II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2615 

To provide equitable treatment for the people of the Village Corporation 

established for the Native Village of Saxman, Alaska, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 7, 2006 

Ms. MURKOWSKI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide equitable treatment for the people of the Village 

Corporation established for the Native Village of 

Saxman, Alaska, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds that— 

5 (1) the Cape Fox Corporation (referred to in 

6 this Act as ‘‘Cape Fox’’) is a Village Corporation for 

7 the Native Village of Saxman, Alaska, organized 

8 pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 

9 Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.); 


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1 (2) similar to other Village Corporations in 

2 southeast Alaska, under section 16 of that Act (43 

3 U.S.C. 1615), Cape Fox could select only 23,040 

4 acres from land withdrawn for the purpose of that 

5 selection; 

6 (3) under section 22(l) of that Act (43 U.S.C. 

7 1621(l))— 

8 (A) the Village Corporations in southeast 

9 Alaska, other than Cape Fox, were restricted 

10 with respect to the selection of land within 2 

11 miles of a home rule city (as that term is used 

12 in that Act); and 

13 (B) to protect the watersheds in the vicin14 ity, Cape Fox was restricted with respect to the 

15 selection of land within 6 miles of the boundary 

16 of the home rule city of Ketchikan, Alaska; 

17 (4) the 6-mile restriction described in para18 graph (3)(B) precluded Cape Fox from selecting val19 uable timber land, industrial sites, and other com20 mercial property located— 

21 (A) within the townships in which the Na22 tive Village of Saxman is located, more particu23 larly described as T.75 S., T.76 S., R.91 E., 

24 Copper River Meridian; and 


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1 (B) on surrounding land that is far re2 moved from Ketchikan, Alaska, and its water3 sheds; 

4 (5) as a result of that 6-mile restriction, only 

5 the remote, mountainous, northeast corner of the 

6 property described in paragraph (4)(A), which is 

7 nonproductive and has no known economic value, 

8 was available for selection by Cape Fox, as required 

9 under section 16(b) of the Alaska Native Claims 

10 Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1615(b)); 

11 (6) land selections by Cape Fox under that Act 

12 were further limited by the fact that— 

13 (A) the Annette Island Indian Reservation 

14 is located within the applicable selection area; 

15 and 

16 (B) land of that reservation is unavailable 

17 for selection by Cape Fox; 

18 (7) Cape Fox is the only Village Corporation af19 fected by the restrictions described in paragraphs 

20 (3)(B) and (6); 

21 (8) the Secretary of the Interior (referred to in 

22 this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) has advised Congress 

23 that the predicament of Cape Fox is sufficiently 

24 unique to warrant the legislative remedy provided by 

25 this Act; and 


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1 (9) the adjustment of the selections available 

2 and conveyances of land to Cape Fox under the 

3 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 

4 1601 et seq.), and the related adjustment of selec5 tions available and conveyances of land to the Re6 gional Corporation for Sealaska established pursuant 

7 to that Act, are in accordance with— 

8 (A) the purposes of that Act; and 

9 (B) the public interest. 

10 SEC. 2. WAIVER OF CORE TOWNSHIP REQUIREMENT FOR 

11 CERTAIN LAND. 

12 Notwithstanding section 16(b) of the Alaska Native 

13 Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1615(b)), Cape Fox 

14 shall not be required to select or receive conveyance of the 

15 approximately 160 acres of unconveyed Federal land lo16 cated within sec. 1, T.75 S., R.91 E., Copper River Merid17 ian. 

18 SEC. 3. SELECTION OUTSIDE EXTERIOR SELECTION 

19 BOUNDARY. 

20 (a) SELECTION AND CONVEYANCE OF SURFACE ES21 TATE.—Not later than 90 days after the date of enact22 ment of this Act, in addition to land made available for 

23 selection under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 

24 (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), Cape Fox may select, and, on 

25 receiving written notice of the selection, the Secretary 


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1 shall convey, the approximately 99 acres of the surface 

2 estate of Tongass National Forest land located outside the 

3 exterior selection boundary of Cape Fox (as in existence 

4 on the day before the date of enactment of this Act) and 

5 more particularly described as follows: 

6 (1) T.73 S., R.90 E., Copper River Meridian. 

7 (2) Of land located in sec. 33— 

8 (A) the 38 acres located within the 

SW1⁄4SE1 9 ⁄4; 

10 (B) the 13 acres located within the 

NW1⁄4SE1 11 ⁄4; 

12 (C) the 40 acres located within the 

SE1⁄4SE1 13 ⁄4; and 

14 (D) the 8 acres located within the 

SE1⁄4SW1 15 ⁄4. 

16 (b) CONVEYANCE OF SUBSURFACE ESTATE.—On 

17 conveyance to Cape Fox of the surface estate to the land 

18 identified in subsection (a), the Secretary shall convey to 

19 Sealaska Corporation the subsurface estate to the land. 

20 (c) TIMING.—The Secretary shall complete the con21 veyances to Cape Fox and Sealaska Corporation under 

22 this section as soon as practicable after the date on which 

23 the Secretary receives a notice of the selection of Cape 

24 Fox under subsection (a). 

25 (d) ENTITLEMENT FULFILLED.— 


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1 (1) DEFINITION OF APPROVED CONVEYANCE.— 

2 The term ‘‘approved conveyance’’ means the conveyance of the 40 acres described as the SW1⁄4NE1 3 ⁄4 of 

4 sec. 10, T.74 S., R.90 E., Copper River Meridian, 

5 selected and approved for conveyance by the decision 

6 of the Bureau of Land Management dated May 3, 

7 2000. 

8 (2) TREATMENT AS FULL ENTITLEMENT.—The 

9 conveyance of land to Cape Fox and Sealaska Cor10 poration pursuant to subsection (a) and the ap11 proved conveyance shall be considered to fulfill the 

12 entitlement of— 

13 (A) Cape Fox under section 16 of the 

14 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 

15 U.S.C. 1615); and 

16 (B) Sealaska Corporation to any sub17 surface interest in the land under section 14(f) 

18 of that Act (43 U.S.C. 1613(f)). 

Æ 


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