Opinion ID: 491627
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Laws and Lands

Text: 5 a. Alaska Statehood Act. On January 3, 1959, Alaska became our forty-ninth state. Proclamation No. 3269, 24 Fed.Reg. 81 (1959). The Alaska Statehood Act (ASA), passed the previous summer, granted over 100,000,000 acres to the state, from the public lands of the United States in Alaska which are vacant, unappropriated, and unreserved at the time of their selection, to be selected within thirty-five years after the admission of Alaska into the Union. Pub.L. No. 85-508, Sec. 6(a) & (b), 72 Stat. 339 (1958), 48 U.S.C. prec. Sec. 21. 6 b. Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Congress enacted the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) in 1971, extinguishing aboriginal title claims to certain Alaskan lands by granting the natives approximately 44,000,000 acres plus substantial monetary payments. Under ANCSA, local village corporations and broader-based regional corporations may select lands from those withdrawn from public use. 43 U.S.C. Secs. 1610-11. Regulations promulgated pursuant to the Act permit the village and regional corporations to select acreage in excess of their entitlements and to prioritize those selections, though only the statutorily prescribed acreage may actually be conveyed. 43 C.F.R. Secs. 2651.4(f) & 2652.3(f) (1986). 7 c. Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. Though plaintiffs do not allege its violation, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) is nonetheless relevant to the case for three reasons. First, it authorizes the state to select acreage in excess of its entitlement under ASA, and to prioritize such selections. 43 U.S.C. Sec. 1635(f). Second, its section on Status of lands within units helps explain how federal wilderness lands may be affected by the challenged decision. Third, along with ASA and ANCSA, ANILCA provides the support for our conclusion that plaintiffs pass the zone of interests standing test.
8 The state and natives may select their entitlements from either public lands under BLM management (BLM lands), which are generally open to either state or native selection, or from Conservation System Units (CSUs), established by ANILCA, which include national parks, national wildlife refuges, national conservation and recreation areas, national forests, and national wild and scenic rivers. 4 An ANILCA section entitled Status of lands within units helps explain how CSUs may be transferred from federal to state or native hands: 9 (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, subject to valid existing rights any land withdrawn pursuant to section 17(d)(1) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. Sec. 1616(d)(1) ] and within the boundaries of any conservation system unit, national recreation area, national conservation area, new national forest or forest addition, shall be added to such unit and administered accordingly unless, before, on, or after December 2, 1980, such land has been validly selected by and conveyed to a Native Corporation, or unless before December 2, 1980, such land has been validly selected by, and after December 2, 1980, is conveyed to the State. At such time as the entitlement of any Native Corporation to land under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act is satisfied, any land within a conservation system unit selected by such Native Corporation shall, to the extent that such land is in excess of its entitlement, become part of such unit and administered accordingly: Provided, That nothing in this subsection shall necessarily preclude the future conveyance to the State of those Federal lands which are specified in a list dated October 19, 1979, submitted by the State of Alaska and on file with the Office of the Secretary: Provided further, That nothing in this subsection shall affect any conveyance to the State pursuant to subsections (b), (c), (d), or (g) of this section. 10 (2) Until conveyed, all Federal lands within the boundaries of a conservation system unit, national recreation area, national conservation area, new national forest or forest addition, shall be administered in accordance with the laws applicable to such unit. 11 43 U.S.C. Sec. 1635(o ). 12 Thus, if land within a CSU is validly selected by and conveyed to a native corporation at any time, it passes to native ownership and out of the CSU. Similarly, land selected before and conveyed after the passage of ANILCA may pass validly into state hands. Hence, it is clear that CSU lands may be affected by state or native selections. 5