Opinion ID: 1428788
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Alaska Constitutional Response to Section 6(i)'s Restrictions

Text: The School Lands Act restrictions had already been incorporated into the Alaska statehood bills pending in the 84th Congress when the delegates for the Alaska Constitutional Convention met in the winter of 1955-56. The restrictions were controversial because they signalled a change from the existing location-patent system to a leasing system. Ultimately, however, the benefits of statehood were seen to outweigh the doubts of some of the delegates concerning the section 6(i) restrictions. The state constitution was adopted containing a provision expressly consenting to the section 6(i) restrictions. [22] However, the framers also sought to preserve key elements of the existing location-patent system should Congress permit. Thus, they adopted Article VIII, § 11, which provides: Discovery and appropriation shall be the basis for establishing a right in those minerals reserved to the State which, upon the date of ratification of this constitution by the people of Alaska, were subject to location under the federal mining laws. Prior discovery, location, and filing, as prescribed by law, shall establish a prior right to these minerals and also a prior right to permits, leases, and transferable licenses for their extraction. Continuation of these rights shall depend upon the performance of annual labor, or the payment of fees, rents, or royalties, or upon other requirements as may be prescribed by law. Surface uses of land by a mineral claimant shall be limited to those necessary for the extraction or basic processing of the mineral deposits, or for both. Discovery and appropriation shall initiate a right, subject to further requirements of law, to patent of mineral lands if authorized by the State and not prohibited by Congress. The provisions of this section shall apply to all other minerals reserved to the State which by law are declared subject to appropriation. According to one commentator (also a delegate to the Constitutional Convention): In part, this provision was inserted in the hope that Congress might recede from its restriction. On the other hand, delegates who concurred in the policy limiting permanent disposal of minerals went along with the proposal because they assumed Congress would stand firm. Most also saw the provision as a demonstration to miners, who might otherwise object to the constitution, that any restrictions applicable to alienation of mineral lands were being imposed from outside and were not the convention's doing.