Enrolled HJR 15: Urging the Governor, the Department of Natural Resources, division of forestry and fire protection, the Department of Public Safety, municipalities of the state and relevant wildfire planning and response agencies, and the Alaska delegation in Congress to prepare for the wildfire season.
00Enrolled HJR 15 01 Urging the Governor, the Department of Natural Resources, division of forestry and fire 02 protection, the Department of Public Safety, municipalities of the state and relevant wildfire 03 planning and response agencies, and the Alaska delegation in Congress to prepare for the 04 wildfire season. 05 _______________ 06 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 WHEREAS the frequency and severity of wildfires in the state is increasing because 08 of the effects of lower precipitation and rising temperatures, leading to prolonged fire seasons; 09 and 10 WHEREAS the 2025 wildfire season presents an increased risk to communities in 11 wildland-urban interface areas, including Anchorage, Fairbanks, Kenai, Soldotna, Southeast 12 Alaska, and other high-risk zones across the state, some of which have never experienced 13 wildfires and which contain dangerous fuel loads; and 14 WHEREAS limited water sources, difficult terrain, and constrained or single-access 15 routes to large residential areas in many communities pose significant challenges to ground- 16 based firefighting and evacuation efforts; and
01 WHEREAS the costs of fighting a widespread fire increase significantly when crews 02 must be brought in from out of state, and providing quick, effective, locally sourced fire 03 suppression reduces costs for firefighting and reduces economic losses caused by a fire; and 04 WHEREAS there is community concern about sufficient aerial firefighting resources, 05 sufficient water reservoirs for bucket operations, and adoption of enhanced early detection of 06 wildfires and warning systems to support rapid response; and 07 WHEREAS community safety and preparedness can be improved with early and 08 broad public outreach by engaging the public to learn about wildfires and take action through 09 programs like the Ready, Set, Go! Program, the Firewise USA program, and other local and 10 neighborhood programs and to conduct evacuation planning and drills with local fire stations 11 and other response agencies; and 12 WHEREAS the role of local and state public information officers, in collaboration 13 with state and federal agencies, is to actively coordinate public education campaigns, enhance 14 emergency notifications, and facilitate communication between fire response agencies and the 15 public; and 16 WHEREAS past legislative efforts have underscored the importance of wildfire 17 mitigation funding, including appropriations granted for wildfire fuel reduction programs, 18 defensible space and fuel break initiatives, and support for local fire departments in high-risk 19 areas; 20 BE IT RESOLVED that, in preparation for the 2025 wildfire season, the Alaska State 21 Legislature urges the Governor, the Department of Natural Resources, division of forestry and 22 fire protection, and relevant municipal and local agencies to enhance wildfire preparedness 23 and response coordination by reviewing and developing comprehensive interagency wildfire 24 response plans specific to high-risk wildland-urban interface communities, with special 25 attention to single-access routes to isolated residential populations, by minimizing hazard 26 trees and reducing sources of fuel for wildfires, including evaluating and removing fuel in 27 rights-of-way and removing intersection obstructions, and by repairing roads that are in poor 28 condition to enable use of the roadways to support wildfire response and safe evacuations; 29 and be it 30 FURTHER RESOLVED that, in preparation for the 2025 wildfire season, the Alaska 31 State Legislature urges local and state public information officers, in collaboration with state
01 and federal agencies, to assist and encourage all residents to learn about the potential for 02 wildfires and changing exposure in their community, including areas designated as wildland- 03 urban interface areas, and to urge residents to learn about and take action to protect their 04 homes and property through home defense programs, including the Firewise USA program, to 05 be prepared for evacuation using the Ready, Set, Go! Program, and to learn about and enroll 06 in local notification and emergency news sources; and be it 07 FURTHER RESOLVED that, in preparation for the 2025 wildfire season, the Alaska 08 State Legislature urges the Governor, the Department of Natural Resources, division of 09 forestry and fire protection, and relevant municipal and local agencies to conduct emergency 10 response and evacuation drills and to model evacuation scenarios, including planning for the 11 possibility of single-access road closures, emergency vehicle congestion, and multiple fires 12 resulting from ember transport downwind; and be it 13 FURTHER RESOLVED that, in preparation for the 2025 wildfire season, the Alaska 14 State Legislature urges the Governor, the Department of Natural Resources, division of 15 forestry and fire protection, and relevant municipal and local agencies to bolster fire 16 suppression resources by stationing ground and aerial firefighting assets close to high-risk 17 areas during peak fire seasons and enhancing access to water sources for bucket and hose 18 operations in areas with limited local water supplies; and be it 19 FURTHER RESOLVED that, in preparation for the 2025 wildfire season, the Alaska 20 State Legislature urges the Governor, the Department of Natural Resources, division of 21 forestry and fire protection, and relevant municipal and local agencies to improve fire 22 detection and early warning systems by implementing advanced fire detection technology to 23 improve response times and situational awareness and conducting community-wide tests of 24 emergency notification systems to ensure reliability in crisis situations; and be it 25 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges federal 26 representatives, including the Alaska delegation in Congress, to advocate for increased federal 27 funding and support for the state's wildfire prevention and mitigation efforts. 28 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Mike Dunleavy, Governor 29 of the State of Alaska; the Honorable John Boyle, Commissioner, Department of Natural 30 Resources; the Honorable James Cockrell, Commissioner, Department of Public Safety; the 31 Honorable Suzanne LaFrance, Mayor of the Municipality of Anchorage; the Honorable Alvin
01 D. Osterback, Mayor of the Aleutians East Borough; the Honorable David R. Lax, Mayor of 02 the Bristol Bay Borough; the Honorable Chris Noel, Mayor of the Denali Borough; the 03 Honorable Grier Hopkins, Mayor of the Fairbanks North Star Borough; the Honorable Tom 04 Morphet, Mayor of the Haines Borough; the Honorable Beth Weldon, Mayor of the City and 05 Borough of Juneau; the Honorable Peter Micciche, Mayor of the Kenai Peninsula Borough; 06 the Honorable Rodney Dial, Mayor of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough; the Honorable Scott 07 Arndt, Mayor of the Kodiak Island Borough; the Honorable Glen Alsworth, Sr., Mayor of the 08 Lake and Peninsula Borough; the Honorable Edna DeVries, Mayor of the Matanuska-Susitna 09 Borough; the Honorable Josiah Patkotak, Mayor of the North Slope Borough; the Honorable 10 Dickie Moto, Sr., Mayor of the Northwest Arctic Borough; the Honorable Mark Jensen, 11 Mayor of the Petersburg Borough; the Honorable Steven Eisenbeisz, Mayor of the City and 12 Borough of Sitka; the Honorable Sam Bass, Mayor of the Municipality of Skagway; the 13 Honorable Patricia Gilbert, Mayor of the City and Borough of Wrangell; the Honorable Cindy 14 L. Bremner, Mayor of the City and Borough of Yakutat; the Honorable Glenda D. Ledford, 15 Mayor of the City of Wasilla; the Honorable Steve Carrington, Mayor of the City of Palmer; 16 the Honorable David Pruhs, Mayor of the City of Fairbanks; the Honorable Igor Zaremba, 17 Mayor of the City of Delta Junction; the Honorable Brian Gabriel, Mayor of the City of 18 Kenai; the Honorable Paul Whitney, Mayor of the City of Soldotna; Doug Schrage, Fire 19 Chief, Anchorage Fire Department; Chad VanOrmer, Regional Forester, Alaska Region, 20 Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the 21 Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Nicholas Begich, U.S. 22 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.