News from the Senate Majority

Alaska State Legislature

Wendy Lindskoog, Senate Majority Press Secretary
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
Phone: 907/465-4582
http://www.akrepublicans.org
Broadcast Actualities: 800/478-6540

For Immediate Release: March 17, 1997 Contact: Senator Rick Halford 907/465-4958

Legislature Passes Resolution To Protect Alaskan’s Rights to Access Alaska Land

JUNEAU -- Access corridors across Alaska’s land are the key to the state’s economic future according to a resolution passed by the Alaska State House Monday by a vote of 30 to 3. Senate Joint Resolution 13, sponsored by Senator Rick Halford (R-Chugiak), opposes the federal Department of Interior's new policy that will severely limit Revised Statute 2477 rights-of-way.

"We must continue to aggressively assert RS 2477 access routes and oppose the Department of the Interior's blatant disregard for the laws passed by Congress," said Halford. "Alaskans agree that bureaucrats, 5,000 miles away, should not be making decisions that belong in the hands of Alaskans."

"Every time we turn around, Alaska’s rights are under siege in Washington D.C." said Halford. "If Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the Interior, succeeds in his effort to add regulatory roadblocks to states exercising their RS 2477 rights, then Alaska’s ability to provide for future generations will suffer greatly."

Given the importance of access to Alaska's economic future, RS 2477 rights-of-way are essential, noted Halford. They provide surface travel to Alaska’s many untapped mineral deposits and other natural resources, recreational area and tourism opportunities, and access to and between Alaska’s rural areas.

Revised Statute 2477, as enacted by Congress in 1866, guaranteed to the American public the right to establish access across federal lands. State law provides the basis for determining and defining RS 2477 rights-of-way.

In 1976, RS 2477 was repealed, but Congress recognized the legal existence of RS 2477 rights-of-way existing up to that date. The State of Alaska completed a $1.2 million, 2-year review of rights-of-way in Alaska and determined that 560 routes qualify as RS 2477s.

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