00 Enrolled HJR 17                                                                                                         
01 Encouraging Coeur Alaska, Inc., to pursue all legal options to resolve the issues presented in                          
02 Southeast Alaska Conservation Council v. United States Army Corps of Engineers on behalf                                
03 of itself and consistent with the state's efforts to enforce its rights as a state over its resources.                  
04                                            _______________                                                              
05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                             
06      WHEREAS the state is rich in natural resources and is dependent on the development                               
07 of those resources for its well-being; and                                                                              
08      WHEREAS the policy of the federal government expressed in 30 U.S.C. 21a is to                                    
09 foster and encourage private enterprise in the development of economically sound and stable                             
10 domestic mining, minerals, metal, and mineral reclamation industries; and                                               
11      WHEREAS the United States District Court for the District of Alaska found that the                               
12 decision of the United States Army Corps of Engineers to allow the disposal of tailings from                            
13 the proposed Kensington Mine into Lower Slate Lake is consistent with the requirements of                               
14 the Clean Water Act; and                                                                                                
15      WHEREAS the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit stated in an                                    
01 order issued in Southeast Alaska Conservation Council v. United States Army Corps of                                    
02 Engineers, Case No. 06-35679, that the court intends to reverse and vacate the Record of                                
03 Decision authorizing the use of Lower Slate Lake as a disposal facility, and remand the case                            
04 to the district court with instructions to enter summary judgment in favor of Southeast Alaska                          
05 Conservation Council;                                                                                                   
06      BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature encourages Coeur Alaska, Inc.,                                  
07 to pursue all legal options, including an appeal to the United States Supreme Court, to resolve                         
08 the issues presented in Southeast Alaska Conservation Council v. United States Army Corps                               
09 of Engineers, Case No. 06-35679, on behalf of itself and consistent with the state's efforts to                         
10 enforce its rights as a state over its resources.                                                                       
11      COPIES of this resolution shall be sent by electronic transmission to the Honorable                              
12 George W. Bush, President of the United States; the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice-                                  
13 President of the United States and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi,                            
14 Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Mary M. Schroeder, Chief                                    
15 Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; the Honorable Jeff Bingaman,                               
16 Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; the Honorable Nick J.                               
17 Rahall II, Chair of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources; the Honorable Sarah                                  
18 Palin, Governor of Alaska; the Honorable Tom Irwin, Commissioner, Department of Natural                                 
19 Resources; Dennis E. Wheeler, President, Coeur Alaska, Inc.; and the Honorable Ted Stevens                              
20 and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.                                      
21 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.