Enrolled HJR 20: Urging the President of the United States, the United States Congress, and the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture not to implement protection of inventoried roadless areas under the "roadless rule" or otherwise restrict the development of necessary hydroelectric and other natural resource projects in the Tongass National Forest and the Chugach National Forest.
00Enrolled HJR 20 01 Urging the President of the United States, the United States Congress, and the Secretary of the 02 United States Department of Agriculture not to implement protection of inventoried roadless 03 areas under the "roadless rule" or otherwise restrict the development of necessary 04 hydroelectric and other natural resource projects in the Tongass National Forest and the 05 Chugach National Forest. 06 _______________ 07 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 08 WHEREAS inventoried roadless areas, as defined in 36 C.F.R. 294.11, constitute 09 approximately 57 percent of the acreage in the Tongass National Forest; and 10 WHEREAS the United States Congress has designated an additional 35 percent of the 11 acreage in the Tongass National Forest as wilderness; and 12 WHEREAS there is an extensive system of federally protected areas in the state; and 13 WHEREAS, on May 28, 2010, the Secretary of the United States Department of 14 Agriculture issued Secretary's Memorandum 1042-155 that reserves to the Secretary the 15 authority to approve or disapprove road construction or reconstruction and the cutting, sale, or 16 removal of timber in areas identified in the set of inventoried roadless area maps contained in
01 volume 2 of the Forest Service Roadless Area Conservation Final Environmental Impact 02 Statement, dated November 2000; and 03 WHEREAS the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture has 04 approved only seven projects under the authority reserved in Secretary's Memorandum 1042- 05 155; and 06 WHEREAS Southeast Alaska has some of the largest deposits of precious metals in 07 the world, and the region's economy is dependent on the responsible development of these 08 natural resources; and 09 WHEREAS 14 of the 15 hydroelectric projects in the Tongass National Forest and 10 Chugach National Forest are subject to the protection of inventoried roadless areas under 36 11 C.F.R. 294.10 - 294.18 ("roadless rule") and will require approval by the Secretary of the 12 United States Department of Agriculture; and 13 WHEREAS failure of the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture to 14 approve the hydroelectric and other natural resource projects in the Tongass National Forest 15 and the Chugach National Forest would jeopardize the approval of necessary preliminary 16 permits by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other federal agencies because, 17 without the Secretary of Agriculture's approval, the projects would not be able to proceed 18 with the field studies and planning that are required for permitting; and 19 WHEREAS the inability to develop hydroelectric projects and construct power lines 20 to bring electricity to communities in the state will result in continued diesel power generation 21 that emits pollutants into the environment; and 22 WHEREAS the protection of inventoried roadless areas under the "roadless rule" in 23 C.F.R. 294.10 - 294.18 and the inability to produce and distribute hydro-generated 24 electricity and develop abundant natural resources will adversely affect communities in the 25 Tongass National Forest and the Chugach National Forest and will thwart the policies of the 26 state, as stated in sec. 1, ch. 82, SLA 2010, to generate 50 percent of the energy in the state 27 from renewable sources and, under AS 44.99.110, to encourage mineral development; and 28 WHEREAS the President of the United States has pledged to embrace and encourage 29 the development of renewable energy sources and has set a goal of having 25 percent of the 30 energy generated in the United States come from renewable energy resources by 2025; 31 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the President of the
01 United States, the United States Congress, and the Secretary of the United States Department 02 of Agriculture not to implement protection of inventoried roadless areas under 36 C.F.R. 03 294.10 - 294.14 or otherwise restrict the development of necessary hydroelectric and natural 04 resource projects in the Tongass National Forest and the Chugach National Forest. 05 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 06 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 07 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Tom Vilsack, United States Secretary of 08 Agriculture; the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 09 Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 10 Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, 11 Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Jeff Bingaman, Chair of the Energy and 12 Natural Resources Committee of the U.S. Senate; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the 13 Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, 14 members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.