[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 770 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 770

 To preserve the Arctic coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife 
   Refuge, Alaska, as wilderness in recognition of its extraordinary 
  natural ecosystems and for the permanent good of present and future 
                       generations of Americans.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 13, 2003

 Mr. Markey (for himself, Mrs. Johnson of Connecticut, Mr. Allen, Mr. 
Ackerman, Mr. Andrews, Mr. Baird, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Ballance, Mr. Bass, 
   Mr. Becerra, Ms. Berkley, Mr. Berman, Mr. Bishop of New York, Mr. 
 Blumenauer, Mr. Boehlert, Mr. Boucher, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, 
 Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Cardin, Ms. Carson of Indiana, Mrs. Capps, Mr. 
 Clay, Mr. Costello, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Davis of Florida, 
 Mrs. Davis of California, Mr. DeFazio, Ms. DeGette, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. 
     Delahunt, Mr. Deutsch, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Engel, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. 
 Etheridge, Mr. Evans, Mr. Farr, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Filner, Mr. Frank of 
Massachusetts, Mr. Frelinghuysen, Mr. Ford, Mr. Gephardt, Mr. Grijalva, 
   Mr. Gutierrez, Ms. Harman, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Hill, Mr. 
 Hinchey, Mr. Hoeffel, Mr. Holt, Mr. Honda, Ms. Hooley of Oregon, Mr. 
Inslee, Mr. Israel, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson 
of Texas, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Mr. Kennedy of Rhode Island, Mr. Kildee, 
  Mr. Kleczka, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Leach, Ms. 
 Lee, Mr. Levin, Ms. Lofgren, Mrs. Lowey, Mr. Lynch, Mrs. Maloney, Mr. 
   Matsui, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Ms. McCarthy of Missouri, Ms. 
  McCollum, Mr. McDermott, Mr. McGovern, Mr. McNulty, Mr. Meehan, Mr. 
 Meeks of New York, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Michaud, Ms. Millender-McDonald, 
  Mr. Miller of North Carolina, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. 
      Moran of Virginia, Mr. Nadler, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Neal of 
Massachusetts, Ms. Norton, Mr. Obey, Mr. Olver, Mr. Owens, Mr. Pallone, 
 Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Pastor, Mr. Payne, Mr. Price of North Carolina, Mr. 
Rangel, Mr. Rothman, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Sabo, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez 
  of California, Ms. Loretta Sanchez of California, Mr. Sanders, Ms. 
Schakowsky, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Shays, 
 Mr. Sherman, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Snyder, Ms. 
 Solis, Mr. Spratt, Mr. Stark, Mrs. Tauscher, Mr. Tierney, Mr. Towns, 
Mr. Udall of Colorado, Mr. Udall of New Mexico, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Van 
 Hollen, Mr. Visclosky, Ms. Watson, Mr. Watt, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Weiner, 
  Mr. Wexler, Ms. Woolsey, and Mr. Wu) introduced the following bill; 
            which was referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To preserve the Arctic coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife 
   Refuge, Alaska, as wilderness in recognition of its extraordinary 
  natural ecosystems and for the permanent good of present and future 
                       generations of Americans.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

     This Act may be cited as the ``Morris K. Udall Arctic Wilderness 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Americans cherish the continued existence of expansive, 
        unspoiled wilderness ecosystems and wildlife found on their 
        public lands, and feel a strong moral responsibility to protect 
        this wilderness heritage as an enduring resource to bequeath 
        undisturbed to future generations of Americans.
            (2) It is widely believed by ecologists, wildlife 
        scientists, public land specialists, and other experts that the 
        wilderness ecosystem centered around and dependent upon the 
        Arctic coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 
        Alaska, represents the very epitome of a primeval wilderness 
        ecosystem and constitutes the greatest wilderness area and 
        diversity of wildlife habitats of its kind in the United 
        States.
            (3) President Dwight D. Eisenhower initiated protection of 
        the wilderness values of the Arctic coastal plain in 1960 when 
        he set aside 8,900,000 acres establishing the Arctic National 
        Wildlife Refuge expressly ``for the purpose of preserving 
        unique wildlife, wilderness and recreational values''.
            (4) Congress strengthened the protective management of the 
        Eisenhower-designated area in 1980 with the enactment of the 
        Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (Public Law 96-
        487; 94 Stat. 2371), section 303(2) of which established the 
        Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, more than doubled the size of 
        the wildlife refuge, and extended statutory wilderness 
        protection to most of the original area.
            (5) Before the enactment of the Alaska National Interest 
        Lands Conservation Act, the House of Representatives twice 
        passed legislation that would have protected the entire 
        Eisenhower-designated area as wilderness, including the Arctic 
        coastal plain.
            (6) A majority of Americans have supported and continue to 
        support preserving and protecting the Arctic National Wildlife 
        Refuge, including the Arctic coastal plain, from any industrial 
        development and consider oil and gas exploration and 
        development in particular to be incompatible with the purposes 
        for which this incomparable wilderness ecosystem has been set 
        aside.
            (7) Canada has taken action to preserve those portions of 
        the wilderness ecosystem of the Arctic that exist on its side 
        of the international border and provides strong legal 
        protection for the habitat of the Porcupine River caribou herd 
        that migrates annually through both countries to calve on the 
        Arctic coastal plain.
            (8) The extension of full wilderness protection for the 
        Arctic coastal plain within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 
        will still leave 95 percent of the North Slope of Alaska 
        without such wilderness protection, so that development of 
        energy resources in Alaska can continue to contribute 
        significantly to meeting the energy needs of the United States 
        without despoiling the unique Arctic coastal plain of the 
        Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
    (b) Statement of Policy.--Congress hereby declares that it is the 
policy of the United States--
            (1) to honor the decades of bipartisan efforts that have 
        increasingly protected the great wilderness ecosystem of the 
        Arctic coastal plain;
            (2) to sustain this natural treasure for the current 
        generation of Americans; and
            (3) to do everything possible to protect and preserve this 
        magnificent natural ecosystem so that it may be bequeathed in 
        its unspoiled natural condition to future generations of 
        Americans.

SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF ADDITIONAL WILDERNESS, ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE 
              REFUGE, ALASKA.

    (a) Inclusion of Arctic Coastal Plain.--In furtherance of the 
Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), an area within the Arctic 
National Wildlife Refuge in the State of Alaska comprising 
approximately 1,559,538 acres, as generally depicted on a map entitled 
``Arctic National Wildlife Refuge--1002 Area Alternative E--Wilderness 
Designation'', dated October 28, 1991, and available for inspection in 
the offices of the Secretary of the Interior, is hereby designated as 
wilderness and, therefore, as a component of the National Wilderness 
Preservation System.
    (b) Administration.--The area designated as wilderness under 
subsection (a) shall be administered by the Secretary of the Interior 
in accordance with the provisions of the Wilderness Act as part of the 
wilderness area already in existence within the Arctic National 
Wildlife Refuge as of the date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>