89–010

Calendar No. 62

107TH CONGRESS REPORT

1st Session " ! SENATE 107–27

HUNA TOTEM CORPORATION LAND EXCHANGE ACT

JUNE 5, 2001.—Ordered to be printed

Mr. MURKOWSKI, from the Committee on Energy and Natural

Resources, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 506]

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was

referred the bill (S. 506) to amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, to provide for a land exchange between the Secretary of

Agriculture and the Huna Totem Corporation, and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE

The purpose of S. 506 as ordered reported, is to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into an equal value exchange of lands

and interests therein, in the Tongass National Forest with Huna

Totem Corporation and Sealaska Corporation.

BACKGROUND AND NEED

The city of Hoonah is located in southeast Alaska on the northeast part of Chichagoff Island. Hoonah has been the home of the

Huna people since the last advance of the great ice masses into

Glacier Bay, forcing the Huna people to look for new homes. Since

the Huna people had traditionally used the Hoonah area each summer as a subsistence harvesting area, it was natural for them to

settle in the area now called Hoonah. The community has a population of approximately 918 residents and is located forty miles

from Juneau, Alaska’s capital city.

The Huna Totem Corporation, an Alaska Native Corporation

formed pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act

(ANCSA) (P.L. 92–203) is located within the Village of Hoonah.

Huna Totem is the largest Tlingit Indian Village Corporation in

southeast Alaska. Under the terms of ANCSA each village corporaVerDate 11-MAY-2000 07:44 Jun 06, 2001 Jkt 089010 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR027.XXX pfrm03 PsN: SR027
2

tion had to select lands within the core township or townships in

which all or part of the Native village is located.

In 1975, Huna Totem filed its ANCSA land selections within the

two-mile radius of the city of Hoonah as mandated by ANCSA.

Since the community of Hoonah is located along the shoreline at

the base of Hoonah Head Mountain, the surrounding lands are

steep hillsides, cliffs, or designated watershed for the municipal

water sources. Most of the land, approximately 1,999 acres, is not

conducive to logging or development due to the topography and watershed limitations.

To resolve this problem, S. 506 would require the Huna Totem

Corporation to convey ownership of approximately 1,999 acres of

land used for the municipal watershed to the United States Forest

Service. In exchange, the Huna Totem Corporation will be allowed

to select other lands readily accessible to Hoonah in order to fulfill

their ANCSA entitlement. Sealaska, the regional corporation in the

area created by ANCSA, owns the subsurface estate. The bill directs an equal value exchange of the subsurface estate between

Sealaska and the Forest Service. This legislation also requires the

exchange of lands to be of equal value. Lastly, the legislation requires that any potential timber harvested from land acquired by

Huna Totem Corporation not be available for export.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 506 is identical to S. 426 from the 106th Congress as passed

by the Senate. S. 426 was introduced by Senator Murkowski on

February 12, 1999. Except for minor technical changes made in S.

426, an identical bill was considered by the Committee during the

105th Congress. S. 426 was ordered favorably reported by the Committee with amendments on March 4, 1999 (S. Rept. 106–30) and

passed the Senate with amendments on April 19, 1999. The measure was referred to the House Resources Committee which ordered

the bill favorably reported on September 13, 2000. No further action was taken in the House.

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS AND TABULATION OF VOTES

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open business session on May 16, 2001, by a unanimous voice vote of a

quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 506, without

amendment.

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 states that the short title is the ‘‘Huna Totem Corporation Land Exchange Act’’.

Section 2 amends the Alaskan Native Claims Settlement Act by

adding a new section that directs the Secretary of Agriculture in

exchange for an equal value of lands, to convey to Huna Totem

Corporation the surface estate and to Sealaska Corporation the

subsurface estate to certain lands.

Subsection (b) contains a legal description of lands to be conveyed by the Huna Totem Corporation and Sealaska to the Secretary along with a reference to maps showing the municipal watershed. Subsection (e) provides that any timber harvested from the

lands conveyed to Huna Totem Corporation under this section not

3

be available for the purpose of exporting that timber from the State

of Alaska. This section also prohibits any party to which Huna

Totem Corporation may sell, trade, exchange, substitute, or convey

any of the timber, from the lands it receives under this section,

from using the timber for the purpose of export. Subsection (f) provides that the land conveyed to Huna Totem Corporation and

Sealaska Corporation be considered as land conveyed under

ANCSA for all purpose.

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of the cost of this measure has been provided by the Congressional Budget Office:

S. 506—Huna Totem Corporation Land Exchange Act

CBO estimates that enacting S. 506 would have no significant

impact on the federal budget. Because the bill could affect direct

spending (including offsetting receipts), pay-as-you-go procedures

would apply, but we estimate that any such impacts would be less

than $500,000 a year. S. 506 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform

Act and would impose no significant costs on state, local, or tribal

governments.

S. 506 would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey the

surface estate to certain federal lands in the Tongass National Forest to the Huna Totem Corporation, and also to convey the subsurface estate to such federal lands to the Sealaska Corporation.

The lands to be conveyed would be selected by the two corporations

from federal lands depicted on the map described in the bill and

dated September 1, 1997. Under the bill, the Huna Totem Corporation and Sealaska Corporation would convey to the United States

approximately 2,000 acres of surface and subsurface estate.

S. 506 does not specify the federal lands to be conveyed to the

corporations, but it provides that the exchange be on the basis of

equal value. Because the federal budget is on a cash basis, the

budgetary impact of the land exchange is measured by its effect on

the government’s cash flow, such as changes in offsetting receipts

from timber harvests. CBO estimates that enacting this legislation

could decrease offsetting receipts to the federal government. According to the Forest Service, the agency would generally consider

the area acquired from the corporation to be unsuitable for timber

harvesting because it lies within the watershed and viewshed of

the village of Hoonah. Some of the federal land that could be conveyed to the corporation under S. 506 currently does not generate

federal timber receipts because it has recently been logged; however, a portion of the federal land that could be conveyed is not currently being harvested because it has been set aside as part of a

conservation reserve under the Tongass National Forest management plan.

According to the agency, if the corporation harvested those areas

following the exchange, then the agency would be obligated under

the forest management plan to reserve for conservation another

area of federal land within the Tongass National Forest that otherwise would be harvested under current law. We estimate that any

resulting loss of timber receipts would be less than $500,000 a year

over the 2002–2011 period.

4

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll. This

estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing

Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following evaluation

of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in carrying out

S. 506 The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of imposing

Government-established standards or significant economic responsibilities on private individuals and businesses.

No personal information would be collected in administering the

program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal privacy.

Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the enactment of S. 506, as ordered reported.

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

On March 9, 2001, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources requested legislative reports from the Department of Agriculture and the Office of Management and Budget setting forth Executive agency recommendations on S. 506. These reports had not

been received at the time the report on S. 506 was filed. When the

reports become available, the Chairman will request that they be

printed in the Congressional Record for the advice of the Senate.

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing

Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by the bill S.

506, as ordered reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is

printed in italic, existing law in which no change is proposed is

shown in roman):

ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT OF 1971 (43 U.S.C. 1601, et seq.),

as amended

SEC. XX. HUNA TOTEM CORPORATION LAND EXCHANGE.

(a) GENERAL.—In exchange for lands and interests therein described in subsection (b), the Secretary of Agriculture shall, subject

to valid existing rights, convey to the Huna Totem Corporation the

surface estate and to Sealaska Corporation the subsurface estate of

the Federal lands identified by Huna Totem Corporation pursuant

to subsection (c). The values of the lands and interests therein exchanged pursuant to this section shall be equal.

(b) The surface estate to be conveyed by Huna Totem Corporation

and the subsurface estate to be conveyed by Sealaska Corporation

to the Secretary of Agriculture are the municipal watershed lands

as shown on the map dated September 1, 1997, and labeled attachment A, and are further described as follows:

MUNICIPAL WATERSHED AND GREENBELT BUFFER

T43S, R61E, C.R.M.

Portion of Section Approximate Acres

16 ....................................................................................................... 2

21 ....................................................................................................... 610

5

Portion of Section Approximate Acres

22 ....................................................................................................... 227

23 ....................................................................................................... 35

26 ....................................................................................................... 447

27 ....................................................................................................... 400

33 ....................................................................................................... 202

34 ....................................................................................................... 76

Approximate total ............................................................................. 1,999.

(c) Within ninety (90) days of the receipt by the United States of

the conveyances of the surface estate and subsurface estate described

in subsection (b), Huna Totem Corporation shall be entitled to identify lands readily accessible to the Village of Hoonah and, where

possible, located on the road system to the Village of Hoonah, as depicted on the map dated September 1, 1997, and labeled Attachment

B, Huna Totem Corporation shall notify the Secretary of Agriculture

in writing which lands Huna Totem Corporation has identified.

(d) TIMING OF CONVEYANCE AND VALUATION.—The conveyance

mandated by subsection (a) by the Secretary of Agriculture shall

occur within ninety (90) days after the list of identified lands is submitted by Huna Totem Corporation pursuant to subsection (c).

(e) TIMBER MANUFACTURING; EXPORT RESTRICTION.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, timber harvested from land

conveyed to Huna Totem Corporation under this section shall not be

exported as unprocessed logs from Alaska, nor may Huna Totem

Corporation sell, trade, exchange, substitute, or otherwise convey

that timber to any person for the purpose of exporting that timber

from the State of Alaska.

(f) RELATION TO OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The land conveyed to

Huna Totem Corporation and Sealaska Corporation under this section shall be considered, for all purposes, land conveyed under the

Alaska Native claims Settlement Act.

(g) MAPS.—The maps referred to in this section shall be maintained on file in the Office of the Chief, United States Forest Service, and in the Office of the Secretary of the Interior, Washington,

D.C. The acreage cited in this section in approximate, and if there

is any discrepancy between cited acreage and the land depicted on

the specified maps, the maps shall control. The maps do not constitute an attempt by the United States to convey State or private

land.

Æ