Enrolled HJR 10: Disapproving the proposed rule by the National Park Service limiting non-subsistence hunting methods; and urging the National Park Service to withdraw the rule.
00Enrolled HJR 10 01 Disapproving the proposed rule by the National Park Service limiting non-subsistence hunting 02 methods; and urging the National Park Service to withdraw the rule. 03 _______________ 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 WHEREAS the United States Supreme Court has long interpreted the United States 06 Constitution to provide state primacy in wildlife management; and 07 WHEREAS art. VIII, sec. 4, Constitution of the State of Alaska, provides for the 08 conservation and sustainable use of wildlife, including the maintenance of healthy predator 09 populations; and 10 WHEREAS federal law recognizes the state's authority to manage wildlife, including 11 the Alaska Statehood Act and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act; and 12 WHEREAS the state has managed wildlife on both state and federal land in Alaska 13 since the United States Department of the Interior granted the state management authority in 14 1959; and 15 WHEREAS the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act established each of 16 the national preserves in the state as National Park Service land that would remain open to 17 hunting and trapping under state management; and
01 WHEREAS the National Park Service proposed a rule to amend its regulations for 02 non-subsistence hunting and trapping in national preserves that would prohibit certain hunting 03 practices that have been approved by the Alaska Board of Game following a public process 04 with significant input from biologists, local residents, and other stakeholders; and 05 WHEREAS, ignoring the state's objection, the National Park Service has labeled 06 certain hunting practices as predator control or predator reduction actions and has prohibited 07 that predator control or predator reduction in national preserves; and 08 WHEREAS, as a result, the ability of state residents to hunt bears, wolves, and even 09 caribou is limited, without biological basis and with contrary evidence from the Alaska 10 Department of Fish and Game, which shows that those practices do not pose conservation, 11 public safety, or public administration concerns; and 12 WHEREAS the proposed National Park Service rule would limit the ability of state 13 residents to engage in traditional hunting practices; and 14 WHEREAS the proposed National Park Service rule is contrary to the Alaska 15 National Interest Lands Conservation Act and the Alaska Statehood Act; and 16 WHEREAS the proposed National Park Service rule is an overreach of federal 17 authority and would inappropriately limit the state's authority to manage wildlife on national 18 preserves; 19 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature disapproves of the proposed 20 National Park Service rule; and be it 21 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature strongly urges the 22 National Park Service to withdraw the proposed rule without adoption and to affirm the 23 mandates within its 2020 national preserves rule in any new rule that is prepared in response 24 to court order; and be it 25 FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution is the policy of the Alaska State 26 Legislature until it is withdrawn or modified by another resolution. 27 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President 28 of the United States; the Honorable Kamala D. Harris, Vice President of the United States and 29 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the U.S. House of 30 Representatives; the Honorable Deb Haaland, United States Secretary of the Interior; the 31 Honorable Charles F. Sams III, Director, National Park Service; and the Honorable Lisa
01 Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Mary Peltola, 02 U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.