01/25/2006 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES

     CSHJR 17(RES)-FEDERAL LANDS RECREATION ENHANCEMENT ACT                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  THOMAS  WAGONER  announced  CSHJR 17(RES)  to  be  up  for                                                               
consideration.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
JENNIFER BAXTER,  staff to Representative Jim  Elkins, sponsor of                                                               
HJR 17, presented the sponsor  statement. She explained that this                                                               
resolution opposed the Federal  Lands Recreation Enhancement Act,                                                               
which allows the  Forest Service, the Bureau  of Land Management,                                                               
Fish and  Wildlife Service, National  Park Service and  Bureau of                                                               
Reclamation  to charge  fees for  recreational  use of  federally                                                               
managed  land by  the general  public. Once  enacted, these  fees                                                               
will be  required in order  to enter onto certain  lands. Failure                                                               
to pay the fees can result in fines and criminal penalties.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
She said  the federal government  owns two-thirds of  the state's                                                               
total  acreage  and  80 million  acres  include  national  parks,                                                               
wildlife refuges  and national forests  that have been  set aside                                                               
for public use. The proposed fees  would place an undue burden on                                                               
the  people living  in rural  areas surrounded  by these  federal                                                               
lands. The  Montana, Oregon and Colorado  state legislatures have                                                               
already  passed  resolutions  demanding that  the  U.S.  Congress                                                               
repeal this act.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
4:49:46 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR  FRED   DYSON  remarked  that  Chugach   National  Forest                                                               
controls his beach and he may have a conflict of interest.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR RALPH  SEEKINS asked if the  charge for access is  just a                                                               
small portion of the act.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
MS. BAXTER replied  that this is a small portion  of the act that                                                               
was slipped in.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
4:51:09 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR BERT  STEDMAN said that  tour businesses are  required to                                                               
have permits  to go on Forest  Service lands and he  thought this                                                               
tax was  applicable to non-commercial  uses of federal  lands. At                                                               
one time,  he said, the  federal government encouraged  cabins to                                                               
be built  in the Tongass  National Forest,  but now the  trend is                                                               
have them removed  and to encourage private  access. He supported                                                               
this resolution because Alaskan residents  should be free to come                                                               
and go and recreate on their public lands.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
4:54:23 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR WAGONER commented that the  state already charges fees in a                                                               
lot of its park areas.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR KIM  ELTON agreed with  Senator Stedman saying  he didn't                                                               
mind paying for  using a shelter at a picnic  area, but this goes                                                               
far beyond  that and  leads to  a situation  where people  may be                                                               
taxed for  nebulous purposes just  because they are  using public                                                               
land. He also recommended that  the committee consider on page 1,                                                               
line 15,  to delete "of the  state", because the land  belongs to                                                               
the  people of  the  state  and is  land  where  every person  is                                                               
granted access.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
He suggested another change on page  2, line 31, to say "majority                                                               
leader" and not "Tom DeLay" since no one knows whom it will be.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
4:56:20 PM                                                                                                                    
MS. BAXTER  replied that  the sponsor had  no problem  with those                                                               
changes.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
4:56:32 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR SEEKINS  said he  understood the  concept of  federal and                                                               
state  lands being  held in  trust for  all the  citizens of  the                                                               
United States, but  he abhorred permits and taxes  for public use                                                               
areas because the intent is to  hold them in trust for the public                                                               
in the first place.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
4:59:38 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR ELTON  moved Amendment 1  on page  1, line 15,  to delete                                                               
"of the  state" and  asked for unanimous  consent. There  were no                                                               
objections and Amendment 1 was adopted.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR ELTON  moved Amendment 2  on page  2, line 31,  to delete                                                               
"the honorable  Tom Delay,"  so the resolution  would be  sent to                                                               
whomever the  majority leader will  be. There were  no objections                                                               
and Amendment 2 was adopted.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
5:00:41 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR SEEKINS moved to pass  SCS CSHJR 17(RES) and the attached                                                               
fiscal note  from committee and with  individual recommendations.                                                               
There were no objections and it was so ordered.