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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 400

To provide for the exchange of lands within Gates of the Arctic National

Park and Preserve, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Resources

A BILL

To provide for the exchange of lands within Gates of the

Arctic National Park and Preserve, 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 ‘‘Anaktuvuk Pass Land

5 Exchange and Wilderness Redesignation Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) The Alaska National Interest Lands Con9 servation Act (94 Stat. 2371), enacted on December

10 2, 1980, established Gates of the Arctic National
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1 Park and Preserve and Gates of the Arctic Wilder2 ness. The village of Anaktuvuk Pass, located in the

3 highlands of the central Brooks Range, is virtually

4 surrounded by these national park and wilderness

5 lands and is the only Native village located within

6 the boundary of a National Park System unit in

7 Alaska.

8 (2) Unlike most other Alaskan Native commu9 nities, the village of Anaktuvuk Pass is not located

10 on a major river, lake, or coastline that can be used

11 as a means of access. The residents of Anaktuvuk

12 Pass have relied increasingly on snow machines in

13 winter and all-terrain vehicles in summer as their

14 primary means of access to pursue caribou and

15 other subsistence resources.

16 (3) In a 1983 land exchange agreement, linear

17 easements were reserved by the Inupiat Eskimo peo18 ple for use of all-terrain vehicles across certain na19 tional park lands, mostly along stream and river

20 banks. These linear easements proved unsatisfactory,

21 because they provided inadequate access to subsist22 ence resources while causing excessive environmental

23 impact from concentrated use.

24 (4) The National Park Service and the

25 Nunamiut Corporation initiated discussions in 1985
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1 to address concerns over the use of all-terrain vehi2 cles on park and wilderness land. These discussions

3 resulted in an agreement, originally executed in

4 1992 and thereafter amended in 1993 and 1994,

5 among the National Park Service, Nunamiut Cor6 poration, the City of Anaktuvuk Pass, and Arctic

7 Slope Regional Corporation. Full effectuation of this

8 agreement, as amended, by its terms requires ratifi9 cation by the Congress.

10 SEC. 3. RATIFICATION OF AGREEMENT.

11 (a) RATIFICATION.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The terms, conditions, pro13 cedures, covenants, reservations and other provisions

14 set forth in the document entitled ‘‘Donation, Ex15 change of Lands and Interests in Lands and Wilder16 ness Redesignation Agreement Among Arctic Slope

17 Regional Corporation, Nunamiut Corporation, City

18 of Anaktuvuk Pass and the United States of Amer19 ica’’ (hereinafter referred to in this Act as ‘‘the

20 Agreement’’), executed by the parties on December

21 17, 1992, as amended, are hereby incorporated in

22 this Act, are ratified and confirmed, and set forth

23 the obligations and commitments of the United

24 States, Arctic Slope Regional Corporation,
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1 Nunamiut Corporation and the City of Anaktuvuk

2 Pass, as a matter of Federal law.

3 (2) LAND ACQUISITION.—Lands acquired by

4 the United States pursuant to the Agreement shall

5 be administered by the Secretary of the Interior

6 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) as part

7 of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve,

8 subject to the laws and regulations applicable there9 to.

10 (b) MAPS.—The maps set forth as Exhibits C1, C2,

11 and D through I to the Agreement depict the lands subject

12 to the conveyances, retention of surface access rights, ac13 cess easements and all-terrain vehicle easements. These

14 lands are depicted in greater detail on a map entitled

15 ‘‘Land Exchange Actions, Proposed Anaktuvuk Pass Land

16 Exchange and Wilderness Redesignation, Gates of the

17 Arctic National Park and Preserve’’, Map No. 185/80,039,

18 dated April 1994, and on file at the Alaska Regional Of19 fice of the National Park Service and the offices of Gates

20 of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in Fairbanks,

21 Alaska. Written legal descriptions of these lands shall be

22 prepared and made available in the above offices. In case

23 of any discrepancies, Map No. 185/80,039 shall be con24 trolling.
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1 SEC. 4. NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM WILDERNESS.

2 (a) GATES OF THE ARCTIC WILDERNESS.—

3 (1) REDESIGNATION.—Section 701(2) of the

4 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act

5 (94 Stat. 2371, 2417) establishing the Gates of the

6 Arctic Wilderness is hereby amended with the addi7 tion of approximately 56,825 acres as wilderness

8 and the rescission of approximately 73,993 acres as

9 wilderness, thus revising the Gates of the Arctic Wil10 derness to approximately 7,034,832 acres.

11 (2) MAP.—The lands redesignated by para12 graph (1) are depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Wilder13 ness Actions, Proposed Anaktuvuk Pass Land Ex14 change and Wilderness Redesignation, Gates of the

15 Arctic National Park and Preserve’’, Map No. 185/

16 80,040, dated April 1994, and on file at the Alaska

17 Regional Office of the National Park Service and the

18 office of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Pre19 serve in Fairbanks, Alaska.

20 (b) NOATAK NATIONAL PRESERVE.—Section

21 201(8)(a) of the Alaska National Interest Land Conserva22 tion Act (94 Stat. 2380) is amended by—

23 (1) striking ‘‘approximately six million four

24 hundred and sixty thousand acres’’ and inserting in

25 lieu thereof ‘‘approximately 6,477,168 acres’’; and
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1 (2) inserting ‘‘and the map entitled ‘Noatak

2 National Preserve and Noatak Wilderness Addition’

3 dated September 1994’’ after ‘‘July 1980’’.

4 (c) NOATAK WILDERNESS.—Section 701(7) of the

5 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (94

6 Stat. 2417) is amended by striking ‘‘approximately five

7 million eight hundred thousand acres’’ and inserting in

8 lieu thereof ‘‘approximately 5,817,168 acres’’.

9 SEC. 5. CONFORMANCE WITH OTHER LAW.

10 (a) ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT.—All

11 of the lands, or interests therein, conveyed to and received

12 by Arctic Slope Regional Corporation or Nunamiut Cor13 poration pursuant to the Agreement shall be deemed con14 veyed and received pursuant to exchanges under section

15 22(f) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, as

16 amended (43 U.S.C. 1601, 1621(f)). All of the lands or

17 interests in lands conveyed pursuant to the Agreement

18 shall be conveyed subject to valid existing rights.

19 (b) ALASKA NATIONAL INTEREST LANDS CONSERVA20 TION ACT.—Except to the extent specifically set forth in

21 this Act or the Agreement, nothing in this Act or in the

22 Agreement shall be construed to enlarge or diminish the

23 rights, privileges, or obligations of any person, including

24 specifically the preference for subsistence uses and access

25 to subsistence resources provided under the Alaska Na-
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1 tional Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3101

2 et seq.).

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