Article VIII, section 1 of the Alaska Constitution provides that the state’s natural resources should be made available for “maximum use consistent with the public interest.”
Notably, the constitution is concerned with the interests of “the public,” not the interests of “those members of the public rich or fortunate enough to live on Hiland Road, and no one else.” The self-proclaimed not-NIMBYs of upper Hiland Road would do well to keep this distinction in mind.
— Gavin Kentch
Anchorage
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