104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 400

AN ACT

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:
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1 (1) The Alaska National Interest Lands Con2 servation Act (94 Stat. 2371), enacted on December

3 2, 1980, established Gates of the Arctic National

4 Park and Preserve and Gates of the Arctic Wilder5 ness. The village of Anaktuvuk Pass, located in the

6 highlands of the central Brooks Range, is virtually

7 surrounded by these national park and wilderness

8 lands and is the only Native village located within

9 the boundary of a National Park System unit in

10 Alaska.

11 (2) Unlike most other Alaskan Native commu12 nities, the village of Anaktuvuk Pass is not located

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

14 as a means of access. The residents of Anaktuvuk

15 Pass have relied increasingly on snow machines in

16 winter and all-terrain vehicles in summer as their

17 primary means of access to pursue caribou and

18 other subsistence resources.

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

20 easements were reserved by the Inupiat Eskimo peo21 ple for use of all-terrain vehicles across certain na22 tional park lands, mostly along stream and river

23 banks. These linear easements proved unsatisfactory,

24 because they provided inadequate access to subsist-
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1 ence resources while causing excessive environmental

2 impact from concentrated use.

3 (4) The National Park Service and the

4 Nunamiut Corporation initiated discussions in 1985

5 to address concerns over the use of all-terrain vehi6 cles on park and wilderness land. These discussions

7 resulted in an agreement, originally executed in

8 1992 and thereafter amended in 1993 and 1994,

9 among the National Park Service, Nunamiut Cor10 poration, the City of Anaktuvuk Pass, and Arctic

11 Slope Regional Corporation. Full effectuation of this

12 agreement, as amended, by its terms requires ratifi13 cation by the Congress.

14 SEC. 3. RATIFICATION OF AGREEMENT.

15 (a) RATIFICATION.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The terms, conditions, pro17 cedures, covenants, reservations and other provisions

18 set forth in the document entitled ‘‘Donation, Ex19 change of Lands and Interests in Lands and Wilder20 ness Redesignation Agreement Among Arctic Slope

21 Regional Corporation, Nunamiut Corporation, City

22 of Anaktuvuk Pass and the United States of Amer23 ica’’ (hereinafter referred to in this Act as ‘‘the

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

25 17, 1992, as amended, are hereby incorporated in
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1 this Act, are ratified and confirmed, and set forth

2 the obligations and commitments of the United

3 States, Arctic Slope Regional Corporation,

4 Nunamiut Corporation and the City of Anaktuvuk

5 Pass, as a matter of Federal law.

6 (2) LAND ACQUISITION.—Lands acquired by

7 the United States pursuant to the Agreement shall

8 be administered by the Secretary of the Interior

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

10 of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve,

11 subject to the laws and regulations applicable there12 to.

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

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

15 to the conveyances, retention of surface access rights, ac16 cess easements and all-terrain vehicle easements. These

17 lands are depicted in greater detail on a map entitled

18 ‘‘Land Exchange Actions, Proposed Anaktuvuk Pass Land

19 Exchange and Wilderness Redesignation, Gates of the

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

21 dated April 1994, and on file at the Alaska Regional Of22 fice of the National Park Service and the offices of Gates

23 of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in Fairbanks,

24 Alaska. Written legal descriptions of these lands shall be

25 prepared and made available in the above offices. In case
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1 of any discrepancies, Map No. 185/80,039 shall be con2 trolling.

3 SEC. 4. NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM WILDERNESS.

4 (a) GATES OF THE ARCTIC WILDERNESS.—

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

6 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act

7 (94 Stat. 2371, 2417) establishing the Gates of the

8 Arctic Wilderness is hereby amended with the addi9 tion of approximately 56,825 acres as wilderness

10 and the rescission of approximately 73,993 acres as

11 wilderness, thus revising the Gates of the Arctic Wil12 derness to approximately 7,034,832 acres.

13 (2) MAP.—The lands redesignated by para14 graph (1) are depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Wilder15 ness Actions, Proposed Anaktuvuk Pass Land Ex16 change and Wilderness Redesignation, Gates of the

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

18 80,040, dated April 1994, and on file at the Alaska

19 Regional Office of the National Park Service and the

20 office of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Pre21 serve in Fairbanks, Alaska.

22 (b) NOATAK NATIONAL PRESERVE.—Section

23 201(8)(a) of the Alaska National Interest Land Conserva24 tion Act (94 Stat. 2380) is amended by—
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1 (1) striking ‘‘approximately six million four

2 hundred and sixty thousand acres’’ and inserting in

3 lieu thereof ‘‘approximately 6,477,168 acres’’; and

4 (2) inserting ‘‘and the map entitled ‘Noatak

5 National Preserve and Noatak Wilderness Addition’

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

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

8 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (94

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

10 million eight hundred thousand acres’’ and inserting in

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

12 SEC. 5. CONFORMANCE WITH OTHER LAW.

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

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

15 by Arctic Slope Regional Corporation or Nunamiut Cor16 poration pursuant to the Agreement shall be deemed con17 veyed and received pursuant to exchanges under section

18 22(f) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, as

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

20 interests in lands conveyed pursuant to the Agreement

21 shall be conveyed subject to valid existing rights.

22 (b) ALASKA NATIONAL INTEREST LANDS CONSERVA23 TION ACT.—Except to the extent specifically set forth in

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

25 Agreement shall be construed to enlarge or diminish the
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1 rights, privileges, or obligations of any person, including

2 specifically the preference for subsistence uses and access

3 to subsistence resources provided under the Alaska Na4 tional Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3101

5 et seq.).

Passed the House of Representatives February 1,

1995.

Attest:

Clerk.
104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 400

AN ACT

To provide for the exchange of lands within Gates

for other purposes.of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, and