HJR 15: Relating to support for an "American Land Sovereignty Protection Act" in the United States Congress.
00HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 15 01 Relating to support for an "American Land Sovereignty Protection Act" in the 02 United States Congress. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS the United Nations has designated 67 sites in the United States as "World 05 Heritage Sites" or "Biosphere Reserves," which altogether are about equal in size to the State 06 of Colorado, the eighth largest state; and 07 WHEREAS art. IV, sec. 3, United States Constitution, provides that the United States 08 Congress shall make all needed regulations governing lands belonging to the United States; 09 and 10 WHEREAS many of the United Nations' designations include private property 11 inholdings and contemplate "buffer zones" of adjacent land; and 12 WHEREAS some international land designations such as those under the United States 13 Biosphere Reserve Program and the Man and Biosphere Program of the United Nations 14 Scientific, Educational, and Culture Organization operate under independent national
01 committees such as the United States National Man and Biosphere Committee that have no 02 legislative directives or authorization from the Congress; and 03 WHEREAS these international designations as presently handled are an open invitation 04 to the international community to interfere in domestic economies and land use decisions; and 05 WHEREAS local citizens and public officials concerned about job creation and 06 resource based economies usually have no say in the designation of land near their homes for 07 inclusion in an international land use program; and 08 WHEREAS former Assistant Secretary of the Interior George T. Frampton, Jr., and 09 the President used the fact that Yellowstone National Park had been designated as a "World 10 Heritage Site" as justification for intervening in the environmental impact statement process 11 and blocking possible development of an underground mine on private land in Montana 12 outside of the park; and 13 WHEREAS a recent designation of a portion of Kamchatka as a "World Heritage Site" 14 was followed immediately by efforts from environmental groups to block investment insurance 15 for development projects on Kamchatka that are supported by the local communities; and 16 WHEREAS environmental groups and the National Park Service have been working 17 to establish an International Park, a World Heritage Site, and a Marine Biosphere Reserve 18 covering parts of western Alaska, eastern Russia, and the Bering Sea; and 19 WHEREAS, as occurred in Montana, such designations could be used to block 20 development projects on state and private land in western Alaska; and 21 WHEREAS foreign companies and countries could use such international designations 22 in western Alaska to block economic development that they perceive as competition; and 23 WHEREAS animal rights activists could use such international designations to 24 generate pressure to harass or block harvesting of marine mammals by Alaska Natives; and 25 WHEREAS such international designations could be used to harass or block any 26 commercial activity, including pipelines, railroads, and power transmission lines; and 27 WHEREAS the President and the executive branch of the United States have, by 28 Executive Order and other agreements, implemented these designations without approval by 29 the Congress; and 30 WHEREAS the United States Department of Interior, in cooperation with the Federal 31 Interagency Panel for World Heritage, has identified the Aleutian Island Unit of the Alaska
01 Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Cape Krusenstern 02 National Monument, Denali National Park, Gates of the Arctic National Park, and Katmai 03 National Park as likely to meet the criteria for future nomination as World Heritage Sites; and 04 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature objects to the nomination or designation of 05 any World Heritage Sites or Biosphere Reserves in Alaska without the specific consent of the 06 Alaska State Legislature; and 07 WHEREAS actions by the President in applying international agreements to lands 08 owned by the United States may circumvent the Congress; and 09 WHEREAS Congressman Don Young introduced House Resolution No. 901 in the 10 105th Congress entitled the "American Lands Sovereignty Protection Act of 1997" that 11 required the explicit approval of the Congress prior to restricting any use of United States land 12 under international agreements; and 13 WHEREAS comparable legislation has not yet been introduced in the 106th Congress; 14 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports an "American Lands 15 Sovereignty Protection Act" that reaffirms the constitutional authority of the Congress as the 16 elected representatives of the people over the federally owned land of the United States and 17 urges the swift introduction and passage of such act by the 106th Congress; and be it 18 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature objects to the nomination 19 or designation of any sites in Alaska as World Heritage Sites or Biosphere Reserves without 20 the prior consent of the Alaska State Legislature. 21 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the 22 United States; Honorable Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and President of 23 the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Trent Lott, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable 24 J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; and to the Honorable Ted 25 Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, 26 U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.