[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 400 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 400

    To provide for the exchange of lands within Gates of the Arctic 
          National Park and Preserve, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 4, 1995

 Mr. Young of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                     to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide for the exchange of lands within Gates of the Arctic 
          National Park and Preserve, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Anaktuvuk Pass Land Exchange and 
Wilderness Redesignation Act of 1995''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (94 
        Stat. 2371), enacted on December 2, 1980, established Gates of 
        the Arctic National Park and Preserve and Gates of the Arctic 
        Wilderness. The village of Anaktuvuk Pass, located in the 
        highlands of the central Brooks Range, is virtually surrounded 
        by these national park and wilderness lands and is the only 
        Native village located within the boundary of a National Park 
        System unit in Alaska.
            (2) Unlike most other Alaskan Native communities, the 
        village of Anaktuvuk Pass is not located on a major river, 
        lake, or coastline that can be used as a means of access. The 
        residents of Anaktuvuk Pass have relied increasingly on snow 
        machines in winter and all-terrain vehicles in summer as their 
        primary means of access to pursue caribou and other subsistence 
        resources.
            (3) In a 1983 land exchange agreement, linear easements 
        were reserved by the Inupiat Eskimo people for use of all-
        terrain vehicles across certain national park lands, mostly 
        along stream and river banks. These linear easements proved 
        unsatisfactory, because they provided inadequate access to 
        subsistence resources while causing excessive environmental 
        impact from concentrated use.
            (4) The National Park Service and the Nunamiut Corporation 
        initiated discussions in 1985 to address concerns over the use 
        of all-terrain vehicles on park and wilderness land. These 
        discussions resulted in an agreement, originally executed in 
        1992 and thereafter amended in 1993 and 1994, among the 
        National Park Service, Nunamiut Corporation, the City of 
        Anaktuvuk Pass, and Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. Full 
        effectuation of this agreement, as amended, by its terms 
        requires ratification by the Congress.

SEC. 3. RATIFICATION OF AGREEMENT.

    (a) Ratification.--
            (1) In general.--The terms, conditions, procedures, 
        covenants, reservations and other provisions set forth in the 
        document entitled ``Donation, Exchange of Lands and Interests 
        in Lands and Wilderness Redesignation Agreement Among Arctic 
        Slope Regional Corporation, Nunamiut Corporation, City of 
        Anaktuvuk Pass and the United States of America'' (hereinafter 
        referred to in this Act as ``the Agreement''), executed by the 
        parties on December 17, 1992, as amended, are hereby 
        incorporated in this Act, are ratified and confirmed, and set 
        forth the obligations and commitments of the United States, 
        Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, Nunamiut Corporation and the 
        City of Anaktuvuk Pass, as a matter of Federal law.
            (2) Land acquisition.--Lands acquired by the United States 
        pursuant to the Agreement shall be administered by the 
        Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter referred to as the 
        ``Secretary'') as part of Gates of the Arctic National Park and 
        Preserve, subject to the laws and regulations applicable 
        thereto.
    (b) Maps.--The maps set forth as Exhibits C1, C2, and D through I 
to the Agreement depict the lands subject to the conveyances, retention 
of surface access rights, access easements and all-terrain vehicle 
easements. These lands are depicted in greater detail on a map entitled 
``Land Exchange Actions, Proposed Anaktuvuk Pass Land Exchange and 
Wilderness Redesignation, Gates of the Arctic National Park and 
Preserve'', Map No. 185/80,039, dated April 1994, and on file at the 
Alaska Regional Office of the National Park Service and the offices of 
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in Fairbanks, Alaska. 
Written legal descriptions of these lands shall be prepared and made 
available in the above offices. In case of any discrepancies, Map No. 
185/80,039 shall be controlling.

SEC. 4. NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM WILDERNESS.

    (a) Gates of the Arctic Wilderness.--
            (1) Redesignation.--Section 701(2) of the Alaska National 
        Interest Lands Conservation Act (94 Stat. 2371, 2417) 
        establishing the Gates of the Arctic Wilderness is hereby 
        amended with the addition of approximately 56,825 acres as 
        wilderness and the rescission of approximately 73,993 acres as 
        wilderness, thus revising the Gates of the Arctic Wilderness to 
        approximately 7,034,832 acres.
            (2) Map.--The lands redesignated by paragraph (1) are 
        depicted on a map entitled ``Wilderness Actions, Proposed 
        Anaktuvuk Pass Land Exchange and Wilderness Redesignation, 
        Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve'', Map No. 185/
        80,040, dated April 1994, and on file at the Alaska Regional 
        Office of the National Park Service and the office of Gates of 
        the Arctic National Park and Preserve in Fairbanks, Alaska.
    (b) Noatak National Preserve.--Section 201(8)(a) of the Alaska 
National Interest Land Conservation Act (94 Stat. 2380) is amended by--
            (1) striking ``approximately six million four hundred and 
        sixty thousand acres'' and inserting in lieu thereof 
        ``approximately 6,477,168 acres''; and
            (2) inserting ``and the map entitled `Noatak National 
        Preserve and Noatak Wilderness Addition' dated September 1994'' 
        after ``July 1980''.
    (c) Noatak Wilderness.--Section 701(7) of the Alaska National 
Interest Lands Conservation Act (94 Stat. 2417) is amended by striking 
``approximately five million eight hundred thousand acres'' and 
inserting in lieu thereof ``approximately 5,817,168 acres''.

SEC. 5. CONFORMANCE WITH OTHER LAW.

    (a) Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.--All of the lands, or 
interests therein, conveyed to and received by Arctic Slope Regional 
Corporation or Nunamiut Corporation pursuant to the Agreement shall be 
deemed conveyed and received pursuant to exchanges under section 22(f) 
of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, as amended (43 U.S.C. 1601, 
1621(f)). All of the lands or interests in lands conveyed pursuant to 
the Agreement shall be conveyed subject to valid existing rights.
    (b) Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.--Except to the 
extent specifically set forth in this Act or the Agreement, nothing in 
this Act or in the Agreement shall be construed to enlarge or diminish 
the rights, privileges, or obligations of any person, including 
specifically the preference for subsistence uses and access to 
subsistence resources provided under the Alaska National Interest Lands 
Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.).
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