II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1488

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

NOVEMBER 8, 1997

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 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 is 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 interested in es13 tablishing a community on Adak and has offered to

14 exchange ANCSA land selections for conveyance of

15 certain lands and interests therein on a portion of

16 Adak formerly occupied by the Navy.

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

18 from refuge status will be offset by the acquisition

19 of high quality wildlife habitat in other Aleut Cor20 poration selections within the Alaska Maritime Na21 tional 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 Transfer of Lands at Adak Naval Complex’’ (hereinafter

16 ‘‘the Agreement’’), and dated , executed by

17 The Aleut Corporation, the Department of the Interior

18 and the Department of the Navy, is hereby ratified, con19 firmed, and approved and the terms, conditions, proce20 dures, covenants, reservations, and other provisions set

21 forth in the Agreement are declared to be obligations and

22 commitments of the United States as a matter of Federal

23 law.
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1 SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF LANDS FROM REFUGE.

2 Effective on the date of conveyance to The Aleut Cor3 poration of the Adak Exchange Lands as described in the

4 Agreement, all such lands shall be removed from the Na5 tional Wildlife Refuge System and shall neither be consid6 ered as part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Ref7 uge nor subject to any laws pertaining to lands within the

8 boundaries of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Ref9 uge. The conveyance restrictions imposed by section 22(g)

10 of the ANCSA, 43 U.S.C. 1621(g), on said lands shall

11 then be ineffective and cease to apply. The Secretary shall

12 adjust the boundaries of the Refuge so as to exclude all

13 interests in lands and land rights, surface and substance,

14 received by The Aleut Corporation in accordance with this

15 Act and the Agreement.

16 SEC. 4. ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT.

17 Lands and interests therein exchanged and conveyed

18 by the United States pursuant to this act shall be consid19 ered and treated as conveyances of lands or interests

20 therein under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act,

21 except that receipt of such lands and interests therein

22 shall not constitute a sale or disposition of land or inter23 ests received pursuant to such Act.

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