[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2615 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2615

     To provide equitable treatment for the people of the Village 
 Corporation established for the Native Village of Saxman, Alaska, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 7, 2006

 Ms. Murkowski introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To provide equitable treatment for the people of the Village 
 Corporation established for the Native Village of Saxman, Alaska, 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) the Cape Fox Corporation (referred to in this Act as 
        ``Cape Fox'') is a Village Corporation for the Native Village 
        of Saxman, Alaska, organized pursuant to the Alaska Native 
        Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.);
            (2) similar to other Village Corporations in southeast 
        Alaska, under section 16 of that Act (43 U.S.C. 1615), Cape Fox 
        could select only 23,040 acres from land withdrawn for the 
        purpose of that selection;
            (3) under section 22(l) of that Act (43 U.S.C. 1621(l))--
                    (A) the Village Corporations in southeast Alaska, 
                other than Cape Fox, were restricted with respect to 
                the selection of land within 2 miles of a home rule 
                city (as that term is used in that Act); and
                    (B) to protect the watersheds in the vicinity, Cape 
                Fox was restricted with respect to the selection of 
                land within 6 miles of the boundary of the home rule 
                city of Ketchikan, Alaska;
            (4) the 6-mile restriction described in paragraph (3)(B) 
        precluded Cape Fox from selecting valuable timber land, 
        industrial sites, and other commercial property located--
                    (A) within the townships in which the Native 
                Village of Saxman is located, more particularly 
                described as T.75 S., T.76 S., R.91 E., Copper River 
                Meridian; and
                    (B) on surrounding land that is far removed from 
                Ketchikan, Alaska, and its watersheds;
            (5) as a result of that 6-mile restriction, only the 
        remote, mountainous, northeast corner of the property described 
        in paragraph (4)(A), which is nonproductive and has no known 
        economic value, was available for selection by Cape Fox, as 
        required under section 16(b) of the Alaska Native Claims 
        Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1615(b));
            (6) land selections by Cape Fox under that Act were further 
        limited by the fact that--
                    (A) the Annette Island Indian Reservation is 
                located within the applicable selection area; and
                    (B) land of that reservation is unavailable for 
                selection by Cape Fox;
            (7) Cape Fox is the only Village Corporation affected by 
        the restrictions described in paragraphs (3)(B) and (6);
            (8) the Secretary of the Interior (referred to in this Act 
        as the ``Secretary'') has advised Congress that the predicament 
        of Cape Fox is sufficiently unique to warrant the legislative 
        remedy provided by this Act; and
            (9) the adjustment of the selections available and 
        conveyances of land to Cape Fox under the Alaska Native Claims 
        Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and the related 
        adjustment of selections available and conveyances of land to 
        the Regional Corporation for Sealaska established pursuant to 
        that Act, are in accordance with--
                    (A) the purposes of that Act; and
                    (B) the public interest.

SEC. 2. WAIVER OF CORE TOWNSHIP REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN LAND.

    Notwithstanding section 16(b) of the Alaska Native Claims 
Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1615(b)), Cape Fox shall not be required to 
select or receive conveyance of the approximately 160 acres of 
unconveyed Federal land located within sec. 1, T.75 S., R.91 E., Copper 
River Meridian.

SEC. 3. SELECTION OUTSIDE EXTERIOR SELECTION BOUNDARY.

    (a) Selection and Conveyance of Surface Estate.--Not later than 90 
days after the date of enactment of this Act, in addition to land made 
available for selection under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 
(43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), Cape Fox may select, and, on receiving 
written notice of the selection, the Secretary shall convey, the 
approximately 99 acres of the surface estate of Tongass National Forest 
land located outside the exterior selection boundary of Cape Fox (as in 
existence on the day before the date of enactment of this Act) and more 
particularly described as follows:
            (1) T.73 S., R.90 E., Copper River Meridian.
            (2) Of land located in sec. 33--
                    (A) the 38 acres located within the SW\1/4\SE\1/4\;
                    (B) the 13 acres located within the NW\1/4\SE\1/4\;
                    (C) the 40 acres located within the SE\1/4\SE\1/4\; 
                and
                    (D) the 8 acres located within the SE\1/4\SW\1/4\.
    (b) Conveyance of Subsurface Estate.--On conveyance to Cape Fox of 
the surface estate to the land identified in subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall convey to Sealaska Corporation the subsurface estate to 
the land.
    (c) Timing.--The Secretary shall complete the conveyances to Cape 
Fox and Sealaska Corporation under this section as soon as practicable 
after the date on which the Secretary receives a notice of the 
selection of Cape Fox under subsection (a).
    (d) Entitlement Fulfilled.--
            (1) Definition of approved conveyance.--The term ``approved 
        conveyance'' means the conveyance of the 40 acres described as 
        the SW\1/4\NE\1/4\ of sec. 10, T.74 S., R.90 E., Copper River 
        Meridian, selected and approved for conveyance by the decision 
        of the Bureau of Land Management dated May 3, 2000.
            (2) Treatment as full entitlement.--The conveyance of land 
        to Cape Fox and Sealaska Corporation pursuant to subsection (a) 
        and the approved conveyance shall be considered to fulfill the 
        entitlement of--
                    (A) Cape Fox under section 16 of the Alaska Native 
                Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1615); and
                    (B) Sealaska Corporation to any subsurface interest 
                in the land under section 14(f) of that Act (43 U.S.C. 
                1613(f)).
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