reserving the authority to enforce state fish and wildlife laws and 20 manage fish and wildlife on public land and water, including federal land and federal reserved 21 water, to the individual states in which the land or water is found; and be it 22 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 23 Congress to enact legislation precluding federal policies that automatically preempt a state's 24 authority to manage its fish and wildlife, despite prior congressional recognition of state 25 management authority; and be it 26 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 27 Congress to enact legislation requiring federal agencies to revise existing agreements between 28 state and federal land management agencies to clarify and recognize their respective 29 management authority, to recognize the scientific expertise of state fish and wildlife 30 biologists, and to accord state fish and wildlife biologists the same deference in court and 31 regulatory proceedings as federal biologists; and be it
01 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that 02 the United States Congress pursue efforts to clarify the state's authority over fish and wildlife 03 management within its boundaries. 04 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice- 05 President of the United States and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable John Boehner, 06 Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, Majority 07 Leader of the U.S. Senate; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan 08 Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the 09 Alaska delegation in Congress.