00HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 21                                                                                      
01 Relating to the correction of misinformation about Alaska.                                                              
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03  WHEREAS Alaskans are committed to protecting and preserving our wilderness areas                                       
04 while working toward a balance between the needs of our people and the needs of our                                     
05 environment; and                                                                                                        
06  WHEREAS legislation has been introduced to purchase $22,000,000 in inholdings to                                       
07 preserve in its entirety one of Alaska's most scenic state parks, Kachemak Bay State Park,                              
08 increase subsistence resources, and restore and maintain critical habitat areas throughout the                          
09 state; and                                                                                                              
10  WHEREAS Alaska has 70 percent of the National Parks by area, and Alaskans devote                                       
11 considerable effort and resources toward maintaining these parks to the benefit and enjoyment                           
12 of all Americans; and                                                                                                   
13  WHEREAS Governor Hickel, Alaska's lawmakers, and state citizens are committed                                          
14 to strengthening prevention and response mechanisms to avoid tragic accidents such as the                               

01 Exxon Valdez oil spill; and                                                                                             
02  WHEREAS our leadership has empowered our environmental regulatory agencies with                                        
03 some of the most stringent requirements on industry in the nation; and                                                  
04  WHEREAS certain national movements, though committed to worthwhile causes,                                             
05 employ the use of sensational and unbalanced statements in their reports; and                                           
06  WHEREAS a recent example of this was distributed nationwide by the Sierra Club                                         
07 in a defamatory letter to the organization's members accusing the Alaskan people and our                                
08 leadership of gross misuse of our environment;                                                                          
09  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature notifies the Board of Directors                                       
10 of the Sierra Club and its members of specific untruths and distorted reports about Alaska                              
11 currently utilized by the Sierra Club and urges their cooperation in presenting the truth; and                          
12 be it                                                                                                                   
13  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature is intensely concerned over                                         
14 the health of our land and our people, and we urge environmental movements to report all of                             
15 the facts before presenting an agenda that is harmful to all Alaskans.                                                  
16  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the                                
17 United States; the Honorable Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and President                            
18 of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the                                
19 Interior; the Honorable Mike Espy, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; the                                 
20 Honorable Hazel R. O'Leary, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy; the Honorable Ted                               
21 Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young,                                  
22 U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; to Tony Ruckel, Sierra                               
23 Club National Chairman; and to Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club.