II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1851

To convey certain public lands in the State of Alaska to the University

of Alaska, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 7, 1996

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

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To convey certain public lands in the State of Alaska to

the University of Alaska, 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 AND PURPOSE.

4 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

5 (1) as the beneficiary under the provisions of

6 the Acts of August 30, 1890, and March 4, 1907,

7 designating the Alaska Agricultural College and

8 School of Mines as beneficiary, and of March 4,

9 1915 (38 Stat. 1214), transferring certain land for
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1 its location and support, the University of Alaska is

2 a land grant university;

3 (2) under the Acts of March 4, 1915 (38 Stat.

4 1214), and January 21, 1929 (45 Stat. 1091), the

5 Congress of the United States granted to the Terri6 tory of Alaska certain Federal land to be held in

7 trust for the benefit of the predecessor of the Uni8 versity of Alaska;

9 (3) the Territory was unable to receive most of

10 the land conveyed by the Act of March 4, 1915, be11 fore repeal of that Act by section 6(k) of the Alaska

12 Statehood Act (Public Law 85–508, 72 Stat. 339);

13 (4) most land grant colleges in the Western

14 United States have obtained a larger land grant

15 from the Federal Government than the University of

16 Alaska has received; and

17 (5) an academically strong and financially se18 cure State university system is a cornerstone to the

19 long-term development of a stable population and to

20 a healthy, diverse economy.

21 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this bill is to fulfill

22 the original commitment of Congress to establish the Uni23 versity of Alaska as a major land grant university, with

24 holdings sufficient to establish, operate, and maintain a

25 university system for the inhabitants of the State of Alas-
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1 ka by the transfer of sufficient public lands to achieve

2 those purposes.

3 SEC. 2. FEDERAL GRANT.

4 (a) Subject to valid existing rights and the conditions

5 set forth in this legislation, the Secretary of the Interior

6 shall convey to the University of Alaska, as a grant and

7 in fee simple, a basic Federal entitlement of 350,000 acres

8 of Federal lands in Alaska.

9 (b)(1) The University of Alaska may submit to the

10 Secretary a list of properties the university has selected

11 to receive under the conditions of this grant. The univer12 sity may submit selections that exceed the basic entitle13 ment, except that such selections shall not exceed 385,000

14 acres.

15 (2) Within six months of the receipt of the univer16 sity’s selections, the Secretary shall notify the university

17 of the Department’s acceptance, or objection to each selec18 tion, including reasons for any objection.

19 (c) The Secretary shall not approve or convey, under

20 this grant—

21 (1) any Federal lands which, at the time of en22 actment of this Act, are included in a Conservation

23 System Unit as defined in the Alaska National In24 terests Lands Conservation Act.
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1 (2) any Federal lands validly selected but not

2 conveyed to the State of Alaska or the corporations

3 organized pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Set4 tlement Act.

5 (d) If, following the Secretary’s review of the grant

6 selections by the university, the amount of acreage ap7 proved by the Secretary for conveyance is less than the

8 amount of land authorized by this legislation, the Sec9 retary and the university shall select the remainder of

10 lands to satisfy the grant by mutual negotiation and

11 agreement.

12 (e) Lands shall be conveyed to the university only to

13 the extent that the State of Alaska conveys, or has con14 veyed an equivalent amount of acreage to the university

15 subsequent to June 7, 1996.

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