HCR 17: Requesting the Governor to enter into good-faith negotiations with the United States Secretary of the Interior to secure a permanent wildlife buffer conservation easement east of Denali National Park and Preserve, the creation of which may include the exchange of a state conservation easement in return for a transfer from the federal government of equal value in the form of an easement, other federal land, other interests in federal land, or compensation; and requesting the Governor to report the status of the negotiations to the public by July 1, 2014.
00 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 17 01 Requesting the Governor to enter into good-faith negotiations with the United States 02 Secretary of the Interior to secure a permanent wildlife buffer conservation easement 03 east of Denali National Park and Preserve, the creation of which may include the 04 exchange of a state conservation easement in return for a transfer from the federal 05 government of equal value in the form of an easement, other federal land, other interests 06 in federal land, or compensation; and requesting the Governor to report the status of 07 the negotiations to the public by July 1, 2014. 08 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 09 WHEREAS Denali National Park and Preserve is a valuable tourism asset in the state, 10 with over 400,000 visitors a year, including many Alaskans, contributing over $140,000,000 11 annually to the economy of the state; and 12 WHEREAS wildlife viewing is one of the principal reasons visitors come to Denali; 13 and 14 WHEREAS the National Park Service recently has reported that visitor viewings of
01 one of the park's iconic watchable wildlife species, the wolf, has declined dramatically in 02 recent years, from 44 percent in 2010, to 21 percent in 2011, to 12 percent in 2012, to just 03 four percent in 2013; and 04 WHEREAS the decline in successful viewing of wolves denies tens of thousands of 05 paying visitors, including many Alaskans, the opportunity to view wolves in a wild subarctic 06 ecosystem, reduces the value of the visitor experience, and creates negative economic 07 consequences; and 08 WHEREAS the taking of wolves normally present in Denali National Park and 09 Preserve when they cross the eastern boundary of the park onto state land contributes to the 10 decline in the viewing of wolves in the park; and 11 WHEREAS Denali National Park and Preserve had a reputation similar to that of 12 Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming as one of the best places in the world to view wolves 13 in the wild, and that reputation had been a strong draw for visitors to the park; the decline in 14 wolf viewings has significantly eroded that reputation; and 15 WHEREAS between 2000 and 2010, the state sought to protect this important 16 economic resource by establishing a small no-take buffer east of the park, but the Board of 17 Game terminated the buffer in 2010; and 18 WHEREAS reestablishment of a no-take buffer of sufficient size will help reverse the 19 decline in the viewing of wolves in Denali National Park and Preserve and will help sustain 20 and increase the visitor economy in Denali National Park and Preserve; and 21 WHEREAS sustaining and increasing wildlife viewing opportunity in Denali 22 National Park and Preserve is in the state's long-term economic interest; 23 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the 24 Governor to enter into good-faith negotiations with the United States Secretary of the Interior 25 to secure a permanent wildlife buffer conservation easement east of Denali National Park and 26 Preserve, the creation of which may include the exchange of a state conservation easement in 27 return for a transfer from the federal government of equal value in the form of an easement, 28 other federal land, other interests in federal land, or compensation; and be it 29 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the 30 Governor to report the status of the negotiations to the public by July 1, 2014.