troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Re-
sources
A BILL
To preserve the Arctic coastal plain of the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, as wilderness in recognition of
its extraordinary natural ecosystems and for the perma-
nent good of present and future generations of Ameri-
cans.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Morris K. Udall Arctic
Wilderness Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF POLICY.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) Americans cherish the continued existence
of expansive, unspoiled wilderness ecosystems and
wildlife found on their public lands, and feel a
strong moral responsibility to protect this wilderness
heritage as an enduring resource to bequeath undis-
turbed to future generations of Americans.
(2) It is widely believed by ecologists, wildlife
scientists, public land specialists, and other experts
that the wilderness ecosystem centered around and
dependent upon the Arctic coastal plain of the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, represents the
very epitome of a primeval wilderness ecosystem and
constitutes the greatest wilderness area and diversity
of wildlife habitats of its kind in the United States.
(3) President Dwight D. Eisenhower initiated
protection of the wilderness values of the Arctic
coastal plain in 1960 when he set aside 8,900,000
acres establishing the Arctic National Wildlife Range
expressly ‘‘for the purpose of preserving unique wild-
life, wilderness and recreational values’’.
(4) Congress strengthened the protective man-
agement of the Eisenhower-designated area in 1980
with the enactment of the Alaska National Interest
Lands Conservation Act (Public Law 96–487; 94
Stat. 2371), section 303(2) of which established the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, more than doubled
the size of the wildlife refuge, and extended statu-
tory wilderness protection to most of the original
area.
(5) Before the enactment of the Alaska Na-
tional Interest Lands Conservation Act, the House
of Representatives twice passed legislation that
would have protected the entire Eisenhower-des-
ignated area as wilderness, including the Arctic
coastal plain.
(6) A majority of Americans have supported
and continue to support preserving and protecting
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, including the
Arctic coastal plain, from any industrial development
and consider oil and gas exploration and develop-
ment in particular to be incompatible with the pur-
poses for which this incomparable wilderness eco-
system has been set aside.
(7) Canada has taken action to preserve those
portions of the wilderness ecosystem of the Arctic
that exist on its side of the international border and
provides strong legal protection for the habitat of
the Porcupine River caribou herd that migrates an-
nually through both countries to calve on the Arctic
coastal plain.
(8) The extension of full wilderness protection
for the Arctic coastal plain within the Arctic Na-
tional Wildlife Refuge will still leave 95 percent of
the North Slope of Alaska without such wilderness
protection, so that development of energy resources
in Alaska can continue to contribute significantly to
meeting the energy needs of the United States with-
out despoiling the unique Arctic coastal plain of the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
(b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—Congress hereby de-
clares that it is the policy of the United States—
(1) to honor the decades of bipartisan efforts
that have increasingly protected the great wilderness
ecosystem of the Arctic coastal plain;
(2) to sustain this natural treasure for the cur-
rent generation of Americans; and
(3) to do everything possible to protect and pre-
serve this magnificent natural ecosystem so that it
may be bequeathed in its unspoiled natural condition
to future generations of Americans.
SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF ADDITIONAL WILDERNESS, ARC-
TIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, ALASKA.
(a) INCLUSION OF ARCTIC COASTAL PLAIN.—In fur-
therance of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.),
an area within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the
State of Alaska comprising approximately 1,559,538
acres, as generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Arctic Na-
tional Wildlife Refuge—1002 Area Alternative E—Wilder-
ness Designation’’, dated October 28, 1991, and available
for inspection in the offices of the Secretary of the Inte-
rior, is hereby designated as wilderness and, therefore, as
a component of the National Wilderness Preservation Sys-
tem.
(b) ADMINISTRATION.—The area designated as wil-
derness under subsection (a) shall be administered by the
Secretary of the Interior in accordance with the provisions
of the Wilderness Act as part of the wilderness area al-
ready in existence within the Arctic National Wildlife Ref-
uge as of the date of the enactment of this Act.
Æ