Alaska: Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Rights-of-Way Law-of-Way Law :: Environment Research Essays

Alaska: Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Rights-of-Way Law In Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, there are over 1 million acres of non-federal inholdings to which access is, and has been a major issue of controversy. Park managers and landowners alike are trying to reach an agreement which would provide for the access to private property, as well as towns such as Nabesna, McCarthy, and Kennecott. The following information will be used to convince park managers and conservationist groups that access via R.S. 2477 rights-of-ways are not only necessary, but also guaranteed by state and federal law. For most Americans, traveling to and from home is relatively simple. Travel in most of the United States is on paved roadways, and most roadways draw very little attention from conservationist groups. This, however, is not the case for residents in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Wrangell-St. Elias National Park was established in 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980. ANILCA is an act established †To provide for the designation and conservation of certain public lands in the State of Alaska, including the designation of units of the National Park, National Wildlife Refuge, National Forest, National Wild and Scenic Rivers, and National Wilderness Preservation Systems, and for other purposes.† (96th Congress of the United States, 1980) This act provided for the protection of millions of acres of Alaska’s wilderness through the creation of national parks and preserves, but in doing so, surrounded many small towns and villages by federally protected land. Despite protecting millions of acres of wilderness, this act provided for the numerous groups of people affected by the establishment of this law. Stipulations regarding the use of protected lands by private landowners were made. People living inside the park lands were guaranteed the right to subsistence hunting and fishing, as well as the guaranteed access to their lands. This right of access is the main concern for this argument, as it is a major management issue for park officials and land owners alike. As aforementioned, access to park lands is guaranteed by ANILCA, Title 11,  §1107, but it is also protected by the Federal Reserved Statute 2477. R.S. 2477 is a federal statute providing for the access across public lands. Once established, RS 2477 claims can not be eliminated. This policy was put in place in 1866 by The Mining Act to provide for mineral and resource extraction as well as for expansion to the west.