Chenault, a Republican from Nikiski, wants to order the federal government to transfer upward of 166 million acres of federal lands to state ownership on or before Jan. 1, 2017, but state attorneys say Alaska legislators don’t have the power to make it so.
Chenault said the bill is based on a similar measure in Utah, approved in 2012, demanding the handover of 30 million acres of federal land by last December. Utah set aside $2 million after the federal government refused. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a similar bill in 2012, saying it was unconstitutional, but the idea has found some support among Republicans in some Western states.
For more than 30 years, Alaska has had a provision in state law declaring that it is unconstitutional for the federal government to own public land in Alaska. The so-called “Tundra Rebellion,” approved by voters in 1982, was never implemented. The measure directed the state to start managing the land, but the attorney general declared the plan unconstitutional under the Alaska Constitution and instructed state agencies to ignore it.
Chenault’s original bill said that all federal lands, excluding military property and some other classifications, must be turned over by Jan. 1, 2017, but an amended version advanced Monday by the House Finance Committee would allow the federal government to keep 53.8 million acres of national parks.
The legislators co-sponsoring the bill are Reps. Craig Johnson and Charisse Millett, R-Anchorage; Lora Reinbold and Dan Saddler, R-Eagle River; Mark Neuman, R-Big Lake; Wes Keller, R-Wasilla; Steve Thompson, R-Fairbanks; Dave Talerico, R-Healy; Kurt Olson, R-Soldotna; and Bob Herron, D-Bethel.
Wright said Monday the original idea of the bill was to get the federal government to complete the state land entitlement. At statehood, the state was allowed to select about 105 million acres of land, which is about the size of the state of California. It has received all but about 5 million acres.
Via adn.com
image credit APEonline
