Alaska Conservation Voters

Conservation Watch

Alaska Conservation Voters works to protect Alaska 's environment through public education and advocacy, and supports pro-conservation candidates for public office.

"Well, we gave you lands; what do you need now? "

---University President Hamilton predicts the Legislature's response to future funding requests if a University Lands bill passes (2/3/2005, Joint Finance Committee.)

• Murkowskis Smack Communities with Two-Punch Giveaway
• Legal Fees: Public Loses, Trappers Gain
• Chumps Move Arctic Power Bill on to Finance

In Every Issue

• Bills on the Move
• New Legislation
• Hearing Schedule

Murkowskis Smack Communities with Two-Punch Giveaway

The Murkowskis (Frank and Lisa) unveiled a double giveaway of Alaska ’s public lands on Friday, February 4 th. Gov. Murkowski unveiled his 260,000-acre state land giveaway in Fairbanks at a press conference. Meanwhile, in Washington D.C. , Sen. Lisa Murkowski introduced her own bill granting another 250,000-500,000 acres of federal land to the University.

The state land giveaway includes 71 parcels across the state, some cherished by local communities and highly valued by hunters, fishermen, and recreational users. You can view the list of state lands, including maps, on DNR’s website at www.state.ak.us/mlw/ualands/.

The Governor explained the purpose of the legislation as privatization, not education.

In order to turn land into money, the university must develop, sell, lease, log, or otherwise take it out of the public’ s h ands. The UA’s calculations from a similar bill introduced in 1999-2000 (SB 7) yielded an annuity to the university of only $5 million after 20 years, a drop in the bucket for an agency that get s h undreds of millions in general funds every year. This i s h ardly worth the cost to our communities of losing more than ¼ million acres of state public land.

Many university funding supporters worry that passage of this bill could hamper their efforts to secure general fund increases necessary to cover the cost of research, new initiatives, employee retirement and other important programs.

Let’s support our University by giving it something it can use: cold, hard cash.

Legal Fees: Public Loses, Trappers Gain

Bills tinkering with legal fees are gaining attention in the Capitol. HB 107, sponsored by Rep. Jay Ramras (R-Fairbanks) guarantees legal fees for individuals suing for damages caused by hindrances to hunting, fishing, trapping, and wildlife viewing activities. SB 86/HB 117 (Governor Murkowski) removes protections for public interest litigants in cases against the state.

SB 86/HB 117 are the latest Administration attempts to limit public access to the courts. The bills attempt to use the sovereign immunity clause of the Alaska Constitution to overturn court rules protecting public interest litigants (PIL). Under Supreme Court rules, citizens who sue the state in the public’s interest and win can seek full compensation for their legal fees. SB 86 and HB 117 limit the award of attorney costs against the state or municipalities to only 20-30% of this expense- limiting the pool of citizens who can afford to challenge the state in court.

Murkowski’s PIL bill from 2003 (HB 145) was thrown out by a Superior Court Judge for failing to seek the required 2/3rds vote to change court rules and for violating the equal protection and due process clauses of the United State Constitution. It is unclear whether this year’s bill will have similar constitutional and court rule problems.

HB 107 guarantees “ full actual attorney fees and costs” for plaintiffs aggrieved by unlawful obstruction or hindrance of hunting, fishing, or viewing of fish or game. HB 107 mirrors a bill sponsored by former Senator Scott Ogan in the 23 rd Legislature, aiming to compensate individuals- such as trappers – whose activities are disrupted illegally.   It’s hard to miss the irony: One bill guarantees compensation for private citizens working in their own interest, another limits compensation for suits brought in the public’s interest. HB 107 is scheduled Wednesday in House Resources. SB 86 is scheduled Wednesday in Senate Community and Regional Affairs.

Chumps Move Arctic Power Bill on to Finance

In a small victory for Arctic Power fat cats, bills funding their lobbying efforts with public money moved out of Resources and into the Finance Committees in their respective chambers. HB 32 and SB 69 each allocate more than a million dollars to Arctic Power, money to be spent in Washington , D.C. trying to convince Congress to allow oil drilling in the caribou calving grounds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

In the House Resources Committee, Reps. Kohring and Rokeberg registered a vote of “do pass” for HB 32. Reps. Gardner, Samuels, and McGuire reserved recommendation. No committee member went on record against this waste of public funds.

On the Senate side, Sens. Ben Stevens, Seekins, Stedman, and Dyson logged in “do pass” votes. It’s no surprise that Sen. Kim Elton (D-Juneau), who voted no on ANWR drilling resolutions, recommended Do not pass. Elton commented by email Friday, “It is surprising, though, that so many other legislators do [support the appropriation] because Arctic Power, instructed by the 2002 legislature to report on efforts monthly, failed to submit the required reports. Over $1 million every year for nine years is a lot of unaccounted for funds and I'd like to see what they're doing with that money. ”

If, as according to HB 32’s sponsor statement, “The existing window of opportunity to open ANWR is considered the best in years…,” then why did Arctic Power have to come back to the begging table again this year, even while Sen. Ted Stevens recently stated publicly that he did not think additional lobbying would be very useful and wouldn’t change votes?

More importantly, why have BP and Conoco Phillips themselves ceased funding Arctic Power?

Could it be they know the Alaska Legislature is full of enough chumps to pay their lobbying bill for them?

Bills on the Move

--- HB 46 and SB 32 have both moved into the Finance Committee in their respective chambers. These bills make publicly owned utilities eligible for grants currently available only to municipalities. Rep. Elkins (R-Ketchikan) removed himself as a cosponsor of the bill. CW has repeatedly contacted Elkins’ staff to find out why, but one staff member refused to share this information, and another did not respond by press time.

--- A bill giving municipalities more flexibility in holding initiative and referendum elections, SB 14, has passed the Senate and is scheduled Thursday in House CRA.

--- SB 55, which allows a Hope family to purchase 15 acres of land leased agriculturally from the state, unanimously passed Sen. Resources on Wednesday. Sen. Seekins (R-Fairbanks) commented that he wanted to just “give” the family the land, but did not propose an amendment. DNR confirmed that only one family is affected by the legislation.

--- A resolution urging Congress to allow oil development in the Arctic Refuge has passed the House and is now up for a vote on the Senate Floor Monday. Four Democrats voted no on HJR 4: Reps. Kerttula (Juneau), Salmon (Beaver), Cissna and Gara (Anchorage). Rep. Salmon was able to insert an amendment acknowledging the importance of the Porcupine caribou herd.

New Legislation

SB 85 Off-road Vehicles Near Dalton Highway – Sen. Seekins (R-Fairbanks)
Repeals the current ban on some types of off-road vehicles within 5 miles of the Dalton Highway . ( AS 19.40.210 .) This bill would permit unnecessary damage to sensitive tundra and permafrost lands.

SB 86/ HB 117 Public Interest Litigants – Governor Frank Murkowski
A familiar foe of the conservation community, this bill would stifle the efforts of organizations which sue the government on behalf of the public. Currently such litigants are entitled to reimbursement of their court fees if they win, that is, if the courts decide the government’s actions were wrong. This bill would reduce the state’s liability to only 20-30% of those court fees, curtailing some future lawsuits on behalf of the people. SB 86 is already scheduled in Senate CRA on Wednesday.

HB 121 Service Area Consolidation – House CRA
If a local municipal Assembly wants to consolidate or abolish service areas, currently a majority vote of the people in all affected areas is required. This bill would allow assemblies or other local governing bodies to make such changes for financial or legal reasons, or to improve service without a vote of the people. Historically, many local government s h ave had a hard time convincing voters to approve consolidations.

SJR 4 Constitutional Amendment: CBR – Sen. Dyson (R-EagleRiver )
This amendment would separate the Constitutional Budget Reserve (CBR) into primary and deferred maintenance accounts. Currently a ¾ vote is required for the Legislature to tap the CBR, and this has forced bipartisan cooperation at budget time. Under SJR 4, a simple majority vote only would be required to access the primary CBR account if the dollar amount is smaller than the previous year. Draws of any amount on the deferred maintenance account would only require a simple majority. If such an amendment passes, it would severely limit the ability of any minority party to affect legislation.

SJR 5 Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act – Sen. Therriault (R-North Pole)
Encourages Congress to re-authorize the 2000 Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act. It is currently not economical for industry to develop Alaska ’s methane hydrate resources. The MHRDA was geared towards developing these resources feasibly.

Hearings this Week

When this newsletter was converted to HTML, ACV staff did not have time to redo the committee schedule.