May 1, 2005 Re: University Lands Bill (HB 130/SB 96) Dear Senate Finance Committee Members: We are writing to ask you to vote “No” on the University Lands Bill (HB 130/SB 96). The university needs and deserves adequate funding to fulfill its important mission. However, giving it thousands and thousands of acres of multiple use public land is not the solution. The university should be funded either through the general fund or, after a vote of the people, the Permanent Fund. We know that Alaskans don’t believe the Permanent Fund should be tapped for general state expenses; it is entirely possible, though, that the public would support this very specific dedication in order to create an institution of higher learning that will readily attract students both from Alaska and from around the country. Alaska will benefit in innumerable ways from a strong state university. There are a number of problems with transferring multiple use public lands out of general public ownership. These lands are already used by Alaskans for a variety of purposes. For example, the fish and wildlife they produce benefit subsistence, commercial and recreational users, both Alaskans and our visitors. Privatizing or developing these lands will inevitably be detrimental to both populations of fish and wildlife and to their habitat. These lands are also used in other ways by individual outdoor recreationists, as well as by the visitor industry, one of Alaska ’s most important industries. The resources on these public lands are available, where appropriate, for logging, mining, oil and gas development, and other economic purposes—but if the lands remain in general public ownership Alaskans will be able to have a say regarding whether and how they are developed. Alaskan communities, especially rural ones, could easily be adversely affected by university land sales to private individuals or by inappropriate development activities. When land is publicly owned, local communities and private land owners have a forum to affect the outcome; examples are coal bed methane development in the Matanuska Valley and the Pebble Beach mining proposal in Southwest Alaska . If these lands had been transferred to the university, the opportunity for the public to influence these projects would have been negligible. Please support the university with the funds they need, not lands which might or might not produce significant revenue but which are already highly valuable to thousands of Alaskans. Sincerely, Cliff Eames and Ruth McHenry |