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.
PL 107-239 (S.1325), enacted 10/11/2002

116 STAT. 1488 
PUBLIC LAW 107-239—OCT. 11, 2002 
Oct. 11, 2002 
Public Law 107-239 
107th Congress 
An Act 
To ratify an agreement between The Aleut Corporation and the United States 
of America to exchange land rights received under the Alaska Native Claims 
[S. 1325] 
Settlement Act for certain land interests on Adak Island, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
Alaska. 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
16 use 668dd 
note. 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that: 
(1) Adak Island is an isolated island located 1,200 miles 
southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, between the Pacific Ocean 
and the Bering Sea. The Island, with its unique physical and 
biological features, including a deep water 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 because of its value to seabirds, 
marine mammals, and fisheries. Withdrawals of portions of 
Adak Island for various military purposes date back to 1901 
and culminated 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 Island sup-
ported 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 Realign-
ment Act of 1990 (104 Stat. 1808), as amended, the Adak 
Naval Complex has been closed by the Department of Defense. 
(4) The Aleut Corporation is an Alaskan Native Regional 
Corporation incorporated in the State of Alaska pursuant to 
the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), as amended 
(43 U.S.C. 1601, et seq.). The Aleut Corporation represents 
the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands who prior to 
the Russian exploration and settlement of the Aleutian Islands 
were found throughout the Aleutian Islands which includes 
Adak Island. 
(5) None of Adak Island was available for selection by 
The Aleut Corporation under section 14(h)(8) of ANCSA (43 
U.S.C. 1613(h)(8)) because it was part of a National Wildlife 
Refuge and because the portion comprising the Adak Naval 
Complex was withdrawn for use by the United States Navy 
for military purposes prior to the passage of ANCSA in 
December 1971. 
(6) The Aleut Corporation is attempting to establish a 
community on Adak and has offered to exchange ANCSA land 
PUBLIC LAW 107-239—OCT. 11, 2002 
116 STAT. 1489 
selections and entitlements for conveyance of certain lands 
and interests therein on a portion of Adak formerly occupied 
by the Navy. 
(7) Removal of a portion of the Adak Island land from 
refuge status will be offset by the acquisition 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 Refuge. 
(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 environ-
mental problems associated 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 Convey-
ance of Property at the Adak Naval Complex" (hereinafter "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 modifica-
tions to the boundaries that may be agreed to by the parties 
is hereby ratified, confirmed, and approved and the terms, condi-
tions, procedures, covenants, reservations, indemnities and other 
provisions set forth in the Agreement are declared to be obligations 
and commitments of the United States and The Aleut Corporation: 
Provided, That 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 agreement of all Parties 
to the Agreement and notification given to the Committee on 
Resources of the United States House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States 
Senate: Provided further. That the acreage conveyed to the United 
States by The Aleut Corporation under the Agreement, 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 Corporation 
Effective date. 
of the Adak Exchange Lands as described in the Agreement, all 
such lands shall be removed from the National Wildlife Refuge 
System and shall neither be considered as part of the Alaska 
Maritime National Wildlife Refuge nor be subject to any laws per-
taining to lands within the boundaries of the Alaska Maritime 
National Wildlife Refuge, including the conveyance restrictions 
imposed by section 22(g) of ANCSA (43 U.S.C. 1621(g)), for land 
in the National Wildlife Refuge System. 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 Agreement. 
116 STAT. 1490 
PUBLIC LAW 107-239—OCT. 11, 2002 
SEC. 
4
. 
ALASKA 
NATIVE 
CLAIMS 
SETTLEMENT 
ACT. 
Lands and interests therein exchanged and conveyed by the 
United States pursuant to this Act shall be considered 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 interests 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 pur-
chase 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. 
Applicability. 
The laws and regulations applicable to Refuge lands shall then 
apply to these lands and the Secretary shall then adjust the bound-
aries accordingly. 
SEC. 6. GENERAL. 
(a) Nothwithstanding the Federal Property and Administrative 
Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C. 483-484) and the 
Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990, as amended 
(10 U.S.C. 2687), and for the purposes of the transfer of property 
authorized by this Act, Department of Navy personal property that 
remains on Adak Island is deemed related to the real property 
and shall be conveyed by the Department of the Navy to The 
Aleut Corporation at no additional cost when the related real prop-
erty is conveyed by the Department of the Interior. 
(b) The Secretary of the Interior shall convey to The Aleut 
Corporation those lands identified in the Agreement as the former 
landfill sites without charge to The Aleut Corporation's entitlement 
under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. 
(c) Any property, including, but not limited to, appurtenances 
and improvements, received pursuant to this Act shall, for purposes 
of section 21(d) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, as 
amended, and section 907(d) of the Alaska National Interest Lands 
Conservation Act, as amended, be treated as not developed until 
such property is actually occupied, leased (other than leases for 
nominal consideration to public entities) or sold by The Aleut Cor-
poration, or, in the case of a lease or other transfer by The Aleut 
Corporation to a wholly owned development subsidiary, actually 
occupied, leased, or sold by the subsidiary. 
(d) 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 unavailable for selec-
tion under ANCSA. 
PUBLIC LAW 107-239—OCT. 11, 2002 
116 STAT. 1491 
(e) The maps included as part of Appendix A to the Agreement 
depict the lands to be conveyed to The Aleut Corporation. The 
maps shall be left on file at the Region 7 Office of the United 
States Fish and Wildlife Service and the offices of 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 any discrepancies, the 
maps shall be controlling. 
Approved October 11, 2002. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 1325: 
SENATE REPORTS: No. 107-180 (Comm. on Energy and Natural Resources). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 148 (2002): 
Aug. 1, considered and passed Senate. 
Sept. 24, considered and passed House.