In an effort to push back on what he sees as President Joe Biden’s overly burdensome control and regulation of Alaska’s natural resources, Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced his selection of a senior policy advisor who will lead the state’s efforts to reassert control over Alaska’s land and waters.
Brett Huber will direct the governor’s Statehood Defense initiative, which Dunleavy said is aimed at pushing back on federal agencies that want to “overregulate Alaskans.”
“Over decades, federal law passed by Congress is clear, and even the Supreme Court has been clear, that Alaska’s lands and waters are fundamentally different than the rest of the United States,” Dunleavy said in a July 9 statement. “Unfortunately, those in power in Washington D.C. see our state as another parcel to be managed like a park. To fight those attempts to rollback our Alaskan way of life, we need a high-level, focused effort, and Brett brings that to my administration.”
In March, Dunleavy wrote President Biden a formal letter expressing Alaska’s intent to manage the more than 800,000 miles of navigable rivers and 30 million acres of navigable lakes within the state’s authority, which was affirmed in the 2019 Supreme Court decision Sturgeon v Frost.
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This past Wednesday, the governor also announced that Alaska is suing the U.S. Department of Interior for its unilateral extension of land restrictions to 28 million acres of federal land within the state.
“I look forward to supporting Governor Dunleavy in Alaska’s defense against an encroaching and overreaching federal government, and further assisting as he ensures the Last Frontier has a robust future for generations to come,” Huber said in a prepared statement.
Huber brings three decades of experience in public policy with a special focus on state and federal issues. He has worked as chief of staff for a number Alaska State Senate leaders and as a key advisor to leaders in the Alaska Legislature on land, fish and wildlife issues.
The Alaska Legislature agreed to include $4 million in the operating budget for the Statehood Defense initiative.
5 Comments
Remember its Alaskans own fault why we allow others regulate lands and waters as a national park when Alaskans generations were poorly educated and poorly parented. We are poor advocates over ourselves. Very few residents know how to be very useful. The other few who can do something useful for Alaska’s future at least half of that crowd are corrupt and play into the hands of others wanting greater control.
We brought on the misery not being independent onto ourselves, for not taking ownership over our own personal lives that’s controlling your money, yours and family health care and how its paid, your childrens and grandchildren education and how/who delivers it, and your housing costs.
We can send the best minded people to D.C to fight for state rights. But! If the people are dependent, then we lose all that effort and accomplishment after Governor Administration leaves office, because the Alaskan peoples heart never changed.
Unless Article I, Section 8, Clause 17, plus the Tenth Amendment of the federal constitution are cited by Mr. Huber, he will merely work at placing symbolic pin-pricks, created to shore up Dunleavy’s eroding conservative base. Sure, it’s better than nothing, but is the usual mainstream Republican effort of “working within the system”, rather than openly challenging the federal violations of the limits to their power. Alaskans have a lot of homework to do regarding our statehood act and state constitution. Rep. Kurka has introduced a resolution regarding the onerous Art. XII in the state constitution, which pertains directly to these lands issues. I doubt Huber or Dunleavy will like it.
As soon as fighting becomes costly to Stand Small Mike………….he’ll fold his tent.
The U.S. Constitution gave the federal government two reasons to own land: a site for the capitol (D.C.) and for military bases. Nothing else. There is no Constitutional authority for federal Fish and Wildlife and similar agencies to even exist. Alaska has the Right as a Sovereign state to eject all of these unConstitutional entities.
Where is Murkey-Kowsky during this federal overreach ? Oh.. I forgot.. trying to please Dianne FrankenFeinstein, and Nasty Piglosi.