II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1889

To authorize the exchange of certain lands conveyed to the Kenai Natives

Association pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, to

make adjustments to the National Wilderness System, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 19, 1996

Mr. MURKOWSKI (for himself and Mr. STEVENS) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To authorize the exchange of certain lands conveyed to the

Kenai Natives Association pursuant to the Alaska Native

Claims Settlement Act, to make adjustments to the National Wilderness System, 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. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Kenai Natives Associa5 tion Equity Act Amendments of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service

2 and Kenai Natives Association, Inc., have agreed to

3 transfers of certain land rights, in and near the

4 Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, negotiated as di5 rected by Public Law 102–458.

6 (2) The lands to be acquired by the Service are

7 within the area impacted by the Exxon Valdez oil

8 spill of 1989, and these lands included important

9 habitat for various species of fish and wildlife for

10 which significant injury resulting from the spill has

11 been documented through the EVOS Trustee Coun12 cil restoration process. This analysis has indicated

13 that these lands generally have value for the restora14 tion of such injured natural resources as pink salm15 on, dolly varden, bald eagles, river otters, and cul16 tural and archaeological resources. This analysis has

17 also indicated that these lands generally have high

18 value for the restoration of injured species that rely

19 on these natural resources, including wilderness

20 quality, recreation, tourism, and subsistence

21 (3) Restoration of the injured species will bene22 fit from acquisition and the prevention of disturb23 ances which may adversely affect their recovery.

24 (4) It is in the public interest to complete the

25 conveyances provided for in this Act.
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1 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to author2 ize and direct the Secretary, at the election of KNA, to

3 complete the conveyances provided for in this Act.

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

5 For purposes of this Act, the term—

6 (1) ‘‘ANCSA’’ means the Alaska Native Claims

7 Settlement Act of 1971 (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.);

8 (2) ‘‘ANILCA’’ means the Alaska National In9 terest Lands Conservation Act (Public Law 96–487;

10 94 Stat. 2371 et seq.);

11 (3) ‘‘conservation system unit’’ has the same

12 meaning as in section 102(4) of ANILCA (16

13 U.S.C. 3102(4));

14 (4) ‘‘CIRI’’ means the Cook Inlet Region, Inc.,

15 a Native Regional Corporation incorporated in the

16 State of Alaska pursuant to the terms of ANCSA;

17 (5) ‘‘EVOS’’ means the Exxon Valdez oil spill;

18 (6) ‘‘KNA’’ means the Kenai Natives Associa19 tion, Inc., an urban corporation incorporated in the

20 State of Alaska pursuant to the terms of ANCSA;

21 (7) ‘‘lands’’ means any lands, waters, or inter22 ests therein;

23 (8) ‘‘Refuge’’ means the Kenai National Wild24 life Refuge;
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1 (9) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the In2 terior;

3 (10) ‘‘Service’’ means the United States Fish

4 and Wildlife Service; and

5 (11) ‘‘Terms and Conditions’’ means the Terms

6 and Conditions for Land Consolidation and Manage7 ment in the Cook Inlet Area, as clarified on August

8 31, 1976, ratified by section 12 of Public Law 94–

9 204 (43 U.S.C. 1611 note).

10 SEC. 4. ACQUISITION OF LANDS.

11 (a) OFFER TO KNA.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of

13 the funds identified in subsection (b)(3), no later

14 than 90 days after the date of enactment of this

15 Act, the Secretary shall offer to convey to KNA the

16 interests in land and rights set forth in subsection

17 (b)(2), subject to valid existing rights, in return for

18 the conveyance by KNA to the United States of the

19 interests in land or relinquishment of ANCSA selec20 tions set forth in subsection (b)(1). Payment for the

21 lands conveyed to the United States by KNA is con22 tingent upon KNA’s acceptance of the entire convey23 ance outlined herein.

24 (2) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not con25 vey any lands or make payment to KNA under this
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1 section unless title to the lands to be conveyed by

2 KNA under this Act has been found by the United

3 States to be sufficient in accordance with the provi4 sions of section 355 of the Revised Statutes (40

5 U.S.C. 255).

6 (b) ACQUISITION LANDS.—

7 (1) LANDS TO BE CONVEYED TO THE UNITED

8 STATES.—The lands to be conveyed by KNA to the

9 United States, or the valid selection rights under

10 ANCSA to be relinquished, all situated within the

11 boundary of the Refuge, are the following:

12 (A) The conveyance of approximately 803

13 acres located along and on islands within the

14 Kenai River, known as the Stephanka Tract.

15 (B) The conveyance of approximately

16 1,243 acres located along the Moose River,

17 known as the Moose River Patented Lands

18 Tract.

19 (C) The relinquishment of KNA’s selection

20 known as the Moose River Selected Tract, con21 taining approximately 753 acres located along

22 the Moose River.

23 (D) The relinquishment of KNA’s remain24 ing ANCSA entitlement of approximately 454

25 acres.
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1 (E) The relinquishment of all KNA’s re2 maining overselections. Upon completion of all

3 relinquishments outlined above, all KNA’s enti4 tlement shall be deemed to be extinguished and

5 the completion of this acquisition will satisfy all

6 of KNA’s ANCSA entitlement.

7 (F) The conveyance of an access easement

8 providing the United States and its assigns access across KNA’s surface estate in the SW1 9 ⁄4

10 of section 21, T. 6 N., R. 9 W., Seward Merid11 ian, Alaska.

12 (G) The conveyance of approximately 100

13 acres within the Beaver Creek Patented Tract,

14 which is contiguous to lands being retained by

15 the United States contiguous to the Beaver

16 Creek Patented Tract, in exchange for 180

17 acres of Service lands currently situated within

18 the Beaver Creek Selected Tract.

19 (2) LANDS TO BE CONVEYED TO KNA.—The

20 rights provided or lands to be conveyed by the

21 United States to KNA, are the following:

22 (A) The surface and subsurface estate to

23 approximately 5 acres, subject to reservations

24 of easements for existing roads and utilities, lo25 cated within the city of Kenai, Alaska, identi-
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1 fied as United States Survey 1435, withdrawn

2 by Executive Order 2934, and known as the old

3 Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters site.

4 (B) The remaining subsurface estate held

5 by the United States to approximately 13,811

6 acres, including portions of the Beaver Creek

7 Patented Tract, the Beaver Creek Selected

8 Tract, and portions of the Swanson River Road

9 West Tract and the Swanson River Road East

10 Tract, where the surface was previously or will

11 be conveyed to KNA pursuant to this Act. The

12 conveyance of these subsurface interests will be

13 subject to the rights of CIRI to the coal, oil,

14 and gas, and to all rights CIRI, its successors,

15 and assigns would have under paragraph 1(B)

16 of the Terms and Conditions, including the

17 right to sand and gravel, to construct facilities,

18 to have rights-of-way, and to otherwise develop

19 its subsurface interests.

20 (C)(i) The nonexclusive right to use sand

21 and gravel which is reasonably necessary for on22 site development without compensation or per23 mit on those portions of the Swanson River

24 Road East Tract, comprising approximately

25 1,738.04 acres; where the entire subsurface of
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1 the land is presently owned by the United

2 States. The United States shall retain the own3 ership of all other sand and gravel located with4 in the subsurface and KNA shall not sell or dis5 pose of such sand and gravel.

6 (ii) The right to excavate within the sub7 surface estate as reasonably necessary for

8 structures, utilities, transportation systems, and

9 other development of the surface estate.

10 (D) The nonexclusive right to excavate

11 within the subsurface estate as reasonably nec12 essary for structures, utilities, transportation

13 systems, and other development of the surface

estate on the SW1 14 ⁄4, section 21, T. 6 N., R. 9

15 W., Seward Meridian, Alaska, where the entire

16 subsurface of the land is owned by the United

17 States and which public lands shall continue to

18 be withdrawn from mining following their re19 moval from the Refuge boundary under sub20 section (c)(1)(B). The United States shall re21 tain the ownership of all other sand and gravel

22 located within the subsurface of this parcel.

23 (E) The surface estate of approximately

24 280 acres known as the Beaver Creek Selected

25 Tract. This tract shall be conveyed to KNA in
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1 exchange for lands conveyed to the United

2 States as described in subsection (b)(1)(B).

3 (3) PAYMENT.—The United States shall make

4 a total cash payment to KNA for the above-de5 scribed lands of $4,443,000, contingent upon the ap6 propriate approvals of the Federal or State of Alas7 ka EVOS Trustees (or both) necessary for any ex8 penditure of the EVOS settlement funds.

9 (4) NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC

10 PLACES.—Upon completion of the acquisition au11 thorized in subsection (a), the Secretary shall, at no

12 cost to KNA, in coordination with KNA, promptly

13 undertake to nominate the Stephanka Tract to the

14 National Register of Historic Places, in recognition

15 of the archaeological artifacts from the original

16 Dena’ina Settlement. If the Department of the Inte17 rior establishes a historical, cultural, or archaeologi18 cal interpretive site, KNA shall have the exclusive

19 right to operate a Dena’ina interpretive site on the

20 Stephanka Tract under the regulations and policies

21 of the department. If KNA declines to operate such

22 a site, the department may do so under its existing

23 authorities. Prior to the department undertaking

24 any archaeological activities whatsoever on the

25 Stephanka Tract, KNA shall be consulted.
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1 (c) GENERAL PROVISIONS.—

2 (1) REMOVAL OF KNA LANDS FROM THE NA3 TIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SYSTEM.—

4 (A) Effective on the date of closing for the

5 Acquisition Lands identified in subsection

6 (b)(2), all lands retained by or conveyed to

7 KNA pursuant to this Act, and the subsurface

8 interests of CIRI underlying such lands shall be

9 automatically removed from the National Wild10 life Refuge System and shall neither be consid11 ered as part of the Refuge nor subject to any

12 laws pertaining solely to lands within the

13 boundaries of the Refuge. The conveyance re14 strictions imposed by section 22(g) of ANCSA

15 (i) shall then be ineffective and cease to apply

16 to such interests of KNA and CIRI, and (ii)

17 shall not be applicable to the interests received

18 by KNA in accordance with subsection (b)(2) or

19 to the CIRI interests underlying them. The Sec20 retary shall adjust the boundaries of the Refuge

21 so as to exclude all interests in lands retained

22 or received in exchange by KNA in accordance

23 with this Act, including both surface and sub24 surface, and shall also exclude all interests cur25 rently held by CIRI. On lands within the Swan-
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1 son River Road East Tract, the boundary ad2 justment shall only include the surface estate

3 where the subsurface estate is retained by the

4 United States.

5 (B)(i) The Secretary, KNA, and CIRI

6 shall execute an agreement within 45 days of

7 the date of enactment of this Act which pre8 serves CIRI’s rights under paragraph 1(B)(1)

9 of the Terms and Conditions, addresses CIRI’s

10 obligations under such paragraph, and ade11 quately addresses management issues associated

12 with the boundary adjustment set forth in this

13 Act and with the differing interests in land re14 sulting from enactment of this Act.

15 (ii) In the event that no agreement is exe16 cuted as provided for in clause (i), solely for the

17 purposes of administering CIRI’s rights under

18 paragraph 1(B)(1) of the Terms and Condi19 tions, the Secretary and CIRI shall be deemed

20 to have retained their respective rights and obli21 gations with respect to CIRI’s subsurface inter22 ests under the requirements of the Terms and

23 Conditions in effect on June 18, 1996. Notwith24 standing the boundary adjustments made pur25 suant to this Act, conveyances to KNA shall be
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1 deemed to remain subject to the Secretary’s

2 and CIRI’s rights and obligations under para3 graph 1(B)(1) of the Terms and Conditions.

4 (C) The Secretary is authorized to acquire

5 by purchase or exchange, on a willing seller

6 basis only, any lands retained by or conveyed to

7 KNA. In the event that any lands owned by

8 KNA are subsequently acquired by the United

9 States, they shall be automatically included in

10 the Refuge System. The laws and regulations

11 applicable to Refuge lands shall then apply to

12 these lands and the Secretary shall then adjust

13 the boundaries accordingly.

14 (D) Nothing in this Act is intended to en15 large or diminish the authorities, rights, duties,

16 obligations, or the property rights held by CIRI

17 under the Terms and Conditions, or otherwise

18 except as set forth in this Act. In the event of

19 the purchase by the United States of any lands

20 from KNA in accordance with paragraph

21 (1)(B), the United States shall reassume from

22 KNA the rights it previously held under the

23 Terms and Conditions and the provisions in any

24 patent implementing section 22(g) of ANCSA

25 will again apply.
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1 (E) By virtue of implementation of this

2 Act, CIRI is deemed entitled to 1,207 acres of

3 in-lieu subsurface entitlement under section

4 12(a)(1) of ANCSA. Such entitlement shall be

5 fulfilled in accordance with paragraph

6 1(B)(2)(A) of the Terms and Conditions.

7 (2) MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.—Maps

8 and a legal description of the lands described above

9 shall be on file and available for public inspection in

10 the appropriate offices of the United States Depart11 ment of the Interior, and the Secretary shall, no

12 later than 90 days after enactment of this Act, pre13 pare a legal description of the lands described in

14 subsection (b)(1)(G). Such maps and legal descrip15 tion shall have the same force and effect as if in16 cluded in the Act, except that the Secretary may

17 correct clerical and typographical errors.

18 (3) ACCEPTANCE.—KNA may accept the offer

19 made in this Act by notifying the Secretary in writ20 ing of its decision within 180 days of receipt of the

21 offer. In the event the offer is rejected, the Secretary

22 shall notify the Committee on Resources of the

23 House of Representatives and the Committee on En24 ergy and Natural Resources and the Committee on

25 Environment and Public Works of the Senate.
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1 (4) FINAL MAPS.—Not later than 120 days

2 after the conclusion of the acquisition authorized by

3 subsection (a), the Secretary shall transmit a final

4 report and maps accurately depicting the lands

5 transferred and conveyed pursuant to this Act and

6 the acreage and legal descriptions of such lands to

7 the Committee on Resources of the House of Rep8 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat9 ural Resources and the Committee on Environment

10 and Public Works of the Senate.

11 SEC. 5. ADJUSTMENTS TO NATIONAL WILDERNESS SYSTEM.

12 Upon acquisition of lands by the United States pur13 suant to section 4(b)(1), that portion of the Stephanka

14 Tract lying south and west of the Kenai River, consisting

15 of approximately 592 acres, shall be included in and man16 aged as part of the Kenai Wilderness and such lands shall

17 be managed in accordance with the applicable provisions

18 of the Wilderness Act and ANILCA.

19 SEC. 6. DESIGNATION OF LAKE TODATONTEN SPECIAL

20 MANAGEMENT AREA.

21 (a) PURPOSE.—To balance the potential effects on

22 fish, wildlife, and habitat of the removal of KNA lands

23 from the Refuge System, the Secretary is hereby directed

24 to withdraw, subject to valid existing rights, from location,

25 entry, and patent under the mining laws and to create
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1 as a special management unit for the protection of fish,

2 wildlife, and habitat, certain unappropriated and unre3 served public lands, totaling approximately 37,000 acres

4 adjacent to the west boundary of the Kanuti National

5 Wildlife Refuge to be known as the ‘‘Lake Todatonten

6 Special Management Area’’, as depicted on the map enti7 tled Proposed: Lake Todatonten Special Management

8 Area, dated June 13, 1996, and to be managed by the

9 Bureau of Land Management.

10 (b) MANAGEMENT.—

11 (1) Such designation is subject to all valid ex12 isting rights as well as the subsistence preferences

13 provided under title VIII of ANILCA. Any lands

14 conveyed to the State of Alaska shall be removed

15 from the Lake Todatonten Special Management

16 Area.

17 (2) The Secretary may permit any additional

18 uses of the area, or grant easements, only to the ex19 tent that such use, including leasing under the min20 eral leasing laws, is determined to not detract from

21 nor materially interfere with the purposes for which

22 the Special Management Area is established.

23 (3)(A) The BLM shall establish the Lake

24 Todatonten Special Management Area Committee.
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1 The membership of the Committee shall consist of

2 11 members as follows:

3 (i) Two residents each from the villages of

4 ALatna, Allakaket, Hughes, and Tanana.

5 (ii) One representative from each of Doyon

6 Corporation, the Tanana Chiefs Conference,

7 and the State of Alaska.

8 (B) Members of the Committee shall serve with9 out pay.

10 (C) The BLM shall hold meetings of the Lake

11 Todatonten Special Management Area Committee at

12 least once per year to discuss management issues

13 within Special Management Area. The BLM shall

14 not allow any new type of activity in the Special

15 Management Area without first conferring with the

16 Committee in a timely manner.

17 (c) ACCESS.—The Secretary shall allow the following:

18 (1) Private access for any purpose, including

19 economic development, to lands within the bound20 aries of the Special Management Area which are

21 owned by third parties or are held in trust by the

22 Secretary for third parties pursuant to the Alaska

23 Native Allotment Act (25 U.S.C. 336). Such rights

24 may be subject to restrictions issued by the BLM to
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1 protect subsistence uses of the Special Management

2 Area.

3 (2) Existing public access across the Special

4 Management Area. Section 1110(a) of ANILCA

5 shall apply to the Special Management Area.

6 (c) SECRETARIAL ORDER AND MAPS.—The Secretary

7 shall file with the Committee on Resources of the House

8 of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and

9 Natural Resources and the Committee on Environment

10 and Public Works of the Senate, the Secretarial Order and

11 maps setting forth the boundaries of the Area within 90

12 days of the completion of the acquisition authorized by

13 this Act. Once established, this Order may only be amend14 ed or revoked by Act of Congress.

15 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

16 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be

17 necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.

Æ