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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1797 Reported in Senate (RS)]

                                                       Calendar No. 494
106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1797

                          [Report No. 106-264]

To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, to provide for a land 
    conveyance to the City of Craig, Alaska, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 26, 1999

 Mr. Murkowski introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

                             April 12, 2000

 Reported by Mr. Murkowski, with an amendment and an amendment to the 
                                 title
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, to provide for a land 
    conveyance to the City of Craig, Alaska, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,
<DELETED>    Findings.--Congress finds and declares that:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    The Alaska Statehood Act of 1959 (sec. 6(a)) 
        granted 400,000 acres of national forest land to the State of 
        Alaska for the purpose of furthering development of and 
        expansion of communities. In 1969, the State of Alaska selected 
        17,040 acres of this Federal land grant at the City of Craig's 
        request, but this and other selections were not approved by the 
        U.S. Forest Service.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    On December 18, 1971, the Alaska Native Claims 
        Settlement Act (ANCSA) was enacted to settle outstanding Native 
        aboriginal claims to lands in the State of Alaska. The 
        settlement included the direction to convey certain lands to 
        Alaska Native village corporations located in Southeast Alaska. 
        These conveyances included all of the public land selected 
        around the City of Craig by the State of Alaska in 
        1969.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    Pursuant to ANCSA, the Federal Government conveyed 
        3,960 acres of public land within the City of Craig, and all 
        public land surrounding the community, to two Native village 
        corporations. These adjoining conveyances occupy 93 percent of 
        the 4,258 acres within Craig's city limits. Outside of the 
        existing 200-acre Craig townsite, no other land within 10 miles 
        of the Craig city limits has been available for selection under 
        the Alaska Statehood Act of 1959.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    In the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation 
        Act (ANILCA), Congress exempted Native corporations from 
        municipal taxation of their underdeveloped land, and added a 
        tax recapture provision (43 U.S.C.A. sec. 1636(d)(5)) which 
        acts as a further disincentive to development of Native village 
        corporation land.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    Under the Alaska State law, incorporated 
        municipalities are entitled to a share of available State land 
        within their corporate limits. However, the passage of ANCSA 
        and a set of circumstances experienced by no other municipality 
        in Alaska, which includes Federal land conveyances to two 
        adjoining Native village corporations, has prevented the City 
        of Craig from acquiring a State land entitlement.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    Since 1971, the City of Craig has grown from a 
        population of 250 people to nearly 2,500 people and its 
        demographics has changed making it difficult for Craig to 
        qualify for many programs enacted by Congress to provide 
        assistance to villages with a majority of Alaska Native 
        populations.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    Tax provisions of Federal law and Federal land 
        conveyances have had the unintended effect of preventing the 
        City of Craig from exercising its governmental powers to tax 93 
        percent of the land within the municipality, and to receive any 
        of the Federal land grant promised at Alaska statehood for 
        community expansion and development.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``Craig Municipal Equity Act 
of 1999''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION TO CONVEY LANDS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) General.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall, subject 
to valid existing rights, convey to the City of Craig all Federal 
interests in lands identified in subsection (b).</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Legal Description.--Control Lake/Big Salt Lake Road 
Corridor:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    All Federal land in the following described 
        protracted and partially surveyed townships in the Copper River 
        Meridian, Alaska:</DELETED>

            <DELETED>copper river meridian, alaska</DELETED>

        <DELETED>    T. 71 S., R. 81 E.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    Section 24, E</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                2</DELETED>\<DELETED>;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    Section 25, E</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                2</DELETED>\<DELETED>, S</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                2</DELETED>\<DELETED>SW</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    Section 36.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    Containing 1360 acres, more or less.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    T. 71 S., R. 82 E.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    Section 19, S</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                2</DELETED>\<DELETED>SW</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    Section 29, W</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>NW</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>, N</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                2</DELETED>\<DELETED>SW</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    Section 30, All;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    Section 31, All.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    Containing 1500 acres, more or less.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    T. 72 S., R. 82 E.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    Section 5, SW</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>NW</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>, W</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                2</DELETED>\<DELETED>, SW</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    Section 6, All;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    Section 7, NE</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>NE</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    Section 8, W</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                2</DELETED>\<DELETED>, SW</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>SE</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    Section 17, NW</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>NW</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>, E</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                2</DELETED>\<DELETED>NW</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>, NE</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>SW</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>, W</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                2</DELETED>\<DELETED>NE</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>, NW</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>SE</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>, S</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                2</DELETED>\<DELETED>SE</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    Section 20, NE</DELETED>\<DELETED>1/
                4</DELETED>\<DELETED>.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    Containing 1672 acres, more or less.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    Aggregating 4532 acres, more or less.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) Timing of Conveyance and Providing for the 
Establishment of an Escrow Account.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall 
convey the land mandated by subsection (a) within ninety (90) days 
after the date of enactment of this Act. The Secretary shall establish 
an escrow account to hold any and all proceeds derived on or after the 
date of enactment of this Act from contracts, leases, permits, rights-
of-way or easements pertaining to the land to be conveyed, and provide 
for disbursement of those funds, plus interest, to the City of Craig 
when the land is conveyed.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (d) Timber, Manufacturing; Export Restriction.--
Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, timber harvested from land 
conveyed to the City of Craig under this section shall not be exported 
as unprocessed logs from Alaska, nor may the City of Craig sell, trade, 
exchange, substitute, or otherwise convey that timber to any person for 
the purpose of exporting that timber from the State of 
Alaska.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (e) Relation to Other Requirements.--Notwithstanding any 
other provisions of law, the land conveyed to the City of Craig under 
this section shall be considered in lieu of land not conveyed at 
statehood for the purpose of furthering development of and expansion of 
the City of Craig. This grant is not subject to the provisions of the 
Alaska Statehood Act, nor does it limit or restrict the State of 
Alaska's land entitlement under that Act.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (f) Maps.--The maps referred to in this section shall be 
maintained on file in the Office of the Chief, United States Forest 
Service, and in the Office of the Secretary of the Interior, 
Washington, DC. The acreage cited in this section is approximate, and 
if there is any discrepancy between cited acreage and the land depicted 
on the specified maps, the maps shall control. The maps do not 
constitute an attempt by the United States to convey State of Alaska or 
private land.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. LAND EXCHANGE WITH CITY OF CRAIG, ALASKA.

    (a) At such time as Congress appropriates funds sufficient for the 
Secretary of Agriculture to acquire non-Federal lands within 
conservation system units on the Tongass National Forest, the Secretary 
shall convey to the City of Craig, Alaska, all Federal interests in the 
lands identified in subsection (b): Provided, That the lands conveyed 
to the City of Craig shall be of equal value to the lands acquired by 
the Secretary of Agriculture pursuant to this subsection.
    (b) The approximately 4,532 acres of Federal lands to be conveyed 
to the City of Craig are described as follows:
            (1) All Federal land in the following described protracted 
        and partially surveyed townships in the Copper River Meridian, 
        Alaska:
                    (A) Within T. 71 S., R. 81 E--
                            Section 24, E\1/2\;
                            Section 25, E\1/2\, S\1/2\SW\1/4\;
                            Section 36.
                            Containing 1360 acres, more or less.
                    (B) Within T. 71 S., R. 82 E--
                            Section 19, S\1/2\SW\1/4\;
                            Section 29, W\1/4\NW\1/4\, N\1/2\SW\1/4\;
                            Section 30, All;
                            Section 31, All.
                            Containing 1500 acres, more or less; and
                    (C) Within T. 72 S., R. 82 E--
                            Section 5, SW\1/4\NW\1/4\, W\1/2\, SW\1/4\;
                            Section 6, All;
                            Section 7, NE\1/4\NE\1/4\;
                            Section 8, W\1/2\, SW\1/4\SE\1/4\;
                            Section 17, NW\1/4\NW\1/4\, E\1/2\NW\1/4\, 
                        NE\1/4\SW\1/4\, W\1/2\NE\1/4\, NW\1/4\SE\1/4\, 
                        S\1/2\SE\1/4\;
                            Section 20, NE\1/4\.
                            Containing 1672 acres, more or less.
            Amend the title so as to read: ``A bill to provide for a 
        land conveyance to the City of Craig, Alaska, and for other 
        purposes.''.

                                                       Calendar No. 494

106th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 1797

                          [Report No. 106-264]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, to provide for a land 
    conveyance to the City of Craig, Alaska, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             April 12, 2000

        Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the title
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