[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 31 (Friday, March 9, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S2128]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. MURKOWSKI:
  S. 506. A bill to amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, to 
provide for a land exchange between the Secretary of Agriculture and 
the Huna Totem Corporation, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise to introduce legislation today 
on behalf of the Huna Totem Corporation and the residents of Hoonah, 
Alaska.
  This bill would require the Huna Totem Corporation to convey 
ownership of approximately 1,999 acres of land to the United States 
Forest Service. In exchange for these lands the Huna Totem Corporation 
will be allowed to select other lands readily accessible to Hoonah in 
order to fulfill their ANCSA entitlement. This legislation also 
requires the exchange of lands to be of equal value and provides for 
additional compensation if needed. Lastly, the legislation requires 
that any potential timber harvested from land acquired by Huna Totem 
Corporation not be available for export.
  The city of Hoonah is located in Southeast Alaska on the northeast 
part of Chichagoff Island. Hoonah has been the home of the Huna people 
since the last advance of the great ice masses into Glacier Bay, 
forcing the Huna people to look for new homes. Since the Huna people 
had traditionally used the Hoonah area each summer as a subsistence 
harvesting area, it was natural for them to settle in the area now 
called Hoonah. The community has a population of approximately 918 
residents and is located forty miles from Juneau; Alaska's capital 
city.
  Within the city of Hoonah is located the Huna Totem Corporation, an 
Alaska Native Corporation formed pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims 
Settlement Act, ANCSA. Huna Totem is the largest Tlingit Indian Village 
Corporation in Southeast Alaska. Under the terms of ANCSA each village 
corporation had to select lands within the core township or townships 
in which all or part of the Native village is located.
  In 1975, Huna Totem filed its ANCSA land selections within the two 
mile radius of the city of Hoonah as mandated by ANCSA. Since the 
community of Hoonah is located along the shoreline at the base of 
Hoonah Head Mountain, the surrounding lands are steep hillsides, 
cliffs, or are designated watershed for the municipal water sources. 
Most of the acres, approximately 1,999, of this land are not suitable 
for economic purposes due to the topography and watershed limitations.
  Therefore in order for the Huna Totem Corporation to receive full 
economic benefit of the lands promised to them under ANCSA, and for the 
city of Hoonah to protect its watershed, alternative lands must be 
sought for Huna Totem to seek revenue from.
  The legislation I am offering today would achieve these goals. By 
authorizing a land exchange between the Huna Totem Corporation and the 
U.S. Forest Service the residents of Hoonah will be able to fully 
recognize the benefits promised under the Alaska Native Claims 
Settlement Act.
                                 ______