The purpose of this proposed amendment is to raise the bar for the passage of all natural resources ballot initiatives. HJR 3 will require a natural resources initiative to obtain a two-thirds vote of the people voting in order to pass. By raising the bar for management of our resources, we encourage the possibility that scientific data, both pro and con, will be available to the public to persuade them of the validity of the issues.

Resource management should be well reasoned and based on sound scientific principles. As a state we want to avoid the proliferation of initiatives that plagued California. We want to maintain access to our natural resources.

Recently, the Supreme Court of Alaska in Brooks v Wright, Opinion No. 5066, January 15, 1999, found that the legislature does not have exclusive law-making powers over natural resources and that management of natural resources belonging to the state is an appropriate subject for an initiative.

Our State's historic voter turn-out is not to our credit. The number of people who vote in an election is relatively small in relation to the number of registered voters in our state. HJR 3 will prevent something as important as resource management from being dictated by the "majority of the moment". Alaskans cannot properly maintain the resources they depend on for a living if we don't participate in the process. Alaska is the Owner State; we all have a stake in assuring that our resources are managed by a clear majority.