03/07/2011 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES

          HJR 11-OPPOSING ANWR WILDERNESS DESIGNATION                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
3:32:01 PM                                                                                                                    
CO-CHAIR WAGONER announced HJR 11 to be up for consideration.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
JEFF  TURNER, staff  for Representative  Millett, sponsor  of HJR
,   explained  that   this  bill   simply  states   the  Alaska                                                               
Legislature's  opposition to  any wilderness  designation on  the                                                               
1002 area  of the Arctic  National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).  It is                                                               
quite  similar  to  the resolution  sponsored  by  Representative                                                               
Millett and  passed by the  legislature two years ago  except for                                                               
one key difference. Right now  the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service                                                               
is coming  up with  a draft  comprehensive conservation  plan for                                                               
ANWR  and  it  is  expected  to  contain  possibly  a  wilderness                                                               
recommendation for the 1002 area.  That makes at least two pieces                                                               
of legislation  are now in  Congress that  will lock up  the 1002                                                               
area that he knows of.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
3:33:33 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI joined the committee.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
MR.  TURNER said  in 1980,  Congress passed  the Alaska  National                                                               
Interest  Lands  Conservation   Act  (ANILCA)  that  specifically                                                               
excluded the  1002 area of  ANWR as a  result of a  compromise to                                                               
create  ANWR in  the first  place.  That gave  only Congress  the                                                               
power to allow  a wilderness designation or to allow  oil and gas                                                               
development on the 1002 area.  Right now, the USGS estimates that                                                               
ANWR  has 4  billion barrels  of  oil that  would certainly  help                                                               
address  the  decline in  TAPS  production.  This area  also  has                                                               
"quite  a bit  of  natural gas"  which could  fill  a future  gas                                                               
pipeline.  Any  development  in  ANWR   could  take  place  on  a                                                               
footprint  as  small as  2,000  acres  out  of the  Refuge's  1.5                                                               
million acres.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
He  also  said  new  caribou   population  numbers  indicate  the                                                               
Porcupine Caribou Herd  is up to 169,000 animals,  an increase of                                                               
30 percent from a study done  a few years ago. The Central Arctic                                                               
Caribou Herd is  up as well. He said this  is ample evidence that                                                               
oil and  gas exploration and  production can happen on  the North                                                               
Slope without harming the wildlife resources up there.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR PASKVAN  asked his understanding  of the  compromise that                                                               
was  reached in  passing ANILCA  with respect  to preserving  the                                                               
right to enter into laws to  develop oil and gas resources in the                                                               
1002 area.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
MR. TURNER answered  that Congress understood very  well that the                                                               
1002 area  probably held  significant oil  and gas  resources and                                                               
decided it  should preserve it  for future development.  So, they                                                               
agreed to  set aside  that one  small piece of  land and  the law                                                               
states that  only Congress  has the  power to  allow oil  and gas                                                               
exploration or placing a wilderness designation on it.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR PASKVAN  asked if the wilderness  designation was imposed                                                               
only on areas outside of the 1002 at the time.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
MR. TURNER replied that was his understanding.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
3:36:19 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR FRENCH asked  what the second "whereas"  language on page                                                               
2, line 6, meant.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
MR.  TURNER answered  that it  states  the belief  that the  U.S.                                                               
Congress  has  the  power to  designate  new  conservation  units                                                               
within federal lands.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR FRENCH  asked why  it is  necessary to  have that  in the                                                               
resolution.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MR. TURNER answered  to state the sponsor's  understanding of the                                                               
law.                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
3:38:31 PM                                                                                                                    
CO-CHAIR WAGONER opened the public  hearing. Finding no comments,                                                               
he closed public testimony.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  PASKVAN moved  to  report HJR  11  from committee  with                                                               
individual  recommendations and  attached  fiscal note(s).  There                                                               
were no objections and it was so ordered.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
3:39:18 PM                                                                                                                    
At ease from 3:39 to 3:41 p.m.