ANILCA Participation Process

Many ANILCA issues cut across or transcend the mandates and responsibilities of individual state agencies. The statewide ANILCA Implementation Program, housed within OPMP, is responsible for coordinating State agency participation in day-to-day ANILCA implementation. Among other tasks, the ANILCA program coordinates state participation in the development and review draft and final plans, regulations and policy documents that affect federal conservation system units (CSUs) in Alaska. The State engages with federal agencies in a variety of ways:

Formal Reviews. When draft ANILCA documents and proposals are released for general public review by the issuing federal agency, the state's ANILCA program solicits and collects individual state agency comments and consolidates them with any generic issues previously identified. The ANILCA program works with affected state agencies to resolve any inconsistencies so that the state speaks with one voice. The Correspondence Archive offers formal state comments on ANILCA-related subjects dating back to January 2000.

Issue Work. In addition to review of specific federal initiatives, the State encourages federal agencies to bring concerns and issues to the table before formulating a response plan to ensure that the issues and context are appropriately defined, all available authorities and data are considered, and proposed response measures are based on solid information with reasonable justification.

Citizen’s Advisory Commission on Federal Areas (CACFA)

After 9 years of dormancy, CACFA was re-established in 2007 to research issues and determine the impact of federal statutes, regulations, and management decisions on Alaskans to minimize or resolve potential conflicts.  The Commission is comprised of 12 members, all appointed by either the Governor or the Legislative leadership, and includes two sitting legislators.  CACFA tracks many of the same federal projects as the State ANILCA Program, and we consult with each other periodically; however, CACFA is not bound by the views of the State administration and may take divergent positions on specific issues. More information about CACFA can be found at https://dnr.alaska.gov/commis/cacfa/.