SJR 10: Opposing the revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Impact Statement for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; opposing attempts by President Obama to alter management of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; encouraging the United States Congress to reject a proposal based on the revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan or accompanying Environmental Impact Statement; encouraging the United States Congress to reject a proposal that does not open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development; and finding that decision-making authority over the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is reserved exclusively to the United States Congress.
00 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 10 01 Opposing the revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Impact 02 Statement for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; opposing attempts by President 03 Obama to alter management of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; 04 encouraging the United States Congress to reject a proposal based on the revised 05 Comprehensive Conservation Plan or accompanying Environmental Impact Statement; 06 encouraging the United States Congress to reject a proposal that does not open the 07 coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development; and 08 finding that decision-making authority over the coastal plain of the Arctic National 09 Wildlife Refuge is reserved exclusively to the United States Congress. 10 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 11 WHEREAS, on January 25, 2015, President Barack Obama announced his official 12 recommendation to the United States Congress to designate core areas of the Arctic National 13 Wildlife Refuge, including the coastal plain, as wilderness, in express violation of sec. 101(d)
01 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act; and 02 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature opposes any unilateral executive erosion of 03 the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act or, in the alternative, any use of the 04 Antiquities Act of 1906 (P.L. 59-209, 34 Stat 225, 16 U.S.C. 431 - 433) to restrict 05 development on the coastal plain; and 06 WHEREAS, in 1980, the United States Congress enacted the Alaska National Interest 07 Lands Conservation Act, transferring approximately 105,000,000 acres of public lands to 08 various conservation units; and 09 WHEREAS 105,000,000 acres is more land than contained in the State of California; 10 and 11 WHEREAS, if the land contained in conservation units developed under the Alaska 12 National Interest Lands Conservation Act were a state, it would be the third largest state in the 13 United States; and 14 WHEREAS sec. 101(d) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 15 states, "This Act provides sufficient protection for the national interest in the scenic, natural, 16 cultural and environmental values on the public lands in Alaska, and at the same time 17 provides adequate opportunity for satisfaction of the economic and social needs of the State of 18 Alaska and its people; accordingly, the designation and disposition of the public lands in 19 Alaska pursuant to this Act are found to represent a proper balance between the reservation of 20 national conservation system units and those public lands necessary and appropriate for more 21 intensive use and disposition, and thus Congress believes that the need for future legislation 22 designating new conservation system units, new national conservation areas, or new national 23 recreation areas, has been obviated thereby"; and 24 WHEREAS the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act also prohibited 25 further studies of federal land in the state for "the single purpose of considering the 26 establishment of a conservation system unit, national recreation area, national conservation 27 area, or for related or similar purpose . . . unless authorized by this Act or further Act of 28 Congress"; and 29 WHEREAS, in sec. 1002 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the 30 United States Congress specifically set aside and reserved ultimate decisions to the United 31 States Congress about the management of 1,500,000 acres of the coastal plain of the Arctic
01 National Wildlife Refuge; and 02 WHEREAS the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is estimated to 03 contain between 5,700,000,000 and 16,000,000,000 barrels of oil, with a mean recoverable 04 estimate of 10,300,000,000 barrels of oil; and 05 WHEREAS the oil resources estimated to be recoverable from the coastal plain 06 represent potential state and federal revenue in the hundreds of billions of dollars over the life 07 of production and a resource of significant national interest; and 08 WHEREAS the village of Kaktovik lies within the coastal plain, and there are 09 significant lands within the coastal plain that belong to the village of Kaktovik and the Arctic 10 Slope Regional Corporation and are of vital interest to the Native residents; and 11 WHEREAS the coastal plain lies within the boundaries of the state and the North 12 Slope Borough and is of special significance to the residents of the state and the borough; and 13 WHEREAS a minimal number of recreationists, estimated to be 250, visit the coastal 14 plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in any given year; and 15 WHEREAS the revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan for the Arctic National 16 Wildlife Refuge proposes to manage the entire Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, including the 17 coastal plain, as wilderness; and 18 WHEREAS the wilderness designation would create impractical limits to oil and gas 19 development and general economic development and potential limits to vital subsistence 20 activities; and 21 WHEREAS the original 1988 Comprehensive Conservation Plan involved far more 22 data gathering than the current Comprehensive Conservation Plan, including the incorporation 23 of studies by the United States Geological Survey, the United States Bureau of Land 24 Management, and other services in the United States Department of the Interior; and 25 WHEREAS the original 1988 Comprehensive Conservation Plan fully recommended 26 exploration for oil and gas and stated that any effect on the area would be minimal and could 27 be mitigated; and 28 WHEREAS the revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan does not contain the force 29 of law and is only a recommendation on management practices; and 30 WHEREAS the revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan is a violation of the "No 31 More" clause in sec. 1326(a) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act; and
01 WHEREAS sec. 1326(a) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 02 states, "No future executive branch action which withdraws more than five thousand acres, in 03 the aggregate, of public lands within the State of Alaska shall be effective except by 04 compliance with this subsection. To the extent authorized by existing law, the President or the 05 Secretary may withdraw public lands in the State of Alaska exceeding five thousand acres in 06 the aggregate, which withdrawal shall not become effective until notice is provided in the 07 Federal Register and to both Houses of Congress. Such withdrawal shall terminate unless 08 Congress passes a joint resolution of approval within one year after the notice of such 09 withdrawal has been submitted to Congress"; and 10 WHEREAS the United States Fish and Wildlife Service claims that the creation of the 11 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a refuge already takes the land out of use or potential use; 12 and 13 WHEREAS all the goals of the revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan can be 14 achieved without declaring wilderness; Prudhoe Bay has demonstrated that both a strict 15 environmental land management policy and development can exist side by side with no 16 destruction of land or ecology, and no negative effect on caribou; and 17 WHEREAS the revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan violates the National 18 Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as neither a study for wilderness nor the declaration of 19 wilderness can take place without the consideration of "all alternative land uses"; and 20 WHEREAS sec. 1002 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 21 requires that studies be performed to provide information to the United States Congress; the 22 mandated studies include not only a study of wildlife resources, but also an analysis of the 23 potential effects of oil and gas exploration and development on those resources and a 24 delineation of the extent and amount of potential petroleum resources; and 25 WHEREAS the revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan completely ignores the 26 requirement to study the potential effects of oil and gas exploration and development; and 27 WHEREAS oil and gas exploration and development on the coastal plain of the 28 refuge and adjacent land could result in major discoveries that would reduce our nation's 29 dependency on oil produced by hostile foreign nations, help balance the nation's trade deficit, 30 and significantly increase the nation's security; and 31 WHEREAS the revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan has an accompanying
01 Environmental Impact Statement; 02 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature vehemently opposes any 03 attempt by the Administration to alter the management or status of the coastal plain of the 04 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and be it 05 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature strongly encourages each 06 member of the United States Congress to reject any proposal that is based on the revised 07 Comprehensive Conservation Plan or accompanying Environmental Impact Statement; and be 08 it 09 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature strongly encourages each 10 member of the United States Congress to reject any proposal that does not explicitly, and 11 without delay, open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas 12 development so that local residents and residents of the state and nation can realize the vast 13 economic and financial benefits of the immediate development of the coastal plain; and be it 14 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature finds that sec. 1002 of the 15 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act demonstrates, through the detailed scheme 16 for the coastal plain, that the coastal plain is separate from the remainder of the Arctic 17 National Wildlife Refuge and that decision-making authority over the area is reserved only to 18 the United States Congress, leaving no room for executive discretion; and be it 19 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature vehemently opposes the 20 United States Fish and Wildlife Service's revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan and 21 Environmental Impact Statement and any recommendation by President Obama based on that 22 plan. 23 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 24 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 25 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of 26 Representatives; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of 27 Representatives; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the 28 Honorable Harry Reid, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Sally Jewell, 29 United States Secretary of the Interior; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, Chair of the Energy 30 and Natural Resources Committee of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Bill Walker, Governor 31 of Alaska; and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senator, and the Honorable Don Young,
01 U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.