00 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 10 01 Opposing the revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Impact 02 Statement for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; opposing attempts by President 03 Obama to alter management of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; 04 encouraging the United States Congress to reject a proposal based on the revised 05 Comprehensive Conservation Plan or accompanying Environmental Impact Statement; 06 and encouraging the United States Congress to reject a proposal that does not open the 07 coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development. 08 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 09 WHEREAS, in 1980, the United States Congress enacted the Alaska National Interest 10 Lands Conservation Act, transferring approximately 105,000,000 acres of public lands to 11 various conservation units; and 12 WHEREAS 105,000,000 acres is more land than contained in the State of California; 13 and 14 WHEREAS, if the land contained in conservation units developed under the Alaska 01 National Interest Lands Conservation Act were a state, it would be the third largest state in the 02 United States; and 03 WHEREAS, with passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, 04 the United States Congress explicitly stated, in sec. 101(d), that the "Act provides sufficient 05 protection for the national interest in the scenic, natural, cultural and environmental values on 06 the public lands in Alaska" and that the need for additional conservation areas had been 07 obviated; and 08 WHEREAS the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act also prohibited 09 further studies of federal land in the state for "the single purpose of considering the 10 establishment of a conservation system unit, national recreation area, national conservation 11 area, or for related or similar purpose . . . unless authorized by this Act or further Act of 12 Congress"; and 13 WHEREAS, in sec. 1002 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the 14 United States Congress specifically set aside, and reserved ultimate decisions to the United 15 States Congress about the management of 1,500,000 acres of the coastal plain of the Arctic 16 National Wildlife Refuge; and 17 WHEREAS the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is estimated to 18 contain between 5,700,000,000 and 16,000,000,000 barrels of oil, with a mean recoverable 19 estimate of 10,300,000,000 barrels of oil; and 20 WHEREAS the oil resources estimated to be recoverable from the coastal plain 21 represent potential state and federal revenue in the hundreds of billions of dollars over the life 22 of production and a resource of significant national interest; and 23 WHEREAS the village of Kaktovik lies within the coastal plain, and there are 24 significant lands within the coastal plain that belong to the village of Kaktovik and the Arctic 25 Slope Regional Corporation and are of vital interest to the Native residents; and 26 WHEREAS the coastal plain lies within the boundaries of the state and North Slope 27 Borough and is of special significance to the residents of the state and the borough; and 28 WHEREAS a minimal number of recreationists, estimated to be 250, visit the coastal 29 plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in any given year; and 30 WHEREAS the revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan for the Arctic National 31 Wildlife Refuge proposes to manage the entire Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, including the 01 coastal plain, as wilderness; and 02 WHEREAS the wilderness designation would create practical limits to oil and gas 03 development and general economic development and potential limits to vital subsistence 04 activities; and 05 WHEREAS the original 1988 Comprehensive Conservation Plan involved far more 06 data gathering than the current Comprehensive Conservation Plan, including the incorporation 07 of studies by the United States Geological Survey, the United States Bureau of Land 08 Management, and other services in the United States Department of the Interior; and 09 WHEREAS the original 1988 Comprehensive Conservation Plan fully recommended 10 exploration for oil and gas and stated that any effect on the area would be minimal and could 11 be mitigated; and 12 WHEREAS the revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan does not contain the force 13 of law and is only a recommendation on management practices; and 14 WHEREAS the revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan is a violation of the "No 15 More Clause" of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, that limits the addition 16 of wilderness lands in the state to 5,000 acres; and 17 WHEREAS the United States Fish and Wildlife Service claims that the creation of the 18 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a refuge already takes the land out of use or potential use; 19 and 20 WHEREAS all the goals of the revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan can be 21 achieved without declaring wilderness; Prudhoe Bay has demonstrated that both a strict 22 environmental land management policy and development can exist side by side with no 23 destruction of land, ecology nor negative effect on caribou; and 24 WHEREAS the revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan violates the National 25 Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as neither a study for wilderness nor the declaration of 26 wilderness can take place without the consideration of "all alternative land uses"; and 27 WHEREAS sec. 1002 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 28 requires that studies be performed to provide information to the United States Congress; the 29 mandated studies include not only a study of wildlife resources, but also an analysis of the 30 potential effects of oil and gas exploration and development on those resources and a 31 delineation of the extent and amount of potential petroleum resources; and 01 WHEREAS the revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan completely ignores the 02 requirement to study the potential effects of oil and gas exploration and development; and 03 WHEREAS oil and gas exploration and development on the coastal plain of the 04 refuge and adjacent land could result in major discoveries that would reduce our nation's 05 dependency on oil produced by hostile foreign nations, help balance the nation's trade deficit, 06 and significantly increase the nation's security; and 07 WHEREAS the revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan has an accompanying 08 Environmental Impact Statement; 09 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature strongly opposes the United 10 States Fish and Wildlife Services' revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan and 11 Environmental Impact Statement and any recommendation by President Obama based on that 12 Plan; and be it 13 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature vehemently opposes any 14 attempt by the Administration to alter the management or status of the coastal plain of the 15 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and be it 16 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature strongly encourages each 17 member of the United States Congress to reject any proposal that is based on the revised 18 Comprehensive Conservation Plan or accompanying Environmental Impact Statement; and be 19 it 20 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature strongly encourages each 21 member of the United States Congress to reject any proposal that does not explicitly and, 22 without delay, open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas 23 development so that local residents and residents of the state and nation can realize the vast 24 economic and financial benefits of the immediate development of the coastal plain. 25 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 26 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 27 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Sally Jewell, United States Secretary of the 28 Interior; the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 29 Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 30 Honorable Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Harry Reid, 31 Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, Chair of the Energy and 01 Natural Resources Committee of the U.S. Senate; and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. 02 Senator, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska 03 delegation in Congress.