II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1746 

To provide for the recognition of certain Native communities and the settlement of certain claims under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 29, 2007 

Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. STEVENS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for the recognition of certain Native communities 

and the settlement of certain claims under the Alaska 

Native Claims Settlement Act, 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 ‘‘Unrecognized South5 east Alaska Native Communities Recognition and Com6 pensation Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) In 1971, Congress enacted the Alaska Na2 tive Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) 

3 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Act’’) to recog4 nize and settle the aboriginal claims of Alaska Na5 tives to the lands Alaska Natives had used for tradi6 tional purposes. 

7 (2) The Act awarded approximately 

8 $1,000,000,000 and 44,000,000 acres of land to 

9 Alaska Natives and provided for the establishment 

10 of Native Corporations to receive and manage such 

11 funds and lands. 

12 (3) Pursuant to the Act, Alaska Natives have 

13 been enrolled in 1 of 13 Regional Corporations. 

14 (4) Most Alaska Natives reside in communities 

15 that are eligible under the Act to form a Village or 

16 Urban Corporation within the geographical area of 

17 a Regional Corporation. 

18 (5) Village or Urban Corporations established 

19 under the Act received cash and surface rights to 

20 the settlement land described in paragraph (2) and 

21 the corresponding Regional Corporation received 

22 cash and land which includes the subsurface rights 

23 to the land of the Village or Urban Corporation. 

24 (6) The southeastern Alaska communities of 

25 Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and 


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1 Wrangell are not listed under the Act as commu2 nities eligible to form Village or Urban Corporations, 

3 even though the population of such villages com4 prises greater than 20 percent of the shareholders of 

5 the Regional Corporation for Southeast Alaska and 

6 display historic, cultural, and traditional qualities of 

7 Alaska Natives. 

8 (7) The communities described in paragraph 

9 (6) have sought full eligibility for lands and benefits 

10 under the Act for more than three decades. 

11 (8) In 1993, Congress directed the Secretary of 

12 the Interior to prepare a report examining the rea13 sons why the communities listed in paragraph (6) 

14 had been denied eligibility to form Village or Urban 

15 Corporations and receive land and benefits pursuant 

16 to the Act. 

17 (9) The report described in paragraph (8), pub18 lished in February, 1994, indicates that— 

19 (A) the communities listed in paragraph 

20 (6) do not differ significantly from the south21 east Alaska communities that were permitted to 

22 form Village or Urban Corporations under the 

23 Act; 

24 (B) such communities are similar to other 

25 communities that are eligible to form Village or 


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1 Urban Corporations under the Act and receive 

2 lands and benefits under the Act— 

3 (i) in actual number and percentage 

4 of Native Alaskan population; and 

5 (ii) with respect to the historic use 

6 and occupation of land; 

7 (C) each such community was involved in 

8 advocating the settlement of the aboriginal 

9 claims of the community; and 

10 (D) some of the communities appeared on 

11 early versions of lists of Native Villages pre12 pared before the date of the enactment of the 

13 Act, but were not included as Native Villages in 

14 the Act. 

15 (10) The omissions described in paragraph (9) 

16 are not clearly explained in any provision of the Act 

17 or the legislative history of the Act. 

18 (11) On the basis of the findings described in 

19 paragraphs (1) through (10), Alaska Natives who 

20 were enrolled in the five unlisted communities and 

21 their heirs have been inadvertently and wrongly de22 nied the cultural and financial benefits of enrollment 

23 in Village or Urban Corporations established pursu24 ant to the Act. 


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1 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to redress 

2 the omission of the communities described in subsection 

3 (a)(6) from eligibility by authorizing the Native people en4 rolled in the communities— 

5 (1) to form Urban Corporations for the commu6 nities of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, 

7 and Wrangell under the Act; and 

8 (2) to receive certain settlement lands and other 

9 compensation pursuant to the Act. 

10 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF ADDITIONAL NATIVE COR11 PORATIONS. 

12 Section 16 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 

13 Act (43 U.S.C. 1615) is amended by adding at the end 

14 thereof the following new subsection: 

15 ‘‘(e)(1) The Native residents of each of the Native 

16 Villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and 

17 Wrangell, Alaska, may organize as Urban Corporations. 

18 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this subsection shall affect any enti19 tlement to land of any Native Corporation previously es20 tablished pursuant to this Act or any other provision of 

21 law.’’. 

22 SEC. 4. SHAREHOLDER ELIGIBILITY. 

23 Section 8 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 

24 (43 U.S.C. 1607) is amended by adding at the end thereof 

25 the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(d)(1) The Secretary of the Interior shall enroll to 

2 each of the Urban Corporations for Haines, Ketchikan, 

3 Petersburg, Tenakee, or Wrangell those individual Natives 

4 who enrolled under this Act to the Native Villages of 

5 Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, or Wrangell, re6 spectively. 

7 ‘‘(2) Those Natives who are enrolled to an Urban 

8 Corporation for Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, 

9 or Wrangell pursuant to paragraph (1) and who were en10 rolled as shareholders of the Regional Corporation for 

11 Southeast Alaska on or before March 30, 1973, shall re12 ceive 100 shares of Settlement Common Stock in such 

13 Urban Corporation. 

14 ‘‘(3) A Native who has received shares of stock in 

15 the Regional Corporation for Southeast Alaska through 

16 inheritance from a decedent Native who originally enrolled 

17 to the Native Villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, 

18 Tenakee, or Wrangell, which decedent Native was not a 

19 shareholder in a Village or Urban Corporation, shall re20 ceive the identical number of shares of Settlement Com21 mon Stock in the Urban Corporation for Haines, Ketch22 ikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, or Wrangell as the number of 

23 shares inherited by that Native from the decedent Native 

24 who would have been eligible to be enrolled to such Urban 

25 Corporation. 


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1 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this subsection shall affect entitle2 ment to land of any Regional Corporation pursuant to sec3 tion 12(b) or section 14(h)(8).’’. 

4 SEC. 5. DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS. 

5 Section 7 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 

6 (43 U.S.C. 1606) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (j), by adding at the end 

8 thereof the following new sentence: ‘‘Native members 

9 of the Native Villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Peters10 burg, Tenakee, and Wrangell who become share11 holders in an Urban Corporation for such a commu12 nity shall continue to be eligible to receive distribu13 tions under this subsection as at-large shareholders 

14 of the Regional Corporation for Southeast Alaska.’’; 

15 and 

16 (2) by adding at the end thereof the following 

17 new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(s) No provision of or amendment made by the Un19 recognized Southeast Alaska Native Communities Rec20 ognition and Compensation Act shall affect the ratio for 

21 determination of revenue distribution among Native Cor22 porations under this section and the ‘1982 Section 7(i) 

23 Settlement Agreement’ among the Regional Corporations 

24 or among Village Corporations under subsection (j).’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. COMPENSATION. 

2 The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 

3 1601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end thereof 

4 the following new section: 

5 ‘‘URBAN CORPORATIONS FOR HAINES, KETCHIKAN, 

6 PETERSBURG, TENAKEE, AND WRANGELL

7 ‘‘SEC. 43. (a) Upon incorporation of the Urban Cor8 porations for Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, 

9 and Wrangell, the Secretary, in consultation and coordina10 tion with the Secretary of Commerce, and in consultation 

11 with representatives of each such Urban Corporation and 

12 the Regional Corporation for Southeast Alaska, shall offer 

13 as compensation, pursuant to this Act, one township of 

14 land (23,040 acres) to each of the Urban Corporations 

15 for Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and 

16 Wrangell, and other appropriate compensation, including 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘(1) Local areas of historical, cultural, tradi19 tional, and economic importance to Alaska Natives 

20 from the Villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, 

21 Tenakee, or Wrangell. In selecting the lands to be 

22 withdrawn and conveyed pursuant to this section, 

23 the Secretary shall give preference to lands with 

24 commercial purposes and may include subsistence 

25 and cultural sites, aquaculture sites, hydroelectric 

26 sites, tidelands, surplus Federal property and ecoVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:22 Jun 30, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1746.IS S1746

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1 tourism sites. The lands selected pursuant to this 

2 section shall be contiguous and reasonably compact 

3 tracts wherever possible. The lands selected pursu4 ant to this section shall be subject to all valid exist5 ing rights and all other provisions of section 14(g), 

6 including any lease, contract, permit, right-of-way, 

7 or easement (including a lease issued under section 

8 6(g) of the Alaska Statehood Act). 

9 ‘‘(2) $650,000 for capital expenses associated 

10 with corporate organization and development, includ11 ing— 

12 ‘‘(A) the identification of forest and land 

13 parcels for selection and withdrawal; 

14 ‘‘(B) making conveyance requests, receiv15 ing title, preparing resource inventories, land 

16 and resource use, and development planning; 

17 ‘‘(C) land and property valuations; 

18 ‘‘(D) corporation incorporation and start19 up; 

20 ‘‘(E) advising and enrolling shareholders; 

21 ‘‘(F) issuing stock; and 

22 ‘‘(G) seed capital for resource development. 

23 ‘‘(3) Such additional forms of compensation as 

24 the Secretary deems appropriate, including grants 

25 and loan guarantees to be used for planning, develVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:08 Jul 03, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1746.IS S1746

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1 opment and other purposes for which Native Cor2 porations are organized under the Act, and any ad3 ditional financial compensation, which shall be allo4 cated among the five Urban Corporations on a pro 

5 rata basis based on the number of shareholders in 

6 each Urban Corporation. 

7 ‘‘(b) The Urban Corporations for Haines, Ketchikan, 

8 Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, shall have 1 year 

9 from the date of the offer of compensation from the Sec10 retary to each such Urban Corporation provided for in this 

11 section within which to accept or reject the offer. In order 

12 to accept or reject the offer, each such Urban Corporation 

13 shall provide to the Secretary a properly executed and cer14 tified corporate resolution that states that the offer pro15 posed by the Secretary was voted on, and either approved 

16 or rejected, by a majority of the shareholders of the Urban 

17 Corporation. In the event that the offer is rejected, the 

18 Secretary, in consultation with representatives of the 

19 Urban Corporation that rejected the offer and the Re20 gional Corporation for Southeast Alaska, shall revise the 

21 offer and the Urban Corporation shall have an additional 

22 6 months within which to accept or reject the revised offer. 

23 ‘‘(c) Not later than 180 days after receipt of a cor24 porate resolution approving an offer of the Secretary as 

25 required in subsection (b), the Secretary shall withdraw 


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1 the lands and convey to the Urban Corporation title to 

2 the surface estate of the lands and convey to the Regional 

3 Corporation for Southeast Alaska title to the subsurface 

4 estate as appropriate for such lands. 

5 ‘‘(d) The Secretary shall, without consideration of 

6 compensation, convey to the Urban Corporations of 

7 Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, 

8 by quitclaim deed or patent, all right, title, and interest 

9 of the United States in all roads, trails, log transfer facili10 ties, leases, and appurtenances on or related to the land 

11 conveyed to the corporations pursuant to subsection (c). 

12 ‘‘(e)(1) The Urban Corporations of Haines, Ketch13 ikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell may establish a 

14 settlement trust in accordance with the provisions of sec15 tion 39 for the purposes of promoting the health, edu16 cation, and welfare of the trust beneficiaries and pre17 serving the Native heritage and culture of the communities 

18 of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, 

19 respectively. 

20 ‘‘(2) The proceeds and income from the principal of 

21 a trust established under paragraph (1) shall first be ap22 plied to the support of those enrollees and their descend23 ants who are elders or minor children and then to the sup24 port of all other enrollees.’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as 

3 shall be necessary to carry out this Act and the amend4 ments made by this Act. 

Æ 


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