I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2479
To ratify an agreement between The Aleut Corporation and the United
States of America to exchange land rights received under the Alaska
Native Claims Settlement Act for certain land interests on Adak Island,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 11, 2001
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Armed
Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned
A BILL
To ratify an agreement between The Aleut Corporation and
the United States of America to exchange land rights
received under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
for certain land interests on Adak Island, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Adak Island is an isolated island located
1,200 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, be-
tween the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. The is-
land, with its unique physical and biological fea-
tures, including a deepwater harbor and abundant
marine-associated wildlife, was recognized early for
both its natural and military values. In 1913, Adak
Island was reserved and set aside as a preserve be-
cause of its value to seabirds, marine mammals, and
fisheries. Withdrawals of portions of Adak Island for
various military purposes date back to 1901 and cul-
minated in the 1959 withdrawal of approximately
half of the island for use by the Department of the
Navy for military purposes.
(2) By 1990, military development on Adak Is-
land supported a community of 6,000 residents.
Outside of the Adak Naval Complex, there was no
independent community on Adak Island.
(3) As a result of the Defense Base Closure and
Realignment Act of 1990 (104 Stat. 1808), the
Adak Naval Complex has been closed by the Depart-
ment of Defense.
(4) The Aleut Corporation is an Alaskan Native
Regional Corporation incorporated in the State of
Alaska pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settle-
ment Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). The Aleut Cor-
poration represents the indigenous people of the
Aleutian Islands who prior to the Russian explo-
ration and settlement of the Aleutian Islands were
found throughout the Aleutian Islands, which in-
cludes Adak Island.
(5) None of Adak Island was available for selec-
tion by The Aleut Corporation under section
14(h)(8) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
(43 U.S.C. 1613(h)(8)) because it was part of a na-
tional wildlife refuge and because the portion com-
prising the Adak Naval Complex was withdrawn for
use by the United States Navy for military purposes
prior to the passage of the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act in December 1971.
(6) The Aleut Corporation is attempting to es-
tablish a community on Adak and has offered to ex-
change Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act land
selections and entitlements for conveyance of certain
lands and interests therein on a portion of Adak for-
merly occupied by the Navy.
(7) Removal of a portion of the Adak Island
land from refuge status will be offset by the acquisi-
tion of high-quality wildlife habitat in other Aleut
Corporation selections within the Alaska Maritime
National Wildlife Refuge, maintaining a resident
human population on Adak to control caribou, and
making possible a continued United States Fish and
Wildlife Service presence in that remote location to
protect the natural resources of the Aleutian Islands
Unit of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Ref-
uge.
(8) It is in the public interest to promote reuse
of the Adak Island lands by exchanging certain
lands for lands selected by The Aleut Corporation
elsewhere in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife
Refuge. Experience with environmental problems as-
sociated with formerly used defense sites in the
State of Alaska suggests that the most effective and
efficient way to avoid future environmental problems
on Adak is to support and encourage active reuse of
Adak.
SEC. 2. RATIFICATION OF AGREEMENT.
The document entitled the ‘‘Agreement Concerning
the Conveyance of Property at the Adak Naval Complex’’
(hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Agreement’’), and dated
September 20, 2000, executed by The Aleut Corporation,
the Department of the Interior, and the Department of
the Navy, together with any technical amendments or
modifications to the boundaries that may be agreed to by
the parties, is hereby ratified, confirmed, and approved
and the terms, conditions, procedures, covenants, reserva-
tions, indemnities and other provisions set forth in the
Agreement are declared to be obligations and commit-
ments of the United States as a matter of Federal law.
Modifications to the maps and legal descriptions of lands
to be removed from the National Wildlife Refuge System
within the military withdrawal on Adak Island set forth
in Public Land Order 1949 may be made only upon agree-
ment of all Parties to the Agreement and notification
given to the Committee on Resources of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources of the Senate. The acreage conveyed to the
United States by The Aleut Corporation under the Agree-
ment, as modified, shall be at least 36,000 acres.
SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF LANDS FROM REFUGE.
Effective on the date of conveyance to the Aleut Cor-
poration of the Adak Exchange Lands as described in the
Agreement, all such lands shall be removed from the Na-
tional Wildlife Refuge System and shall neither be consid-
ered as part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Ref-
uge nor subject to any laws pertaining to lands within the
boundaries of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Ref-
uge. The conveyance restrictions imposed by section 22(g)
of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C.
1621(g)) for land in the National Wildlife Refuge System
shall not apply. The Secretary shall adjust the boundaries
of the Refuge so as to exclude all interests in lands and
land rights, surface and subsurface, received by The Aleut
Corporation in accordance with this Act and the Agree-
ment.
SEC. 4. ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT.
Lands and interests therein exchanged and conveyed
by the United States pursuant to this Act shall be consid-
ered and treated as conveyances of lands or interests
therein under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act,
except that receipt of such lands and interests therein
shall not constitute a sale or disposition of land or inter-
ests received pursuant to such Act. The public easements
for access to public lands and waters reserved pursuant
to the Agreement are deemed to satisfy the requirements
and purposes of section 17(b) of the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act.
SEC. 5. REACQUISITION OF LANDS.
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to acquire
by purchase or exchange, on a willing seller basis only,
any land conveyed to The Aleut Corporation under the
Agreement and this Act. In the event any of the lands
are subsequently acquired by the United States, they shall
be automatically included in the Refuge System. The laws
and regulations applicable to refuge lands shall then apply
Act shall, for purposes of section 21(d) of the Alaska Na-
tive Claims Settlement Act and section 907(d) of the Alas-
ka National Interest Lands Conservation Act be treated
as not developed until such property is actually occupied,
leased (other than leases for nominal consideration to pub-
lic entities) or sold by The Aleut Corporation, or, in the
case of a lease or other transfer by The Aleut Corporation
to a wholly owned development subsidiary, actually occu-
pied, leased, or sold by the subsidiary.
(e) CERTAIN LANDS UNAVAILABLE
FOR SELEC-
TION.—Upon conveyance to The Aleut Corporation of the
lands described in Appendix A of the Agreement, the lands
described in Appendix C of the Agreement will become un-
available for selection under the Alaska Native Claims Set-
tlement Act.
(f) MAPS.—The maps included as part of Appendix
A to the Agreement depict the lands to be conveyed to
The Aleut Corporation. The maps are on file at the Region
7 Office of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
and the offices of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife
Refuge in Homer, Alaska. The written legal descriptions
of the lands to be conveyed to The Aleut Corporation are
also part of Appendix A. In case of discrepancies, the
maps shall control.
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