[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2393 Placed on Calendar Senate (PCS)]






                                                       Calendar No. 516
105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2393

 To protect the sovereign right of the State of Alaska and prevent the 
    Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior from 
        assuming management of Alaska's fish and game resources.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 30, 1998

 Mr. Murkowski introduced the following bill; which was read the first 
                                  time

                             July 31, 1998

            Read the second time and placed on the calendar

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To protect the sovereign right of the State of Alaska and prevent the 
    Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior from 
        assuming management of Alaska's fish and game resources.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the State of Alaska received management authority and 
        responsibility for fish and game resources in the State at the 
        time of Statehood;
            (2) the Alaska Constitution requires equal access for all 
        citizens of the State to these fish and game resources;
            (3) the State of Alaska developed statutes to implement a 
        rural subsistence priority;
            (4) in 1980 Congress passed the Alaska National Interest 
        Lands Conservation Act providing that the ``taking on public 
        lands of fish and wildlife for nonwasteful subsistence uses 
        shall be accorded priority over the taking on such lands of 
        fish and wildlife for other purposes;
            (5) in 1989 the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in McDowell v. 
        Alaska that the rural preference contained in the State's 
        subsistence statute violated the equal access provision of the 
        Alaska Constitution putting the State's subsistence program out 
        of compliance with title VIII of ANILCA resulting in the 
        Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior assuming 
        subsistence management on the public lands in Alaska;
            (6) three Governors of Alaska have called the Legislature 
        into four special legislative sessions to try and resolve the 
        issue and return management responsibilities of fish and game 
        back to the State; however, these efforts have not been 
        successful;
            (7) there continues to remain an impasse that is creating a 
        divisive atmosphere in Alaska among sport hunters, sport 
        fishermen, commercial fishermen, Alaska Natives, as well as 
        urban and rural residents; and
            (8) the Congress hereby declares that subsistence uses of 
        fish and game resources should have a priority over other uses 
        of those resources; residents of rural Alaska should have a 
        greater role in the management and enforcement of subsistence 
        laws; the State of Alaska is better prepared than the Federal 
        Government to manage fish and game resources in Alaska; and a 
        moratorium is needed to prevent a Federal takeover and give the 
        State adequate time to address the issue.

SEC. 2. MORATORIUM ON FEDERAL MANAGEMENT.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, Neither the Secretary 
of the Interior nor the Secretary of Agriculture may issue or implement 
final rules, regulations, or policies pursuant to title VIII of the 
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act to assert jurisdiction, 
management, or control over the navigable waters transferred to the 
State of Alaska pursuant to the Submerged Lands Act of 1953 or the 
Alaska Statehood Act of 1959 prior to December 1, 2000.
                                     





                                                       Calendar No. 516

105th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 2393

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To protect the sovereign right of the State of Alaska and prevent the 
    Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior from 
        assuming management of Alaska's fish and game resources.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             July 31, 1998

            Read the second time and placed on the calendar