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Session: State Capitol, Room 30 Juneau, AK 99801-1182 Phone: (907) 465-3873 Fax: (907) 465-3922 Send E-Mail Interim: PO Box 1441 Wrangell, AK 99929-1141 Phone: (907) 874-2318 Fax: (907) 874-3470 352 Front St Ketchikan, AK 99901 Phone: (907) 225-8088 Fax: (907) 225-0713 |
For Immediate Release: May 3, 1999
Contact: Senator Robin Taylor at (907) 465-3873.
Juneau -- Senate Bill 7, sponsored by Senator Robin Taylor (R) Wrangell, passed the Senate today by a 15-5 vote. The bill will grant the University of Alaska some 250,000 acres of state land for resource development.
The University of Alaska was established by Congress in 1915 as a land grant college but only received 111,000 acres of land from the federal government, the second smallest amount of land for federal land grant colleges. Although promised several thousand acres initially, the original appropriation language was deleted in the Alaska Statehood Act.
SB 7 will meet the requirements of federal legislation sponsored by U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski. Murkowski's bill will provide 250,000 acres of federal land to the University of Alaska with an additional 250,000 acres of federal land, if the state provides a match.
If both bills pass, the university will have an additional 750,000 acres of land to manage. Monies derived from the land managed by the University are deposited in the University Land Trust, the interest from which is used for the University. These monies are subject to legislative appropriation.
One provision of the bill requires that up to 20 percent of the revenues derived from the land are to be used for resource development at the campus nearest the land from which the revenues were generated. That provision is contingient on the local community providing a comparable match.
"Some munipalities have received title to only a small percentage of their land entitlements," said Senator Taylor. "Therefore we have provided a 'first right of refusal' for municipalities for land selected by the University that lies within the municipal boundaries," he said.
"Working with the Municipal League, the Alaska Miners' Association, the Alaska Outdoor Council, and others interested in land issues, I believe we have addressed the concerns of most Alaskans," said Taylor.
Senator Taylor concluded his remarks with a question, "How can you have a land grant college if it doesn't have any land?"
Although the bill was reconsidered by a member of the Senate Minority, SB 7 is expected to move to the House Tuesday.
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