[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1488 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1488

  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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 8, 1997

 Mr. Murkowski (for himself and Mr. Stevens) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

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 supported 
        a community of 6,000 residents. Outside of the Adak Naval 
        Complex, there is no independent community on Adak Island.
            (3) As a result of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment 
        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 interested in establishing a 
        community on Adak and has offered to exchange ANCSA land 
        selections for conveyance of certain lands and interests 
        therein on a portion of Adak formerly occupied by the Navy.
            (7) Removal of a portion of 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 U.S. 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 
        environmental 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 Transfer of Lands 
at Adak Naval Complex'' (hereinafter ``the Agreement''), and dated 
__________, executed by The Aleut Corporation, the Department of the 
Interior and the Department of the Navy, is hereby ratified, confirmed, 
and approved and the terms, conditions, procedures, covenants, 
reservations, and other provisions set forth in the Agreement are 
declared to be obligations and commitments of the United States as a 
matter of Federal law.

SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF LANDS FROM REFUGE.

    Effective on the date of conveyance to The Aleut Corporation 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 subject to any laws pertaining to lands within the boundaries of 
the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The conveyance 
restrictions imposed by section 22(g) of the ANCSA, 43 U.S.C. 1621(g), 
on said lands shall then be ineffective and cease to apply. The 
Secretary shall adjust the boundaries of the Refuge so as to exclude 
all interests in lands and land rights, surface and substance, received 
by The Aleut Corporation in accordance with this Act and the Agreement.

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.
                                 <all>