II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1680 

To provide for the inclusion of certain non-Federal land in the Izembek 

National Wildlife Refuge and the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife 

Refuge in the State of Alaska, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 21, 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 inclusion of certain non-Federal land 

in the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and the Alaska 

Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge in the State of Alaska, 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 ‘‘Izembek and Alaska 

5 Peninsula Refuge and Wilderness Enhancement Act of 

6 2007’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) King Cove, Alaska, is— 

2 (A) located 625 air miles from Anchorage, 

3 Alaska, on the south side of the Alaska Penin4 sula, on a sand spit fronting Deer Passage and 

5 Deer Island; 

6 (B) accessible only by air and water; and 

7 (C) 1 of the most geographically isolated 

8 areas of the State of Alaska; 

9 (2) constant adverse weather and limiting phys10 ical topography make traveling in and out of King 

11 Cove directly by air dangerous and impractical much 

12 of the time; 

13 (3) King Cove is the homeland of Aleut people 

14 who— 

15 (A) are federally recognized as indigenous 

16 peoples of the United States; 

17 (B) have fished, hunted, and subsisted in 

18 King Cove for over 4,000 years; and 

19 (C) refer to the King Cove community as 

20 ‘‘Agdaagux’’; 

21 (4) the Agdaagux Tribal Council, which is the 

22 federally recognized tribal government for King 

23 Cove, recognizes that most residents of King Cove 

24 are direct descendants of the original Aleut inhab25 itants; 


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1 (5) in the 1940s, an airport capable of access 

2 by jets was constructed by the United States Army 

3 at Cold Bay, which is approximately 25 surface 

4 miles north of King Cove, to support World War II 

5 related national security needs; 

6 (6) while the Cold Bay Airport, which is now a 

7 civilian airport operated by the State of Alaska, is 

8 the lifeline for the King Cove people to the outside 

9 world, particularly for the life, safety, and health 

10 needs of the indigenous residents, there is no surface 

11 access between King Cove and the airport; 

12 (7) nearly all of the land between King Cove 

13 and Cold Bay is— 

14 (A) owned by the Federal Government as 

15 part of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge; 

16 and 

17 (B) managed as wilderness; and 

18 (8) the Agdaagux Tribal Council— 

19 (A) maintains that the Council and the in20 digenous Aleut people of King Cove were not 

21 consulted before the land that separates resi22 dents from the nearest all-weather airport was 

23 designated as wilderness, even though approxi24 mately 1,292 people across the United States, 

25 Canada, and Europe— 


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1 (i) received notice of the potential des2 ignation; and 

3 (ii) during 1969 and 1970, were ex4 pressly invited by the Bureau of Sport 

5 Fisheries and Wildlife, the predecessor of 

6 the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv7 ice, to participate in the process of consid8 ering whether the land should be managed 

9 as wilderness; 

10 (B) regards the failure of the Federal Gov11 ernment to consult with the Council and the in12 digenous Aleut people of King Cove as a 

13 ‘‘wrong and troubling action taken by the fed14 eral government’’; 

15 (C) submits that dozens of King Cove resi16 dents have died or suffered grave health con17 sequences in the past 30 years because the resi18 dents could not reach timely medical assistance 

19 in Anchorage, Alaska, that can only be accessed 

20 via the all-weather Cold Bay Airport; and 

21 (D) has expressed the full endorsement 

22 and support of the Council for the construction 

23 of a road between King Cove and the Cold Bay 

24 Airport as an expression of, and commitment 

25 to, self-determination for the Aleut people of 


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1 King Cove who were not consulted before the 

2 land vital to the survival of the Aleut people of 

3 King Cove was designated as wilderness. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

7 means— 

8 (A) the approximately 206 acres of Federal 

9 land within the Izembek National Wildlife Ref10 uge in the State that is depicted on the map as 

11 ‘‘King Cove Road’’; and 

12 (B) the approximately 1,600 acres of Fed13 eral land that is depicted on the map as 

14 ‘‘Sitkinak Island’’. 

15 (2) LANDOWNER.—The term ‘‘landowner’’ 

16 means— 

17 (A) the State; and 

18 (B) the other owners of the non-Federal 

19 land, including King Cove Corporation. 

20 (3) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map en21 titled ‘‘Proposed Land Enhancements’’ and dated 

22 June 2007. 

23 (4) NON-FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘non-Fed24 eral land’’ means the approximately 61,723 acres of 


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1 non-Federal land authorized to be added to the Ref2 uges under this Act, as depicted on the map. 

3 (5) REFUGE.—The term ‘‘Refuge’’ means each 

4 of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and the 

5 Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge in the 

6 State. 

7 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

8 the Secretary of the Interior. 

9 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

10 of Alaska. 

11 SEC. 4. CONVEYANCE OF LAND. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall convey to the 

13 State all right, title, and interest of the United States in 

14 and to the Federal land on— 

15 (1) conveyance by the landowner to the Sec16 retary of title to the non-Federal land that is accept17 able to the Secretary; and 

18 (2) certification by the Governor of the State 

19 that the State-owned land at Kinzaroff Lagoon has 

20 been designated under State law as a State refuge. 

21 (b) MAP.— 

22 (1) AVAILABILITY.—The map shall be on file 

23 and available for public inspection in the appropriate 

24 offices of the Secretary. 


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1 (2) REVISED MAP.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of completion of the conveyance of 

3 Federal land and non-Federal land under this sec4 tion, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 

5 Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and 

6 the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 

7 of Representatives a revised map that depicts the 

8 Federal land and non-Federal land conveyed under 

9 this section. 

10 (c) KING COVE ROAD CONVEYANCE.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The land described in sec12 tion 3(1)(A) shall be used for construction of a State 

13 road. 

14 (2) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 

15 (A) CABLE BARRIER.—A road constructed 

16 under this subsection shall include a cable bar17 rier on each side of the road, as described in 

18 the record of decision entitled ‘‘Mitigation 

19 Measure MM–11, King Cove Access Project 

20 Final Environmental Impact Statement Record 

21 of Decision’’ and dated January 22, 2004. 

22 (B) SUPPORT FACILITIES.—Support facili23 ties for a road constructed under this sub24 section shall not be located on federally owned 

25 land in the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. 


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1 (3) COOPERATIVE RIGHT-OF-WAY PLANNING

2 PROCESS.— 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—On request of the 

4 State, the Secretary, in cooperation with the 

5 Secretary of Transportation, the State, the 

6 Agdaagux Tribal Council, the Aleutians East 

7 Borough, the City of King Cove, and the King 

8 Cove Corporation, shall undertake a process to 

9 determine the route for the road required to be 

10 constructed under paragraph (1) within the cor11 ridor that is depicted on the map as ‘‘King 

12 Cove Road’’. 

13 (B) DEADLINE.—Not later than 18 

14 months after the date on which the State sub15 mits a request under subparagraph (A), the 

16 Secretary shall complete the planning process 

17 required under that subparagraph. 

18 (C) COMPATIBILITY.—The route for the 

19 road recommended by the Secretary under this 

20 paragraph shall be considered to be compatible 

21 with the purposes for which the Refuge was es22 tablished. 

23 (D) CONSTRUCTION.—Construction of the 

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1 retary under this paragraph is authorized in ac2 cordance with this Act. 

3 (4) RECONVEYANCE.—The Secretary shall, on 

4 receipt of a written request from the State or the 

5 King Cove Corporation, immediately reconvey the 

6 applicable non-Federal land to the appropriate land7 owner that contributed the land if— 

8 (A) a preliminary or permanent injunction 

9 is entered by a court of competent jurisdiction 

10 enjoining construction or use of the road; or 

11 (B) the State or the King Cove Corpora12 tion determines before construction of the road 

13 that the road cannot be feasibly constructed or 

14 maintained. 

15 (d) APPLICABLE LAW.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The conveyance of Federal 

17 land and non-Federal land shall not be subject to 

18 any requirements for valuation, appraisal, and 

19 equalization under any other Federal law. 

20 (2) ANCSA.—The use of existing roads and the 

21 construction of new roads on King Cove Corporation 

22 land to access the road authorized under this Act 

23 shall be considered— 

24 (A) to be consistent with subsection (g) of 

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1 ment Act (43 U.S.C. 1621) and any patents 

2 issued under that subsection; and 

3 (B) not to interfere with the purposes for 

4 which the Refuge was established. 

5 (e) NOTICE.—The Secretary shall submit to the Com6 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 

7 and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 

8 of Representatives notice of the completion of the convey9 ance of Federal land and non-Federal land under this sec10 tion. 

11 (f) DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS.—On conveyance 

12 of the non-Federal land to the Secretary, the approxi13 mately 45,493 acres of land generally depicted on the map 

14 entitled ‘‘Wilderness additions to Izembek and Alaska Pe15 ninsula Wildlife Refuges’’ and dated June 2007, shall be 

16 designated as wilderness. 

17 (g) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall admin18 ister the non-Federal land acquired under this Act— 

19 (1) in accordance with the laws generally appli20 cable to units of the National Refuge System; 

21 (2) as wilderness, in accordance with the Alaska 

22 National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 

23 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.); and 

24 (3) subject to valid existing rights. 

Æ 


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