Bunde Resolution (SCR 3) Urges Governor to Sue Feds
to Protect State’s Right to Navigable Waterways

JUNEAU – The Alaska State Senate today is considering a resolution to ask Governor Sarah Palin to file suit against the U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service, to assert Alaska’s rights to control navigable waters within the state. Senate Concurrent Resolution 3 , introduced by Sen. Con Bunde, R-Anchorage, describes growing problems the state is experiencing with the NPS, as that agency usurps control of activities on water bodies that belong to the state.

“It is absolutely critical that the State of Alaska stand up for its rights under the Statehood Compact and the equal footing doctrine,” Bunde said. “These bodies of water, including the Yukon River, belong to the state, so when the Park Service attempts to dictate who can run a boat on them, or land an airplane, or use them to fish or hunt, we have a real problem with that.”

Bunde’s resolution notes that the foundational documents under which Alaska entered the Union clearly give control and ownership of navigable waters to the state, and this was reiterated in the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) in 1980. However, the NPS began usurping the state’s sovereign rights over waterways inside National Parks in 1996. The resolution also notes that the state has attempted for the past 12 years to resolve the conflict without success.

“I am convinced that the only way to resolve this issue is through the courts, because the federal managers and bureaucrats have a vested interest to continue to build their empires at the expense of the state,” Bunde said. “There are hundreds of thousands of acres of submerged lands at stake, under rivers, lakes and tidal waters. Access to Alaska’s lands was guaranteed under ANILCA, but it is slowly but surely being denied by federal employees.”

SCR 3 also urges the Governor to allocate sufficient resources to the Department of Law, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Department of Fish and Game to fund and support a legal challenge to protect the state’s sovereign right to manage the public use of its navigable waters. The resolution was referred to the Senate Resources committee.

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