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NPS and ANILCA
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Response to ANCSA, 1971-1973
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The National Park Service and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980: Administrative History Chapter Three: Response to ANCSA, 1971-1973 |
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C. Preparation of Legislative Recommendations (continued)
On April 25, 1973, the Alaska Planning Group met for the first time to consider individual proposals when members discussed Mount McKinley, Katmai, Yukon Flats, Coastal Refuges and Fortymile. [98] Following long, and sometimes acrimonious debate, the Alaska Planning Group had substantially resolved the issues by June 16, the date the combined proposals went forward to Assistant Secretary Reed. Resolution of the question of overlapping interest areas (NPS and BSF&W) had actually begun earlier at the local level. As early as December 1972 the NPS Alaska Task Force considered joint management of the Noatak as a solution there, and had so recommended. [99] At Chukchi-Imuruk, on the other hand, the NPS study team decided that, despite the obvious wildlife values, the area most properly belonged in the National Park System, and submitted the issue to the APG for resolution. [100] Accepting the recommendation of the NPS Alaska Task Force, the APG endorsed the concept of joint management at Noatak, as well as for the two southern units of the proposed Harding Icefields - Kenai Fjords National Park. They overrode the recommendations of the NPS Alaska Task Force by proposing joint management at Chukchi-Imuruk. The group decided that in Kobuk Valley, the Upper Yukon and Copper River areas, park values outweighed wildlife values and reaffirmed NPS proposals there. [101]
Following resolution of overlapping interest areas, the APG, as well as individual d-2 agencies, Bureau of Mines and USGS, made presentations to the assistant secretaries in late June and early July. The Alaska Planning Group presented a package for departmental review that included 85,390,360 acres. Included were 32,242,000 acres of refuges, 4,067,360 acres for Wild and Scenic Rivers, and 49,081,000 acres in proposed National Park Service areas:
| Mount McKinley National Park additions | 3,600,000 | |
| Gates of the Arctic National Wilderness Park | 8,500,000 | |
| Nunamiut-Koyukuk National Wildlands | 2,100,000 | |
| Noatak National Ecological Reserve | 8,000,000 | |
| Kobuk Valley National Monument | 1,800,000 | |
| Cape Krusenstern National Monument | 400,000 | |
| Chukchi-Imuruk National Wildlands | 4,300,000 | |
| Yukon-Charley National Rivers | 1,800,000 | |
| Katmai National Monument additions | 2,301,000 | |
| Lake Clark National Park | 3,600,000 | |
| Aniakchak Caldera National Monument | 680,000 | |
| Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park | 11,900,000 | |
| Harding Icefield-Kenai Fjords National Park | 100,000 | [102] |
Differences existed, even within the Interior Department, as to whether the 80,000,000-acre limit in Section 17(d)(2) referred only to the September 1972 study area withdrawals, or whether the legislative intent was to limit as well the total acreage in the interior secretary's December 1973 recommendations to Congress. Secretary Morton, and he was supported in his view by Representatives John Saylor and Morris Udall, clearly believed the former was true. [103] In an effort to avoid potential difficulties, however, Secretary Morton decided that the Interior Department's legislative proposal would be generally within the 80,000,000-acre range. [104]
The process of review following preparation of the APG's June proposals was similar to that prior to the March and September withdrawals. Political pressures, the Secretary's decision to restrict the total acreage, and his own conviction that the only potentially successful proposal would be one that achieved a balance between multiple and dominant use molded the December 1973 recommendations.
On August 8, for example, the Federal-State Land Use Planning Commission, which had held a series of hearings in thirty Alaskan communities and four more "outside" in May and June, presented its preliminary recommendations. Identifying "primary values" in twenty-six d-2 areas, the commission recommended nearly 18,000,000 acres as waterfowl, fish and wildlife habitat; and 22,469,000 more for a combination of recreational uses, and scenic and natural features. Some 61,000,000 acres, much of it overlapping other areas, were identified for mineral exploration and extraction with varying degrees of regulation. Another 37,000,000 acres were proposed for a variety of uses. Finally, the commission recommended that all d-2 lands remain open for fishing and hunting, except for 3,000,000 acres in the central Brooks Range, Wrangell-Chugach, and Mount McKinley areas. [105]
The most important single factor that determined the shape of the December legislative proposals, however, was concessions won by Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz on behalf of the Forest Service. In July the Forest Service published its final recommendations, calling for the establishment of seven national forests, and five separate additions to Chugach and Tongass national forests. [106] The proposal, which totaled nearly 42,000,000 acres, was similar to that presented to Secretary Morton the previous year, a package he had then criticized as "an effort to get into the Bureau of Land Management business." [107]
Morton had substantially ignored the Forest Service proposal at that time, and Park Service employees hoped that he would do so again. In 1973, however, he was unable or unwilling to do so again. Beginning in early August and continuing into October officials in the Interior Department negotiated with their counterparts in the Department of Agriculture. On August 9 the Forest Service presented its revised "Suggested Balanced System," a 77,300,000-acre proposal that included 31,800,000 acres in forests, 24,000,000 in parks, 20,500,000 in refuges, and 1,000,000 acres of wild and scenic rivers. [108] Following a series of offers, counter-offers, and face-to-face meetings, Secretaries Morton and Butz agreed to a compromise package that included 18,800,000 acres of new national forests—Porcupine (5,500,000), Kuskokwim (7,300,000), Wrangell Mountains (5,500,000), and a 500,000-acre addition to existing forests. [109]
There are differences of opinion as to the reason Secretary Morton agreed to the concession, one that certainly outraged conservationists and demoralized agency and departmental staffs. Robert Cahn suggests that Butz used his position as one of President Nixon's four "superlevel cabinet counselors" to force Morton to agree. Curtis Bohlen, who was deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior at the time, believes that Morton's determination to develop a bill that would appeal to the broadest possible constituency was a more important factor. [110]
One area the NPS lost in the negotiations—the Noatak—was most certainly a part of an effort to increase the acreage of multiple use areas. The Noatak had been proposed in June 1973 as the "National Ecological Reserve", managed jointly by the NPS and BSF&W. By September 22, when the proposal was prepared for Secretary Butz's consideration, the Noatak was listed under "Multiple Use Management" areas with the NPS, BSF&W, and BLM as management agencies. On October 16 Swem learned that the department had proposed a Noatak National Ecological Range, administered by the BSF&W and BLM. Swem appealed the decision to the departmental Alaska Task Force, but to no avail. [111]
The Morton-Butz compromise did much to shape the final product. It was not, however, the last change made in the proposals. In fact, resulting from continuing discussions within the department as well as reviews by other agencies, changes were made in the proposal to the very day the legislative recommendations went to Congress. [112] On October 31, for example, a disagreement arose in the Alaska Planning Group regarding the location of the boundary between Katmai National Monument and Iliamna National Ecological Range. [113] Following OMB criticism of new unit classifications in the proposals, Chukchi-Imuruk National Wildlands, a unit included in both the National Park and National Wildlife Refuge systems became the proposed Chukchi-Imuruk National Reserve, to be managed by the Park Service. [114] At the same time, OMB forced deletion of a provision providing for preferential hiring of Alaska Natives. In a decision which most, including Secretary Morton at his December 18 press conference, criticized, OMB forced the Department to delete the "instant wilderness" designation of Gates of the Arctic. [115]
Chapter Three continues with...
The Morton Proposals
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Last Modified: Tues, Jan 9 2001 10:08 am PDT
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