I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2445 

To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to recognize Alexander 

Creek as a Native village, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 22, 2007 

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to recognize Alexander Creek as a Native village, 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. ALEXANDER CREEK VILLAGE RECOGNITION. 

4 The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 

5 1601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘ALEXANDER CREEK VILLAGE RECOGNITION

8 ‘‘SEC. 43. 

9 ‘‘(a) RECOGNITION OF THE VILLAGE OF ALEXANDER

10 CREEK.—Alexander Creek, located within Township 15N, 


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1 Range 7W, Seward Meridian, Alaska, is an eligible Native 

2 village under section 11(b)(3). 

3 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section, 

4 the following terms apply: 

5 ‘‘(1) The term ‘agency’ includes— 

6 ‘‘(A) any instrumentality of the United 

7 States; 

8 ‘‘(B) any element of an agency; and 

9 ‘‘(C) any wholly owned or mixed-owned 

10 corporation of the United States Government 

11 identified in chapter 91 of title 31, United 

12 States Code. 

13 ‘‘(2) The term ‘conservation system unit’ has 

14 the meaning given that term in the Alaska National 

15 Interest Lands Conservation Act. 

16 ‘‘(3) The term ‘Alexander Creek’ means Alex17 ander Creek Incorporated, an Alaska Native Group 

18 corporation, organized pursuant to this Act. 

19 ‘‘(4) The term ‘property’ has the meaning given 

20 that term in Public Law 94–204 (43 U.S.C. 1611 

21 note). 

22 ‘‘(5) The term ‘Region’ means Cook Inlet Re23 gion Incorporated, an Alaska Native Regional Cor24 poration, which is the appropriate Regional Corpora25 tion for Alexander Creek under section 1613(h). 


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1 ‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT.—(1) The Secretary of the 

2 Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of the Inte3 rior, shall establish an account in the Treasury to be 

4 known as the ‘Alexander Creek account’. 

5 ‘‘(2) Funds in the Alexander Creek account shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) be available to Alexander Creek for bid7 ding on and purchasing property sold at public sale, 

8 subject to paragraph (3); and 

9 ‘‘(B) remain available until expended. 

10 ‘‘(3)(A) Alexander Creek may use funds in the Alex11 ander Creek account to bid as any other bidder for prop12 erty in Alaska at any public sale by an agency and may 

13 purchase such property in accordance with applicable laws 

14 and regulations of the agency offering the property for 

15 sale. 

16 ‘‘(B) In conducting a transaction described in sub17 paragraph (A), an agency shall accept, in the same man18 ner as cash, any amount tendered from the Alexander 

19 Creek account. The Secretary of the Treasury shall adjust 

20 the balance of the Alexander Creek account to reflect the 

21 transaction. 

22 ‘‘(C) The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation 

23 with the Secretary of the Interior, shall establish proce24 dures for the following transactions related to the Alex25 ander Creek account: 


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1 ‘‘(i) Receipt of deposits. 

2 ‘‘(ii) Receipt of deposits into escrow when an 

3 escrow is required for the sale of property. 

4 ‘‘(iii) Reinstatement to the Alexander Creek ac5 count of any unused escrow deposits in the event 

6 that a sale of property is not consummated. 

7 ‘‘(d) LAND EXCHANGE.—The Secretary of the Inte8 rior shall enter into negotiations to attempt to conclude, 

9 under the authority of section 22(f), a land exchange to 

10 acquire the surface estate in lands not within any con11 servation system unit from the State of Alaska or the 

12 Matanuska-Susitna Borough under the same procedures 

13 set forth in section 22(f) to enable Alexander Creek to se14 lect additional public lands within Alexander Creek’s origi15 nal withdrawal area in Alaska, as identified by Alexander 

16 Creek. 

17 ‘‘(e) AMOUNT.—(1) The initial balance of the Alex18 ander Creek account shall be the fair market value of the 

19 surface estate of the approximately 61,440 acres of defi20 ciency selections made by Alexander Creek, as depicted on 

21 the map entitled ‘llllllllllll’ and dated 

22 llllllllllll. 

23 ‘‘(2) If a conveyance is made to Alexander Creek pur24 suant to subsection (d), the Alexander Creek account shall 

25 be reduced by the amount of the actual acres conveyed 


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1 multiplied by the average value per acre determined under 

2 subsection (g). 

3 ‘‘(f) SUBSURFACE ESTATE.—The subsurface estate 

4 to lands conveyed to Alexander Creek under this section 

5 shall be conveyed, without consideration, to the Region. 

6 ‘‘(g) APPRAISAL.—(1)(A) The Secretary shall deter7 mine the amount to be deposited into the Alexander Creek 

8 account by appraising the fair market value, as of the date 

9 of the enactment of this section, of each section selected 

10 as a separate parcel and considering that ‘public interest’ 

11 use may be the highest and best use of such parcels. 

12 ‘‘(B) Alexander Creek shall have the opportunity to 

13 present evidence of value to the Secretary. The Secretary 

14 shall provide Alexander Creek with a preliminary draft of 

15 the appraisal. Alexander Creek shall have a reasonable 

16 and sufficient opportunity to comment on the appraisal. 

17 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall forward a certified copy of 

18 the appraisal to Alexander Creek. 

19 ‘‘(h) IMPLEMENTATION.—(1) Alexander Creek may 

20 assign without restriction any or all of the Alexander 

21 Creek account upon written notification to the Secretary 

22 of the Treasury and the Secretary of the Interior. In the 

23 event that such an assignment is made to the Region, on 

24 notice from Alexander Creek to the Secretary of the 

25 Treasury and the Secretary of the Interior, the amount 


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1 of such assignment shall be added to or made a part of 

2 the Region’s Property Account in the Treasury established 

3 pursuant to section 12(b) of Public Law 94–204, and may 

4 be used in the same manner as other funds in that ac5 count. 

6 ‘‘(2) Upon certification by the Secretary of the Inte7 rior of the appraisal completed pursuant to subsection (g), 

8 Alexander Creek shall be deemed to have accepted the 

9 terms of this section in lieu of any other land entitlement 

10 it could have received pursuant to this Act. Such accept11 ance shall satisfy all claims Alexander Creek had or may 

12 have had against the United States on the date of the en13 actment of this section. 

14 ‘‘(3) Any land conveyed to Alexander Creek pursuant 

15 to subsection (e) shall be deemed to be a conveyance pur16 suant to this Act. 

17 ‘‘(i) TREATMENT OF AMOUNTS FROM ACCOUNT.— 

18 The Secretary of the Treasury and the heads of agencies 

19 shall administer sales pursuant to this section in the same 

20 manner as is provided for any other Native village author21 ized by law as of the date of the enactment of this section 

22 (including the use of similar accounts for bidding on and 

23 purchasing property sold for public sale). 

24 ‘‘(j) LIMITATION ON AGENTS’ AND ATTORNEYS’ 

25 FEES.—No more than 2.5 percent of payments received 


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1 by or on behalf of Alexander Creek under this section may 

2 be paid to or received by any agent or attorney for services 

3 rendered in connection with obtaining such payment, any 

4 contract to the contrary notwithstanding. Any person who 

5 violates this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor 

6 and shall be subject to a fine in the amount provided in 

7 title 18, United States Code.’’. 

Æ 


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