00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 19                                                                     
01 Urging the United States Congress to pass legislation to fund the acquisition of high-                                  
02 resolution digital orthoimagery and digital elevation data for the entire state of Alaska.                              
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS reliable, current, statewide base geographic information is essential for                               
05 public safety and continued economic development of our resources and to increase the                                   
06 livability of our state; and                                                                                            
07       WHEREAS orthoimagery and elevation data are considered the foundation for the                                   
08 framework of base geographic data; and                                                                                  
09       WHEREAS Alaska does not have digital orthoimagery or accurate elevation data; and                               
10       WHEREAS Alaska's statewide base geographic information is very poor; United                                     
11 States Geological Survey (USGS) maps of Alaska are over 40 years old, lack statewide                                    
12 coverage, and do not meet National Map Accuracy Standards; and there is no existing or                                  
13 planned program to replace them; and                                                                                    
14       WHEREAS the current imagery of Alaska acquired through the Alaska High Altitude                                 
15 Aerial Photography Program is over 20 years old, not in digital form, and therefore not                                 
16 available for modern technological use; and                                                                             

01       WHEREAS leading state policymakers defined topographic and other basic mapping                                  
02 as the number one mapping need at the December 2000 meeting sponsored by the National                                   
03 Aeronautics and Space Administration; and                                                                               
04       WHEREAS funding situations in federal and state agencies have not allowed Alaska                                
05 to be a participant in the National Aerial Photography Program and the National Digital                                 
06 Orthophoto Program providing complete aerial photography and orthoimagery coverage for                                  
07 the lower 48 states on a regular basis; and                                                                             
08       WHEREAS NASA's 2000 Shuttle Radar Topography Mission for producing                                              
09 elevation data for topographic mapping covered 80 percent of the world but less than 20                                 
10 percent of Alaska because it did not map above 60 degrees North latitude; and                                           
11       WHEREAS new orthoimagery and elevation data provide common data foundation                                      
12 layers that would show current conditions and trends on the Alaska landscape and are the                                
13 layers from which many types of geographic information are extracted and to which many                                  
14 types are registered that will allow Alaska agencies, Native corporations, and private                                  
15 organizations to better use Geographic Information Systems technology to aid in responsible                             
16 decision-making; and                                                                                                    
17       WHEREAS the Alaska Digital Orthoimagery Initiative prepared by the Alaska                                       
18 Geographic Data Committee outlines the need for high-resolution digital orthoimagery and                                
19 digital elevation data for Alaska;                                                                                      
20       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Congress of the                                      
21 United States to pass legislation to fund the acquisition of high-resolution digital                                    
22 orthoimagery and digital elevation data for the entire state of Alaska as outlined by the Alaska                        
23 Geographic Data Committee.                                                                                              
24       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President                              
25 of the United States; the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice-President of the United States                              
26 and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Gale Norton, United States Secretary of the                             
27 Interior; the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the                            
28 Honorable Trent Lott, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens                              
29 and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.                                     
30 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.