[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 20 (Wednesday, February 1, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H1016-H1019]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ANAKTUVUK PASS LAND EXCHANGE AND WILDERNESS REDESIGNATION ACT OF 1995
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Upton). Pursuant to House Resolution 52
and rule XXIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the
Whole House on the State of the Union for the consideration of the
bill, H.R. 400.
{time} 1656
in the committee of the whole
Accordingly the House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union for the consideration of the bill (H.R.
400) to provide for the exchange of lands within Gates of the Arctic
National Park and Preserve, and for other purposes, with Mr. Hastert in
the chair.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered as having
been read the first time.
Under the rule, the gentleman from Alaska [Mr. Young] will be
recognized for 30 minutes, and the gentleman from New Mexico [Mr.
Richardson] will be recognized for 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Alaska [Mr. Young].
Mr. YOUNG. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 400, a bill to provide
for a land exchange within Gates of the Arctic Park and Preserve. This
noncontroversial legislation was reported January 18 by the Resources
Committee by a vote of 40 to 0.
H.R. 400 was introduced January 4 and passed the committee, as I
said, at
[[Page H1017]] our first full committee markup January 18. This bill is
identical to H.R. 4746, which passed the House during the 103d
Congress--it represents a true compromise. And I thank the former
chairman, Mr. Miller, and Mr. Vento for their cooperation on this
legislation.
The land exchange creates a deficit of 17,168 acres of wilderness in
Gates of the Arctic Park. Therefore, the committee recommends the
creation of 17,168 acres of wilderness outside the park, thus a no-net-
loss-no-net-gain of wilderness.
This is a good bill. It settles a longstanding dispute between the
local residents of Anaktuvuk Pass and the Park Service over the use of
all-terrain vehicles [ATV's] for access to subsistence resources. Local
residents use ATV's on parklands during the summer months. The Park
Service contends that the ATV's harm the landscape. Both sides have
reached agreement on the lands which may be used for ATV access and
H.R. 400 ratifies that agreement.
I urge passage of this legislation.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
(Mr. RICHARDSON asked and was given permission to revise and extend
his remarks.)
Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Chairman, H.R. 400 is identical to legislation
considered by the Committee on Resources and passed by the House on a
voice vote in the last Congress. It is noncontroversial legislation and
deserves support. It is based on a proposal submitted by the
administration in June 1994, and it was subsequently modified to
reflect an agreement worked out between the gentleman from Alaska [Mr.
Young], the gentleman from California [Mr. Miller], and the gentleman
from Minnesota [Mr. Vento].
While that agreement is different from the administration's proposal
for wilderness designation of BLM-managed lands in the Nigu River area,
it is similar in that it would assure that the bill will not result in
a net reduction of wilderness in the National Park System and would
leave the remainder of this area in its current wilderness study
status.
In addition, the boundaries provided in the bill by that agreement
would emphasize protection of riparian areas along the Nigu River.
H.R. 400 would ratify an agreement among the National Park Service on
behalf of the United States to Alaska native corporations and the
municipal government of Anaktuvuk Pass, AK. Under the agreement, the
United States would transfer to the native corporations certain Federal
lands that are now managed as part of the gates of the Arctic National
Park.
In exchange the native corporations and the municipal government
would transfer to the United States certain lands and interests located
within and adjacent to the national park.
The park lands involved in the exchange are also designated as
wilderness. So legislation is required if they are to be transferred.
Ratification of the agreement and removal of the national park lands
from wilderness designation is accompanied by the designation as
wilderness of other lands, including both lands from the gates of the
Arctic National Park and BLM public lands in the Nigu River area that
would be added to the adjacent Noatak National preserve.
{time} 1700
This bill would settle a longstanding access issue in Alaska. That
access question concerns ATV use of the area, a matter of considerable
concern because of the impacts on park resources and values.
Mr. Speaker, the bill and the accompanying agreement, though, do not
spell out the specific conditions and limitations of such ATV use.
Instead, we are going to be relying on the parties to specify them in
the conveyance documents, hopefully in a manner that solves conflicts
between ATV use and park resources and values.
Likewise, there is some concern that no formal appraisals have or
will be done on the lands and interests being conveyed. We are relying
on the Interior Department's determination that the exchanges are in
the public interest.
Mr. Chairman, while the bill reflects the congressional agreement
that was previously worked out, I believe it should be noted that the
administration favors the agreement as it was worked out originally
between the Park Service, the Alaska Native corporations, and the local
municipal government.
Again, Mr. Chairman, let me state that we support the bill, and
commend the gentleman for his leadership on this issue.
Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from California [Mr. Miller].
Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this
legislation, but I want to raise a couple of points with respect to the
proposed land exchange. The EIS in this land exchange admits that no
appraisals were prepared. Instead, a statement of value was prepared to
assess the relative values of the interests proposed in the exchange.
Since no appraisals were done, we have to rely on the assurances of the
involved party that this is a good exchange, and we have no specific
criteria on which to judge it.
Mr. Chairman, I raise this point of order not about this legislation,
because this legislation has gone through the committee and was the
subject of a lot of deliberations last year, and in fact then should
have been passed last year. I raise this point of view on this matter
to say that I think that having now passed the balanced budget
amendment, that we must be more conscientious, both in the committee
and on the floor of the House, in dealing with exchanges and with
transfers and gifts of public property.
What we used to consider as a regular order around here may no longer
be able to be the regular order, since we must now make sure that the
taxpayers and the Government get all the moneys that they can in terms
of the transfers of these properties with respect to asking for their
market value, so those references can be used to help balance the
budget. I will be raising this issue in the committee on other
legislation that is scheduled to come before this House, and will raise
it in the House in the event that we are not successful in the
committee.
Mr. Chairman, I think that this exchange, and although this is the
remnant of a previous exchange, this exchange points out some of the
serious potential problems that can arise from exchanges in general.
Those problems are especially acute to Alaska, since both ANESCA and
ANILCA allow an equal exchange upon the finding of the Secretary that
the exchanges are in the public interest.
Again, Mr. Chairman, this is the way we believe the Government
business should have been done in the past, but it raises concerns
about whether or not we can continue to do that in the future, given
the constraints we are going to have around here in trying to meet our
obligations under the balanced budget amendment.
Mr. Chairman, in the grandfather of this exchange, the previous
exchange which we are cleaning up after in this legislation, they found
it was in fact not in the Government interest, according to GAO, and
GAO recommended that the Congress direct the Secretary to develop and
issue written procedures on land exchanges. At a minimum, procedures
should require preparations of EIS's and EA's when appropriate, full
public review, and a process for determining whether an exchange is in
fact in the public interest, and not just a simple statement by the
Secretary of the Interior that it is in fact in the public interest.
Establishment of disclosure and fair market value on lands and
interests should be exchanged. Land exchanges are not a panacea for
solving all the problems. Very often they are very complex agreements
that require careful review and analysis.
The Committee on Resources has dealt with many land exchanges over
the years which have involved considerable work by the committee, and
also have had to be rewritten, those exchanges, or modified to assure
they were in fact in the public interest.
Instead of dealing with land exchanges on an ad hoc basis, we should
have written and qualitative criteria to assess the public value of
such exchanges.
I raise the point again not with respect to this legislation, but in
terms
[[Page H1018]] of the future considerations of these matters before the
committee.
Mr. Chairman, I have raised these in the past from time to time, but
I think we have to be much more diligent in that effort now, given the
fiscal constraints we are going to have in the budgetary considerations
of exchanges and transfers and gifts of public assets and resources,
whether it is to private parties or to other units of government within
the United States.
Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. RICHARDSON. I yield to the gentleman from Alaska.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Chairman, I can understand the statements of
the gentleman from California, but I would hope that they should have
been directed at legislation down the road, because we have to remember
that Anaktuvuk Pass is a small, small village that was put inside of a
park, with certain understandings that they could do certain things,
and then told by the Park Service they could not do those things.
This is a village that is high in the mountains above the Arctic
Circle, with living conditions there which a lot of people do not
recognize. What we tried to do in this exchange was work out between
these people and the parks themselves to have a true exchange. If we
went through the process of EIS statements and appraisal value, this
would never have happened. This is the way that we have worked
individually with a unique situation.
As I mentioned, Mr. Chairman, this bill passed the last time. There
is no money in this bill. In fact, if we really want an appraisal, I
think Anaktuvuk Pass got shortchanged. I hope the gentleman refers to
this later on down the road.
Mr. Chairman, this is a good piece of legislation.
It should be passed and it should become law today. Mr. Chairman, I
thank the gentleman for yielding to me.
Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Chairman, let me conclude by saying I support
this bill. It is a good piece of legislation.
The CHAIRMAN. All time for general debate has expired. Pursuant to
the rule, the bill shall be considered under the 5-minute rule by
section, and each section shall be considered as read.
The Clerk will designate section 1.
The text of section 1 is as follows:
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''.
The CHAIRMAN. Are there any amendments to section 1?
If not, the Clerk will designate section 2.
The text of section 2 is as follows:
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.
The CHAIRMAN. Are there any amendments to section 2?
If not, the Clerk will designate Section 3. The text of Section 3 is
as follows:
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.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the
remainder of the bill be printed in the Record, and open to amendment
at any point.
Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Alaska?
There was no objection.
The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the remainder of the bill.
The text of the remainder of the bill is as follows:
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.).
The CHAIRMAN. Are there any amendments to the bill?
[[Page H1019]] If not, under the rule, the Committee rises.
Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr.
Upton) having assumed the chair, Mr. Hastert, chairman of the Committee
of the Whole House on the State of the Union, reported that that
Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 400) to
provide for the exchange of lands within Gates of the Arctic National
Park and Preserve, and for other purposes, pursuant to House Resolution
52, he reported the bill back to the House.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the rule, the previous question is
ordered.
The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was
read the third time.
The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the passage of the bill.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
they ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the
ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a
quorum is not present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Evidently a quorum is not present.
The Sergeant at Arms will notify absent Members.
This vote will be a 15-minute vote.
the vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 427,
nays 0, answered ``present'' 1, not voting 6, as follows:
[Roll No. 84]
YEAS--427
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Allard
Andrews
Archer
Armey
Bachus
Baesler
Baker (CA)
Baker (LA)
Baldacci
Ballenger
Barcia
Barr
Barrett (NE)
Barrett (WI)
Barton
Bass
Bateman
Beilenson
Bentsen
Bereuter
Berman
Bevill
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Bishop
Bliley
Blute
Boehlert
Boehner
Bonilla
Bonior
Bono
Borski
Boucher
Brewster
Browder
Brown (CA)
Brown (FL)
Brown (OH)
Brownback
Bryant (TN)
Bryant (TX)
Bunn
Bunning
Burr
Burton
Buyer
Callahan
Calvert
Camp
Canady
Cardin
Castle
Chabot
Chambliss
Chapman
Chenoweth
Christensen
Chrysler
Clayton
Clement
Clinger
Clyburn
Coble
Coleman
Collins (GA)
Collins (IL)
Collins (MI)
Combest
Condit
Conyers
Cooley
Costello
Cox
Coyne
Cramer
Crane
Crapo
Cremeans
Cubin
Cunningham
Danner
Davis
de la Garza
Deal
DeFazio
DeLauro
DeLay
Dellums
Deutsch
Diaz-Balart
Dickey
Dicks
Dingell
Dixon
Doggett
Dooley
Doolittle
Dornan
Doyle
Dreier
Duncan
Dunn
Durbin
Edwards
Ehlers
Ehrlich
Emerson
Engel
English
Ensign
Eshoo
Evans
Everett
Ewing
Farr
Fattah
Fawell
Fazio
Fields (LA)
Fields (TX)
Filner
Flake
Flanagan
Foglietta
Foley
Forbes
Ford
Fowler
Fox
Frank (MA)
Franks (CT)
Franks (NJ)
Frelinghuysen
Frisa
Frost
Funderburk
Furse
Gallegly
Ganske
Gejdenson
Gekas
Gephardt
Geren
Gibbons
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Gilman
Gonzalez
Goodlatte
Goodling
Gordon
Goss
Graham
Green
Greenwood
Gunderson
Gutierrez
Gutknecht
Hall (TX)
Hamilton
Hancock
Hansen
Harman
Hastert
Hastings (FL)
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Hayworth
Hefley
Hefner
Heineman
Herger
Hilleary
Hilliard
Hinchey
Hobson
Hoekstra
Hoke
Holden
Horn
Hostettler
Houghton
Hoyer
Hunter
Hutchinson
Hyde
Inglis
Istook
Jackson-Lee
Jacobs
Jefferson
Johnson (CT)
Johnson (SD)
Johnson, E.B.
Johnson, Sam
Johnston
Jones
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kasich
Kelly
Kennedy (MA)
Kennedy (RI)
Kennelly
Kildee
Kim
King
Kingston
Kleczka
Klink
Klug
Knollenberg
Kolbe
LaFalce
LaHood
Lantos
Largent
Latham
LaTourette
Laughlin
Lazio
Leach
Levin
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (GA)
Lewis (KY)
Lightfoot
Lincoln
Linder
Lipinski
Livingston
LoBiondo
Lofgren
Longley
Lowey
Lucas
Luther
Maloney
Manton
Manzullo
Markey
Martinez
Martini
Mascara
Matsui
McCarthy
McCollum
McCrery
McDade
McDermott
McHale
McHugh
McInnis
McIntosh
McKeon
McKinney
McNulty
Meehan
Meek
Menendez
Metcalf
Meyers
Mfume
Mica
Miller (CA)
Miller (FL)
Mineta
Minge
Mink
Moakley
Molinari
Mollohan
Montgomery
Moorhead
Moran
Morella
Myers
Myrick
Nadler
Neal
Nethercutt
Neumann
Ney
Norwood
Nussle
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Ortiz
Orton
Owens
Oxley
Packard
Pallone
Parker
Pastor
Paxon
Payne (NJ)
Payne (VA)
Pelosi
Peterson (FL)
Peterson (MN)
Petri
Pickett
Pombo
Pomeroy
Porter
Portman
Poshard
Pryce
Quillen
Quinn
Radanovich
Rahall
Ramstad
Rangel
Reed
Regula
Reynolds
Richardson
Riggs
Rivers
Roberts
Roemer
Rogers
Rohrabacher
Ros-Lehtinen
Rose
Roth
Roukema
Roybal-Allard
Royce
Rush
Sabo
Salmon
Sanders
Sanford
Sawyer
Saxton
Scarborough
Schaefer
Schiff
Schroeder
Schumer
Scott
Seastrand
Sensenbrenner
Serrano
Shadegg
Shaw
Shays
Shuster
Sisisky
Skaggs
Skeen
Skelton
Slaughter
Smith (MI)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Smith (WA)
Solomon
Souder
Spence
Spratt
Stearns
Stenholm
Stockman
Stokes
Studds
Stump
Stupak
Talent
Tanner
Tate
Tauzin
Taylor (MS)
Taylor (NC)
Tejeda
Thomas
Thompson
Thornberry
Thornton
Thurman
Tiahrt
Torkildsen
Torres
Torricelli
Towns
Traficant
Tucker
Upton
Velazquez
Vento
Visclosky
Volkmer
Vucanovich
Waldholtz
Walker
Walsh
Wamp
Ward
Waters
Watt (NC)
Watts (OK)
Waxman
Weldon (FL)
Weldon (PA)
Weller
White
Whitfield
Wicker
Williams
Wilson
Wise
Wolf
Woolsey
Wyden
Wynn
Yates
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
Zeliff
Zimmer
ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--1
Coburn
NOT VOTING--6
Bartlett
Becerra
Clay
Hall (OH)
Murtha
Stark
{time} 1728
Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania changed his vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
So the bill was passed.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________