00                      SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 30                                                                    
01 Urging the United States Forest Service to acknowledge all of the rights of the state to                                
02 rights-of-way to state highways that pass through federal land.                                                         
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS the State of Alaska owns, maintains, and operates hundreds of miles of                                  
05 state roads and highways that pass through federal land; and                                                            
06       WHEREAS some federal agencies, through aggressive, unwarranted, and unlawful                                    
07 actions, have attempted to erode the state's ownership and authority over the use of these                              
08 highways and appurtenant public facilities located within the rights-of-way; and                                        
09       WHEREAS the most recent and egregious instance of this aggressive federal action                                
10 occurred in Yakutat, where the United States Forest Service has attempted to require a permit                           
11 for commercial hauling on that portion of Forest Highway 10 in the north Tongass National                               
12 Forest, over which the state has for decades had exclusive management and maintenance                                   
13 authority; and                                                                                                          
14       WHEREAS the Forest Service has attempted to control access to one of the state's                                
15 navigable waterways by limiting use of a boat launch located entirely within the right-of-way                           
16 of Forest Highway 10; and                                                                                               

01       WHEREAS the aggressive assertion of authority by the Forest Service in Yakutat                                  
02 bodes ill for state highways and appurtenant facilities located within the state's rights-of-way                        
03 throughout the Tongass and Chugach National Forests; and                                                                
04       WHEREAS a precedent set by the Forest Service at Yakutat could provide an open                                  
05 door to other aggressive federal agencies that control land surrounding state highways and                              
06 facilities throughout Alaska;                                                                                           
07       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States Forest                                 
08 Service to recognize that the State of Alaska has sole authority to control public access and                           
09 use of rights-of-way for all state highways passing through Forest Service lands.                                       
10       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Ann Veneman, United                                    
11 States Secretary of Agriculture; the Honorable Gale Norton, United States Secretary of the                              
12 Interior; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S.                                      
13 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska                                       
14 delegation in Congress.