107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1325

AN ACT

To ratify an agreement between the Aleut Corporation and

the United States of America to exchange land rights

received under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act

for certain land interests on Adak Island, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds that:

3 (1) Adak Island is an isolated island located

4 1,200 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, be5 tween the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. The Is6 land, with its unique physical and biological fea7 tures, including a deep water harbor and abundant

8 marine-associated wildlife, was recognized early for

9 both its natural and military values. In 1913, Adak

10 Island was reserved and set aside as a Preserve be11 cause of its value to seabirds, marine mammals, and

12 fisheries. Withdrawals of portions of Adak Island for

13 various military purposes date back to 1901 and cul14 minated in the 1959 withdrawal of approximately

15 half of the Island for use by the Department of the

16 Navy for military purposes.

17 (2) By 1990, military development on Adak Is18 land supported a community of 6,000 residents.

19 Outside of the Adak Naval Complex, there was no

20 independent community on Adak Island.

21 (3) As a result of the Defense Base Closure and

22 Realignment Act of 1990 (104 Stat. 1808), as

23 amended, the Adak Naval Complex has been closed

24 by the Department of Defense.

25 (4) The Aleut Corporation is an Alaskan Native

26 Regional Corporation incorporated in the State of
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1 Alaska pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settle2 ment Act (ANCSA), as amended (43 U.S.C. 1601,

3 et seq.). The Aleut Corporation represents the indig4 enous people of the Aleutian Islands who prior to

5 the Russian exploration and settlement of the Aleu6 tian Islands were found throughout the Aleutian Is7 lands which includes Adak Island.

8 (5) None of Adak Island was available for selec9 tion by The Aleut Corporation under section

10 14(h)(8) of ANCSA (43 U.S.C. 1613(h)(8)) because

11 it was part of a National Wildlife Refuge and be12 cause the portion comprising the Adak Naval Com13 plex was withdrawn for use by the United States

14 Navy for military purposes prior to the passage of

15 ANCSA in December 1971.

16 (6) The Aleut Corporation is attempting to es17 tablish a community on Adak and has offered to ex18 change ANCSA land selections and entitlements for

19 conveyance of certain lands and interests therein on

20 a portion of Adak formerly occupied by the Navy.

21 (7) Removal of a portion of the Adak Island

22 land from refuge status will be offset by the acquisi23 tion of high quality wildlife habitat in other Aleut

24 Corporation selections within the Alaska Maritime

25 National Wildlife Refuge, maintaining a resident
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1 human population on Adak to control caribou, and

2 making possible a continued U.S. Fish and Wildlife

3 Service presence in that remote location to protect

4 the natural resources of the Aleutian Islands Unit of

5 the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.

6 (8) It is in the public interest to promote reuse

7 of the Adak Island lands by exchanging certain

8 lands for lands selected by The Aleut Corporation

9 elsewhere in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife

10 Refuge. Experience with environmental problems as11 sociated with formerly used defense sites in the

12 State of Alaska suggests that the most effective and

13 efficient way to avoid future environmental problems

14 on Adak is to support and encourage active reuse of

15 Adak.

16 SEC. 2. RATIFICATION OF AGREEMENT.

17 The document entitled the ‘‘Agreement Concerning

18 the Conveyance of Property at the Adak Naval Complex’’

19 (hereinafter ‘‘the Agreement’’), and dated September 20,

20 2000, executed by The Aleut Corporation, the Department

21 of the Interior and the Department of the Navy, together

22 with any technical amendments or modifications to the

23 boundaries that may be agreed to by the parties is hereby

24 ratified, confirmed, and approved and the terms, condi25 tions, procedures, covenants, reservations, indemnities and
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1 other provisions set forth in the Agreement are declared

2 to be obligations and commitments of the United States

3 and The Aleut Corporation: Provided, That modifications

4 to the maps and legal descriptions of lands to be removed

5 from the National Wildlife Refuge System within the mili6 tary withdrawal on Adak Island set forth in Public Land

7 Order 1949 may be made only upon agreement of all Par8 ties to the Agreement and notification given to the Com9 mittee on Resources of the United States House of Rep10 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural

11 Resources of the United States Senate: Provided further,

12 That the acreage conveyed to the United States by The

13 Aleut Corporation under the Agreement, as modified, shall

14 be at least 36,000 acres.

15 SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF LANDS FROM REFUGE.

16 Effective on the date of conveyance to the Aleut Cor17 poration of the Adak Exchange Lands as described in the

18 Agreement, all such lands shall be removed from the Na19 tional Wildlife Refuge System and shall neither be consid20 ered as part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Ref21 uge nor be subject to any laws pertaining to lands within

22 the boundaries of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife

23 Refuge, including the conveyance restrictions imposed by

24 section 22(g) of the ANCSA, 43 U.S.C. 1621(g), for land

25 in the National Wildlife Refuge System. The Secretary
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1 shall adjust the boundaries of the Refuge so as to exclude

2 all interests in lands and land rights, surface and sub3 surface, received by The Aleut Corporation in accordance

4 with this Act and the Agreement.

5 SEC. 4. ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT.

6 Lands and interests therein exchanged and conveyed

7 by the United States pursuant to this Act shall be consid8 ered and treated as conveyances of lands or interests

9 therein under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act,

10 except that receipt of such lands and interests therein

11 shall not constitute a sale or disposition of land or inter12 ests received pursuant to such Act. The public easements

13 for access to public lands and waters reserved pursuant

14 to the Agreement are deemed to satisfy the requirements

15 and purposes of Section 17(b) of the Alaska Native Claims

16 Settlement Act.

17 SEC. 5. REACQUISITION OF LANDS.

18 The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to acquire

19 by purchase or exchange, on a willing seller basis only,

20 any land conveyed to The Aleut Corporation under the

21 Agreement and this Act. In the event any of the lands

22 are subsequently acquired by the United States, they shall

23 be automatically included in the Refuge System. The laws

24 and regulations applicable to Refuge lands shall then
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1 apply to these lands and the Secretary shall then adjust

2 the boundaries accordingly.

3 SEC. 6. GENERAL.

4 (a) Nothwithstanding the Federal Property and Ad5 ministrative Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C.

6 483–484) and the Defense Base Closure and Realignment

7 Act of 1990, as amended (10 U.S.C. 2687), and for the

8 purposes of the transfer of property authorized by this

9 Act, Department of Navy personal property that remains

10 on Adak Island is deemed related to the real property and

11 shall be conveyed by the Department of the Navy to The

12 Aleut Corporation at no additional cost when the related

13 real property is conveyed by the Department of the Inte14 rior.

15 (b) The Secretary of the Interior shall convey to the

16 Aleut Corporation those lands identified in the Agreement

17 as the former landfill sites without charge to the Aleut

18 Corporation’s entitlement under the Alaska Native Claims

19 Settlement Act.

20 (c) Any property, including, but not limited to, appur21 tenances and improvements, received pursuant to this Act

22 shall, for purposes of section 21(d) of the Alaska Native

23 Claims Settlement Act, as amended, and section 907(d)

24 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act,

25 as amended, be treated as not developed until such prop-
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1 erty is actually occupied, leased (other than leases for

2 nominal consideration to public entities) or sold by The

3 Aleut Corporation, or, in the case of a lease or other trans4 fer by The Aleut Corporation to a wholly owned develop5 ment subsidiary, actually occupied, leased, or sold by the

6 subsidiary.

7 (d) Upon conveyance to The Aleut Corporation of the

8 lands described in Appendix A of the Agreement, the lands

9 described in Appendix C of the Agreement will become un10 available for selection under ANCSA.

11 (e) The maps included as part of Appendix A to the

12 Agreement depict the lands to be conveyed to The Aleut

13 Corporation. The maps shall be left on file at the Region

14 7 Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the

15 offices of Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge in

16 Homer, Alaska. The written legal descriptions of the lands

17 to be conveyed to The Aleut Corporation are also part of

18 Appendix A. In case of any discrepancies, the maps shall

19 be controlling.

Passed the Senate August 1, 2002.

Attest:

Secretary.
107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1325

AN ACT

To ratify an agreement between the Aleut Corporation and the United States of America to exchange land rights received under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act for certain land interests on Adak Island, and for other purposes.