SCR 11-WALTER HICKEL DAY OF THE ARCTIC  8:34:50 AM CHAIR LYNN announced that the next order of business was SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 11, Designating August 18, 2011, as Walter J. Hickel Day of the Arctic. 8:35:13 AM REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to adopt the proposed House committee substitute (HCS) for SCR 11, Version 27-LS0774\M, Wayne, 1/20/12, as a work draft. There being no objection, Version M was before the committee. 8:35:44 AM SENATOR HOLLIS FRENCH, Alaska State Legislature, as sponsor, said SCR 11 would establish August 18, 2012, as Walter J. Hickel Day of the Arctic. He noted that August 18 is former Governor Hickel's birthday. Senator French stated that Governor Hickel was an influential proponent of statehood, was Alaska's second governor in 1966, and appointed Ted Stevens to the U.S. Senate. He said Governor Hickel resigned from his post as Secretary of the Interior before getting fired by then President Nixon for having "pushed back against President Nixon in a remarkable display of conscience and forward thinking." Senator French noted that Governor Hickel served again as governor in 1990, and he was a highly successful businessman in Anchorage. 8:37:42 AM SENATOR FRENCH read an excerpt from former Governor Hickel's book, Crisis In The Commons: The Alaska Solution, as follows: If you or I were to travel the world's great open resource regions, too often we would see poor people living on rich land, and many of these lands are commons. We the people of this world own most of the planet in common. Our future depends on learning to use and develop this commons for the good of the total and not just for the few. Here in the Far North we built a new state based on that concept. It's the only place like it. The Alaskan people, through our state government, won ownership of much of our land and our natural resources. Using neither classic capitalism nor socialism, we have developed a new way to prosperity based on common ownership and rooted in constitutional democracy. We Alaskans have often disagreed among ourselves. We have fought over our personal visions, ambitions, and interests, but our land came first; it was so much bigger than any one person. The land welded us into one people and brought a new kind of state into the world: a state powered democratically by its commonly owned natural resources. CHAIR LYNN said he has been inspired by former Governor Hickel. 8:39:44 AM SENATOR FRENCH, in response to Representative Gruenberg, said Version M changes the date proposed as Walter J. Hickel Day of the Arctic from [August 18, 2011], which has already passed, to August 18, 2012, and he confirmed that he supports that change. In response to another question, he told about Governor Hickel's perseverance in building hotels after the 1964 earthquake that devastated Anchorage, even though others discouraged him from doing so. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG related details illustrating Governor Hickel's involvement in revamping Alaska's court system from one involved in scandal to one of the finest in the country. 8:43:33 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN, regarding the previously read excerpt, indicated that during Ketchikan's pulp mill battles, its citizens were frustrated by outside interests claiming equal ownership in the forests surrounding Ketchikan. He asked Senator French what he thinks Governor Hickel meant in terms of common ownership of state resources. 8:45:02 AM SENATOR FRENCH responded that the question is a good one, but said he will not speak for the governor. He pointed out that throughout his life, Governor Hickel had "fascinating chapters of extreme pro-development," such as the Hickel Highway to the North Slope, which turned out to be an ecological disaster. Conversely, he noted that following the oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, he had a hand in finding the legal tools to shut down all off-shore drilling in waters that touched the United States. He said he does not know what Governor Hickel's views were concerning the Southeast forests, and he indicated that he understands the frustration of those in Ketchikan, because "it's your livelihood." He said he thinks that Governor Hickel was a pro-development person who knew that resources should be used beneficially, and he surmised that Governor Hickel would not ever have stood in the way of "a wise use of the land." In response to a follow-up question, he stated: To the extent that my views are relevant to the Walter Hickel resolution that you have in front of you, I would say that if it's a state resource, we own it in common, and we develop that resource through this process right here, and try to allocate the resources as wisely as we can through the political process. REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN stated his support for the proposed legislation. 8:47:18 AM REPRESENTATIVE KELLER told committee members that he knows people who served as Governor Hickel's cabinet staff during his second term, and they were supported by the former governor. 8:48:09 AM REPRESENTATIVE PETERSEN shared that he had read a book by Governor Hickel, which influenced his later decision to move to Alaska. He stated his support of the proposed legislation. 8:49:06 AM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON opined that Governor Hickel's concept of the owner state has been vital in the development of Alaska. He further related that he has attended several Institute of the North meetings, which are nonpartisan, including a policy trip to Norway, to expand vision and have a good background for decision making. He expressed his appreciation for the proposed legislation. 8:50:49 AM NILS ANDREASSEN, Managing Director, Institute of the North, stated that a hero's measure of greatness is found not necessarily in what he/she has done, but in what he/she has inspired in others. He posited that Governor Hickel lived a life of greatness, and he will live on through the proposed legislation. He listed the following values: fearlessness, indomitability, imagination, unswerving passion for and commitment to the people of Alaska, and belief that it is possible to change the world with an idea. MR. ANDREASSEN highlighted some recent developments in the North: settlement of a 40-year dispute between Russia and Norway over a large portion of the Bering Sea; Norway announced two of the largest finds in its history in its portion; Canada recently released its Northern strategy, reaffirming the U.S. as a premier partner; a U.S. Secretary of State has, for the first time, attended an Arctic Council meeting; China is building its first ice breaker; gas has been found off the coast of Greenland; and shipments to the Northern Sea route and the Bering Strait are increasing. Mr. Andreassen said clearly the Arctic is central to global affairs, and Alaska is America's Arctic. MR. ANDREASSEN stated his support in the proposed legislation, and suggested that Walter J. Hickel Day of the Arctic could remind the world that Alaskans have a voice in the decision- making taking place at international levels. 8:53:12 AM REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to report HCS SCR 11, Version 27- LS0774\M, Wayne, 1/20/12, out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying zero fiscal note. There being no objection HCS SCR 11(STA) was reported out of the House State Affairs Standing Committee.