00                    SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 3                                                                   
01 Urging the Governor to file an action to restrain the United States Department of the                                   
02 Interior, National Park Service, from intruding on the sovereign right of the state to                                  
03 exercise jurisdiction over navigable water and submerged land and urging the Governor                                   
04 to allocate sufficient resources to the Department of Law, the Department of Natural                                    
05 Resources, and the Department of Fish and Game to defend the state's right to manage                                    
06 the public use of its navigable water.                                                                                  
07 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
08       WHEREAS, under the equal footing doctrine, the Alaska Statehood Act, and 43                                     
09 U.S.C. 1301 - 1315 (Submerged Lands Act of 1953), the state assumed ownership of all                                    
10 submerged land of navigable waterways within the boundaries of the state and all land                                   
11 permanently or periodically covered by tidal water between the line of mean high tide and                               
12 seaward to a line three geographical miles from the coastline of the state, except for                                  
13 submerged land specifically reserved by the United States Congress; and                                                 
14       WHEREAS the state acquired full power and control over the navigable water of the                               
01 state for use of watercraft, placer mining, recreation, commerce, and many other public uses,                           
02 regardless of the upland ownership, except where the United States Congress specifically                                
03 limited the state's authority; and                                                                                      
04       WHEREAS the Constitution of the State of Alaska, state statutes, and state                                      
05 regulations clearly address and reiterate state ownership of and the power of the state to                              
06 manage its submerged land and navigable water, and the people of the state have free and                                
07 unrestricted access unless restricted by state law; and                                                                 
08       WHEREAS the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act clearly states that                                 
09 regulations adopted for the management of conservation system units such as national parks                              
10 apply only to federal land within those units; and                                                                      
11       WHEREAS the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service,                                    
12 began regulating public use of navigable waterways in 1996 and thereby usurped the state's                              
13 sovereign management of the public use of those navigable waterways; and                                                
14       WHEREAS, as a result of its incursion on state authority, the United States                                   
15 Department of the Interior, National Park Service, has directly affected the people of the state                        
16 in a number of ways, including prohibiting the use of certain types of watercraft that are                              
17 authorized by the state, issuing citations to placer miners that have valid state permits,                              
18 requiring commercial riverboat operators and dog mushing tours to secure federal permits,                               
19 and restricting the methods and means used in the recreational and subsistence fisheries; and                           
20       WHEREAS the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service,                                  
21 continues to expand the restrictions on the public use of navigable water of the state, thereby                         
22 voiding the state's legitimate authority and jurisdiction; and                                                          
23       WHEREAS the state has tried unsuccessfully for 12 years to resolve administratively                             
24 the issue of state authority over submerged land and navigable water;                                                   
25       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Governor to file suit                                
26 against the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, to restrain the                            
27 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, from intruding on the                                  
28 sovereign right of the state to exercise jurisdiction over submerged land and navigable water;                          
29 and be it                                                                                                               
30       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Governor to                                        
31 allocate adequate resources to the Department of Law, the Department of Natural Resources,                              
01 and the Department of Fish and Game to defend and advocate for the state's right to manage                              
02 the public use of its navigable water.