II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1325

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.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 2, 2001

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

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

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,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 Congress finds that:

5 (1) Adak Island is an isolated island located

6 1,200 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, be7 tween the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. The Is-
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1 land, with its unique physical and biological fea2 tures, including a deep water harbor and abundant

3 marine-associated wildlife, was recognized early for

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

5 Island was reserved and set aside as a Preserve be6 cause of its value to seabirds, marine mammals, and

7 fisheries. Withdrawals of portions of Adak Island for

8 various military purposes date back to 1901 and cul9 minated in the 1959 withdrawal of approximately

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

11 Navy for military purposes.

12 (2) By 1990, military development on Adak Is13 land supported a community of 6,000 residents.

14 Outside of the Adak Naval Complex, there was no

15 independent community on Adak Island.

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

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

18 amended, the Adak Naval Complex has been closed

19 by the Department of Defense.

20 (4) The Aleut Corporation is an Alaskan Native

21 Regional Corporation incorporated in the State of

22 Alaska pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settle23 ment Act (ANCSA), as amended (43 U.S.C. 1601,

24 et seq.). The Aleut Corporation represents the indig25 enous people of the Aleutian Islands who prior to
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1 the Russian exploration and settlement of the Aleu2 tian Islands were found throughout the Aleutian Is3 lands which includes Adak Island.

4 (5) None of Adak Island was available for selec5 tion by The Aleut Corporation under section

6 14(h)(8) of ANCSA (43 U.S.C. 1613(h)(8)) because

7 it was part of a National Wildlife Refuge and be8 cause the portion comprising the Adak Naval Com9 plex was withdrawn for use by the United States

10 Navy for military purposes prior to the passage of

11 ANCSA in December 1971.

12 (6) The Aleut Corporation is attempting to es13 tablish a community on Adak and has offered to ex14 change ANCSA land selections and entitlements for

15 conveyance of certain lands and interests therein on

16 a portion of Adak formerly occupied by the Navy.

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

18 land from refuge status will be offset by the acquisi19 tion of high quality wildlife habitat in other Aleut

20 Corporation selections within the Alaska Maritime

21 National Wildlife Refuge, maintaining a resident

22 human population on Adak to control caribou, and

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

24 Service presence in that remote location to protect
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1 the natural resources of the Aleutian Islands Unit of

2 the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.

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

4 of the Adak Island lands by exchanging certain

5 lands for lands selected by The Aleut Corporation

6 elsewhere in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife

7 Refuge. Experience with environmental problems as8 sociated with formerly used defense sites in the

9 State of Alaska suggests that the most effective and

10 efficient way to avoid future environmental problems

11 on Adak is to support and encourage active reuse of

12 Adak.

13 SEC. 2. RATIFICATION OF AGREEMENT.

14 The document entitled the ‘‘Agreement Concerning

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

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

17 2000, executed by The Aleut Corporation, the Department

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

19 with any technical amendments or modifications to the

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

21 ratified, confirmed, and approved and the terms, condi22 tions, procedures, covenants, reservations, indemnities and

23 other provisions set forth in the Agreement are declared

24 to be obligations and commitments of the United States

25 and The Aleut Corporation: Provided, That modifications
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1 to the maps and legal descriptions of lands to be removed

2 from the National Wildlife Refuge System within the mili3 tary withdrawal on Adak Island set forth in Public Land

4 Order 1949 may be made only upon agreement of all Par5 ties to the Agreement and notification given to the Com6 mittee on Resources of the United States House of Rep7 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural

8 Resources of the United States Senate: Provided further,

9 That the acreage conveyed to the United States by The

10 Aleut Corporation under the Agreement, as modified, shall

11 be at least 36,000 acres.

12 SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF LANDS FROM REFUGE.

13 Effective on the date of conveyance to the Aleut Cor14 poration of the Adak Exchange Lands as described in the

15 Agreement, all such lands shall be removed from the Na16 tional Wildlife Refuge System and shall neither be consid17 ered as part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Ref18 uge nor be subject to any laws pertaining to lands within

19 the boundaries of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife

20 Refuge, including the conveyance restrictions imposed by

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

22 in the National Wildlife Refuge System. The Secretary

23 shall adjust the boundaries of the Refuge so as to exclude

24 all interests in lands and land rights, surface and sub-
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1 surface, received by The Aleut Corporation in accordance

2 with this Act and the Agreement.

3 SEC. 4. ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT.

4 Lands and interests therein exchanged and conveyed

5 by the United States pursuant to this Act shall be consid6 ered and treated as conveyances of lands or interests

7 therein under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act,

8 except that receipt of such lands and interests therein

9 shall not constitute a sale or disposition of land or inter10 ests received pursuant to such Act. The public easements

11 for access to public lands and waters reserved pursuant

12 to the Agreement are deemed to satisfy the requirements

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

14 Settlement Act.

15 SEC. 5. REACQUISITION OF LANDS.

16 The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to acquire

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

18 any land conveyed to The Aleut Corporation under the

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

20 are subsequently acquired by the United States, they shall

21 be automatically included in the Refuge System. The laws

22 and regulations applicable to Refuge lands shall then

23 apply to these lands and the Secretary shall then adjust

24 the boundaries accordingly.
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1 SEC. 6. GENERAL.

2 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and

3 for the purposes of the transfer of property authorized by

4 this Act, Department of Navy personal property that re5 mains on Adak Island is deemed related to the real prop6 erty and shall be conveyed by the Department of the Navy

7 to The Aleut Corporation at no additional cost when the

8 related real property is conveyed by the Department of

9 the Interior.

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

11 Aleut Corporation those lands identified in the Agreement

12 as the former landfill sites without charge to the Aleut

13 Corporation’s entitlement under the Alaska Native Claims

14 Settlement Act.

15 (c) Any property, including, but not limited to, appur16 tenances and improvements, received pursuant to this Act

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

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

19 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act,

20 as amended, be treated as not developed until such prop21 erty is actually occupied, leased (other than leases for

22 nominal consideration to public entities) or sold by The

23 Aleut Corporation, or, in the case of a lease or other trans24 fer by The Aleut Corporation to a wholly owned develop25 ment subsidiary, actually occupied, leased, or sold by the

26 subsidiary.
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1 (d) Upon conveyance to The Aleut Corporation of the

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

3 described in Appendix C of the Agreement will become un4 available for selection under ANCSA.

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

6 Agreement depict the lands to be conveyed to The Aleut

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

8 7 Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the

9 offices of Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge in

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

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

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

13 be controlling.

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