JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska Ketchikan Rep. Kyle Johansen has proposed a resolution in the state Capitol urging the U.S. Congress to declare New York's Central Park as a wilderness area, subjecting it to the same building and construction restrictions currently affecting Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Johansen says the bill is primarily satire, but is prompting a serious nationwide discussion about opening up ANWR to development -- particularly oil drilling.
Johansen says the federal government banning drilling in ANWR amounts to outsiders telling Alaskans how to run their state, so a resolution handing over Central Park to the federal government is only fair.
The resolution would urge Congress to classify Central Park as a national wilderness area, and -- just like ANWR -- ban any kind of new construction or development in the park.
