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Knowles Urged to Defend State Sovereignty
Council of State Governments-WEST Votes Support of Appeals

(PALMER) - The Council of State Governments-WEST has called on Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles and all governors to appeal legal issues such as the Katie John subsistence lawsuit to the U.S. Supreme Court to defend against improper federal infringement on state sovereignty.

At the CSG-WEST's annual conference last week in British Columbia, CSG delegates unanimously passed a resolution objecting to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' adverse ruling against Alaska in John v. United States of America, and calling on the "... governors of all states to fully uphold their sworn duty to defend their states sovereignty by vigorously defending to the United States Supreme Court, if necessary, their rights to manage navigable waters."

"The unanimous passage of this resolution reflects the level of concern felt by other Western states over the far-reaching effects of the John v. U.S. ruling," said Rep. Scott Ogan (R-Palmer). "This is a critical national issue. If allowed to stand, this federal court case law will affect all other states' rights to manage their submerged lands and state waters."

Ogan's assessment is supported by a letter recently sent to Gov. Knowles by Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, who is national president of the Council of State Governments and chairman of the Western States Governors Association. In his letter, Kempthorne said, "Idaho is concerned that the decision in John v. U. S. could open the door for further erosion of state sovereignty. The Ninth Circuit's failure to apply the clear statement doctrine to its preemption analysis threatens the sovereign authority of our states to determine the destiny of our waters."

Fourteen other states from the Atlantic to the Pacific filed amicus briefs in the John v. U.S. case supporting Alaska's case, underscoring their concerns over the threat to their sovereign authority, Ogan said. Those states are Idaho, Alabama, California, Delaware, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and West Virginia.

Ogan, a member of the Legislature for seven years, and a member of Legislative Council for five years, began to question Knowles' resolve on the matter last session when Knowles' attorney general briefed the Legislative Council on the John v. U. S. case.

"Although Gov. Knowles has since 1994 promised to appeal to the U. S. Supreme Court, the attorney general suddenly indicated the governor had not yet firmly decided to do so, sending up big red flags for me," Ogan said. "The governor claims he has remained consistent in his stand on John v. U.S. But the only way his actions can match his words is for him to fulfill his promise to defend Alaska's sovereignty, and appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. I look forward to an announcement that he will do so."

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Whereas; all states are admitted to the Union on equal footing; and

Whereas; in accordance with the United States Constitution, all states admitted to the Union have established constitutions and compacts ratified by Congress; and

Whereas; the founders of the Union envisioned the states as sovereign, and articulated the states' power in the Tenth Amendment; and

Whereas, the Alaska Statehood Compact specifically addresses that Alaska was admitted to the Union on equal footing with the 1953 Submerged Land Act; and

Whereas; the 1953 Submerged Land Act also granted the right to manage the water and resources within state property to the states; and

Whereas; the 1953 Submerged Land Act also granted the right to manage the water and resources within state property to the states; and

Whereas; The Department of the Interior has usurped the State of Alaska's right to manage resources on state submerged land and water; and

Whereas; Alaska's Governor Tony Knowles, has publicized a statewide position that, "No governor of any state would or should relinquish voluntarily this authority back to the federal government, and it is my clear responsibility to defend this important aspect of State sovereignty to the Supreme Court if necessary," and

Whereas; failure to appeal to the United States Supreme Court, the adverse ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, will adversely affect all other states' sovereign rights to manage their submerged lands;

Be It Therefore Resolved; Council of State Governments-West specifically objects, in the strongest terms, any attempt by any agency of the federal government, to usurp any states' sovereign rights to manage their submerged lands; and

Be It Further Resolved; Council of State Governments-West respectfully requests The Department of the Interior to review and reverse its reserved water rights policy, thus respecting the states' sovereignty enumerated in their statehood compacts and the 1953 Submerged Land Act; and

Be It Further Resolved; Council of State Governments-West respectfully requests the governors of all states to fully uphold their sworn duty to defend their states' sovereignty by vigorously defending to the United States Supreme Court, if necessary, their rights to manage navigable waters.