00Enrolled HJR 6                                                                                                          
01 Supporting oil and gas leasing and development within the National Petroleum Reserve in                                 
02 Alaska; and urging President Biden and the United States Department of the Interior to                                  
03 approve the Willow Master Development Plan.                                                                             
04                                          _______________                                                                
05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                             
06      WHEREAS, in 1923, President Warren G. Harding issued an Executive Order                                            
07 establishing Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4 on the North Slope region to provide a potential                             
08 supply of oil for the United States Navy; and                                                                           
09      WHEREAS 42 U.S.C. 6501 (Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976)                                           
10 redesignated Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4 as the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska                                  
11 and transferred responsibility for its administration to the Secretary of the Interior; and                             
12      WHEREAS the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska encompasses 23,500,000                                            
13 acres, with boundaries extending south from Icy Cape to the drainage divide of the Brooks                               
14 Range, then following the divide eastward to 156 degrees west longitude, then north to the                              
15 Colville River, and following the Colville River downstream to its mouth; and                                           
16      WHEREAS the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska falls entirely within the                                         
17 boundary of the North Slope Borough and includes the communities of Anaktuvuk Pass,                                     

01 Atqasuk, Nuiqsut, Utqiagvik, and Wainwright; and                                                                        
02      WHEREAS, in 2017, the United States Geological Survey estimated there to be                                        
03 8,700,000,000 barrels of recoverable oil and 25,000,000,000,000 cubic feet of recoverable gas                           
04 reserves in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska; and                                                               
05      WHEREAS the 2020 National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan                                     
06 and Environmental Impact Statement estimates potential annual government revenue,                                       
07 including local, state, and federal taxes and royalties, of $730,000,000 to $4,750,000,000 from                         
08 oil and gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska; and                                                
09      WHEREAS the 2020 National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan                                     
10 and Environmental Impact Statement estimates that the exploration, development, and                                     
11 production of oil and gas in the reserve could generate 3,600 direct jobs and 2,750 indirect                            
12 jobs annually over a period of 30 years; and                                                                            
13      WHEREAS the Willow oil and gas prospect, known as the Willow project, is located                                   
14 in the Bear Tooth Unit of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska and would be the                                     
15 farthest-west producing field on the North Slope; and                                                                   
16      WHEREAS the Willow project would tap into reserves of an estimated 600,000,000                                     
17 barrels of oil and, at peak production, produce 180,000 barrels a day; and                                              
18      WHEREAS the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Willow                                       
19 Master Development Plan was developed over multiple years through a rigorous process with                               
20 significant involvement by and support from local communities and Alaska Native entities                                
21 and was specifically designed to protect surface values and the Inupiat way of life; and                                
22      WHEREAS, on February 1, 2023, the United States Department of the Interior                                         
23 released its Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Willow project,                                  
24 which demonstrates that the project is legally sufficient and environmentally sound; and                                
25      WHEREAS the Inupiat people are the longstanding stewards of the land on which the                                  
26 National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska sits, and take seriously the need for careful and                                  
27 balanced stewardship; and                                                                                               
28      WHEREAS the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, the Inupiat Community of the                                        
29 Arctic Slope, the North Slope Borough, the Alaska Federation of Natives, the Alaska Native                              
30 Village Corporation Association, the ANCSA Regional Association, the City of Utqiagvik,                                 
31 the City of Wainwright, the City of Atqasuk, and the Kuukpik Corporation are all united in                              

01 support of the Willow project; and                                                                                      
02      WHEREAS the Willow project has received the support of labor unions and trade                                      
03 groups, including the Alaska Petroleum Joint Crafts Council, the Alaska Support Industry                                
04 Alliance, the Alaska AFL-CIO, the International Union of Operating Engineers, the Laborers'                             
05 International Union of North America, the National Association of Manufacturers, the North                              
06 America's Building Trades Unions, and the Alaska Chamber of Commerce; and                                               
07      WHEREAS Representative Mary Peltola, Senator Lisa Murkowski, and Senator Dan                                       
08 Sullivan, the Alaska delegation in Congress, unanimously support approval of the Willow                                 
09 project; and                                                                                                            
10      WHEREAS state royalties from oil and gas development in the National Petroleum                                     
11 Reserve in Alaska are allocated to the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Impact                                      
12 Mitigation Fund, which is used to provide the local communities of Anaktuvuk Pass, Atqasuk,                             
13 Nuiqsut, Wainwright, Utqiagvik, and the North Slope Borough with grants to mitigate                                     
14 impacts related to oil and gas development; and                                                                         
15      WHEREAS oil and gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska                                        
16 would strengthen national security and provide long-lasting benefits to the national economy                            
17 by creating thousands of jobs nationwide, generating billions of dollars in government                                  
18 revenue, providing affordable energy to American consumers, and decreasing dependence on                                
19 foreign energy; and                                                                                                     
20      WHEREAS resource development in the state has benefited rural communities by                                       
21 bringing family-supporting jobs and wages, increased educational opportunities, safe water                              
22 and wastewater facilities, and expanded health care services to those communities; and                                  
23      WHEREAS, because of resource development, compared with the national average,                                      
24 rural areas of the state experienced greater increases in life expectancy between 1980 and                              
25 in locations where resource development activities, including oil and gas development,                                  
26 mining, and fisheries operations, have occurred; and                                                                    
27      WHEREAS safe and responsible oil and gas exploration, development, and                                             
28 production has been demonstrated by over 50 years of activity on the North Slope region                                 
29 without adverse effects on the environment or wildlife populations; and                                                 
30      WHEREAS the state's leadership in the nation's energy future includes robust support                               
31 for the development and implementation of renewable energy systems and sources to ensure                                

01 that cost-effective energy and power are provided to communities and individuals in the state;                          
02 and                                                                                                                     
03      WHEREAS responsible resource development today equips communities in the state                                     
04 to make investments in technology and infrastructure to support the use of renewable sources                            
05 of energy and power; and                                                                                                
06      WHEREAS the Willow project is an important part of a diverse energy future for the                                 
07 state and the nation;                                                                                                   
08      BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                           
09 Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to maximize the area available for                               
10 oil and gas leasing and development within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska while                               
11 conserving and protecting valued fish, wildlife, subsistence, and cultural resources; and be it                         
12      FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges President Biden and                                       
13 the United States Department of the Interior to move forward with final approval of the                                 
14 Willow project by selecting the preferred Alternative E plan, which allows three drill sites, the                       
15 minimum for the project to remain economically viable; and be it                                                        
16      FURTHER RESOLVED that a further delay in approval or construction of the                                           
17 Willow project undermines the values and benefits of the project to the state and its residents                         
18 and the nation, and is not in the public interest; and be it                                                            
19      FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                         
20 Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, when considering management                                      
21 activities related to the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, to take into account the long                           
22 history of safe and responsible oil and gas development on the North Slope region and the                               
23 enormous benefits that development of oil and gas resources in the National Petroleum                                   
24 Reserve in Alaska would bring to local communities, tribal governments, the state, and the                              
25 nation.                                                                                                                 
26      COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President                                
27 of the United States; the Honorable Kamala D. Harris, Vice President of the United States and                           
28 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Deb Haaland, United States Secretary of the                                 
29 Interior; the Honorable Tracy Stone-Manning, Director, Bureau of Land Management, U.S.                                  
30 Department of the Interior; Steve Cohn, Alaska State Director, Bureau of Land Management,                               
31 U.S. Department of the Interior; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan                                 

01 Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Mary Peltola, U.S. Representative, members of                                
02 the Alaska delegation in Congress.