[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 121 (Tuesday, October 3, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9702-S9703]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. MURKOWSKI:
  S. 3150. A bill to convey certain real property located in Tongass 
National Forest to Daniel J. Gross, Sr., and Douglas K. Gross, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.


                 the heritage land transfer act of 2000

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Heritage 
Land Transfer Act of 2000. This legislation, while inconsequential when 
compared to many of the issues we deal with in the U.S. Congress, is 
extremely important to two of my oldest constituents, Douglas and 
Daniel Gross. These two brothers along with the other members of the 
Gross family are amongst Alaska's earliest pioneers. These two brothers 
have spent over 80 years drawing their existence out of the harsh 
Southeastern Alaskan environment. Through all these years, they managed 
to raise their families and contributed to building the great State 
that I have the privilege of representing. I would also point out that 
Douglas and Daniel Gross served our Nation during World War II at its 
time of greatest need--now these two veterans need our help to right a 
wrong that has been vested upon them through no fault of their own.
  ``The Heritage Land Transfer Act of 2000'' directs the Forest Service 
to convey 160 acres to Daniel and Douglas Gross. This granting of clear 
title would fix a problem that has plagued the family for the past 20 
years. The need for this action arises from the fact that no records 
remain to substantial the family's claim that they homesteaded on 
Greens Point in the 1930's. Family homesteading records were destroyed 
when the Gross home burned to the ground in 1935-1936 and to make 
matters worse, the Forest Service is unable to locate any documentation 
to substantiate the Gross family claim. With neither title nor 
documentation, Doug and Dan Gross are unable to produce any legal 
record of ownership to the land their parents homesteaded. The paper 
records, however, are the only things missing. The Forest Service 
willingly acknowledges that a large body of evidence exists that 
clearly establishes the fact that the family built a home on Greens 
Point in the 1930's, that they grew and sold vegetables from this 
farmstead, and that they were good neighbors to many people caught out 
in our famous Alaskan storms. While the family and the Forest Service 
have searched in vain for written records, there is one piece of 
physical evidence to substantiate the family claim. On September 11, 
1989, Alaska State Senator Robin Taylor traveled to the Gross property 
on the Stikine River for the purpose of locating a witness tree which 
would provide objective proof to the Gross family claim of homestead. 
In a letter Senator Taylor sent to Richard Kohrt, Wrangell District 
Ranger, Tongass National Forest he wrote ``I was present when Mr. 
Bungy, United States Forest Service specialist, sawed and chopped open 
the large spruce tree which the Gross Brothers had identified from 
memory as being a witness tree. Mr. Bungy verified that the large blaze 
uncovered was of the exact age that coincided with the Gross claim. By 
counting the annual growth rings it coincided with the many affidavits 
and statements of witness about the Gross claim of homestead.''
  There is no question that the family settled on the Green Point 
property on the Stikine River in the 1930's. They raised all of their 
children on their property and were good friends to all who lived and 
worked throughout the region. I have in my possession many affidavits, 
each one testifying to the settlement of the Gross family along the 
Stikine River. I offer the following quotations typical of these 
testaments: ``In the early 1930's I spent a lot of time up the Stikine 
River at the Gross Ranch. They had a large two story home and a huge 
garden . . .'' ``I stayed with Mr. and Mrs. Bill Gross in the middle 
thirties. Bessie Gross took care of my brother Gilbert and I while my 
mother and father were out fishing, they had a house and garden on the 
river which everyone knows as the Gross place even to this day . . .'' 
``I stayed with Bessie Gross and Family during the late 1930's in their 
place up the river . . .'' And another from Mr. Harry Sundberg, a 
gillnet fisherman, used to fish in ``what was known locally as the 
Gross homestead.'' Mr. Sundberg goes on to say ``While most people 
during that period did not file on the land they occupied, I distinctly 
recall that our conversations included the fact that they had applied 
for their application to own property similar to Captain Lee, who owned 
the property directly south of them on the mainland.''
  The Homestead Act requires residency for a minimum of 3 years. These 
affidavits, and many others, verify the Gross families life on this 
property since the early 1930's. In a letter from the Department of 
Agriculture to Senator Stevens they write ``Even though it's clear the 
Gross family homesteaded on the property, there is no evidence or 
record that they completed the process to obtain title.'' Another 
letter from the Department of Agriculture states ``the Forest Service 
does not and has not refuted your claim that you and/or your family 
resided at Greens Point in the 1930's.'' An Alaska Magazine article 
written in 1984 references the ``Gross place'' along the Stikine River.
  The Homestead Act authorized the transfer of 160 acre parcels of 
federal land to private owners. The Gross Homestead is 160.8 acres. A 
tree, both Daniel and Douglas Gross remember being used as a survey 
marker when they were boys, was examined in 1989 and found to have a 
flat face blazed into the wood approximately 50 years

[[Page S9703]]

prior. This is not a coincidence. It is proof this land was surveyed 
when the family claims it was surveyed.
  This family has lived on, and made use of this land for 70 years. It 
is time for them to be named the legal title holders, and to complete 
the already started process of shuffling paper.
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