[House Report 105-783]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



105th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     105-783
_______________________________________________________________________


 
               KAKE TRIBAL CORPORATION LAND EXCHANGE ACT

                                _______
                                

October 6, 1998.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

_______________________________________________________________________


  Mr. Young of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 2756]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 2756) to authorize an exchange of property between the 
Kake Tribal Corporation and the Sealaska Corporation and the 
United States, having considered the same, report favorably 
thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as 
amended do pass.
    The amendment (stated in terms of the page and line number 
of the introduced bill) is as follows:
    Page 2, line 7, strike ``the Interior'' and insert 
``Agriculture''.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purpose of H.R. 2756 is to authorize an exchange of 
property between the Kake Tribal Corporation and the Sealaska 
Corporation and the United States.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    H.R. 2756 provides for a land exchange between Kake Tribal 
Corporation (KTC) and the United States. In addition, Sealaska 
Corporation owns the subsurface estate of KTC's lands; the 
subsurface estate is exchanged in the same manner as the 
surface estate under this bill. The exchange would be on an 
acre-for-acre basis affecting approximately 2,427 acres of land 
owned by KTC on the watershed of the City of Kake, and an equal 
amount of federal land in the vicinity of Kake.
    KTC is a Native village corporation organized pursuant to 
the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). It was 
entitled to select and acquire in private ownership 23,040 
acres of public land to settle the aboriginal land claims of 
Natives from Kake, located in the southeast panhandle of 
Alaska. ANCSA required that KTC's land selection include the 
core township and land contiguous to the township in which the 
village of Kake is located; as a result, KTC owns land on over 
2400 acres of the Gunnuk Creek watershed of the City of Kake. 
The timber on KTC's Gunnuk Creek watershed property may be 
harvested.
    A significant number of KTC shareholders and non-
shareholders who are residents of Kake do not want the Gunnuk 
Creek timber to be harvested out of concern for the watershed, 
which supplies the city's drinking water. KTC has complied with 
their wishes, but at the same time, argues that it is under 
pressure to make economic use of its property to benefit its 
shareholders. H.R. 2756 was requested by KTC and local 
residents to resolve this dilemma.
    H.R. 2756 authorizes an exchange between KTC and the United 
States. Under the legislation, KTC would transfer its Gunnuk 
Creek property (about 2,427 acres) to the United States in 
exchange for an equal number of acres away from the watershed 
in the Tongass National Forest, in the vicinity of Kake. With 
this exchange, KTC can harvest timber for the benefit of its 
shareholders without causing further concern over the watershed 
lands.

                            Committee Action

    H.R. 2756 was introduced on October 28, 1997, by 
Congressman Don Young (R-AK). The bill was referred to the 
Committee on Resources. On February 25, 1998, the Committee 
held a hearing on H.R. 2756, where testimony was received from 
the Administration, KTC, and an environmental organization from 
southeast Alaska. On August 5, 1998, the Full Resources 
Committee met to consider H.R. 2756. An amendment making a 
technical correction was offered by Chairman Young, and adopted 
by unanimous consent. The bill as amended was then ordered 
favorably reported by voice vote to the House of 
Representatives.

            Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations

    With respect to the requirements of clause 2(l)(3) of rule 
XI of the rules of the House of Representatives, and clause 
2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, 
the Committee on Resources' oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.

                   Constitutional Authority Statement

    Article I, section 8, and Article IV, section 3 of the 
Constitution of the United States grant Congress the authority 
to enact H.R. 2756.

                        Cost of the Legislation

    Clause 7(a) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the 
Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out 
H.R. 2756. However, clause 7(d) of that Rule provides that this 
requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in 
its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill 
prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office 
under section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

                     Compliance With House Rule XI

    1. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(3)(B) of 
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, H.R. 
2756 does not contain any new budget authority, credit 
authority, or an increase or decrease in tax expenditures. 
According to the Congressional Budget Office, enactment of this 
bill would affect offsetting receipts (which are classified as 
direct spending), but any increase in direct spending would be 
less than $500,000 per year over the 1999-2003 time period.
    2. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(3)(D) of 
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee has received no report of oversight findings and 
recommendations from the Committee on Government Reform and 
Oversight on the subject of H.R. 2756.
    3. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(3)(C) of 
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the 
Committee has received the following cost estimate for H.R. 
2756 from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office.

               Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                   Washington, DC, August 26, 1998.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2756, the Kake 
Tribal Corporation Land Exchange Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts for this 
estimate are Victoria V. Heid (for federal costs) and Leo Lex 
(for the state and local impact).
            Sincerely,
                                          Paul Van de Water
                                   (For June E. O'Neill, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 2756--Kake Tribal Corporation Land Exchange Act

    CBO estimates that enacting this bill would not have a 
significant impact on the federal budget. Because the bill 
would affect offsetting receipts (which are classified as 
direct spending), pay-as-you-go procedures would apply, but we 
estimate that any increase in direct spending would total less 
than $500,000 per year. H.R. 2756 contains no intergovernmental 
or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates 
Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no significant costs on the 
budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
    H.R. 2756 provides for an exchange of surface and 
subsurface lands between the federal government and the Kake 
Tribal Corporation and Sealaska Corporation. If the two 
corporations convey to the United States the surface and 
subsurface estates of about 2,425 acres of land specified in 
the bill, the Secretary of Agriculture would be required to 
convey to the corporations in exchange the surface and 
subsurface estate of about 2,425 acres of federal land within 
the Tongass National Forest. The bill provides that the 
exchange would be made without any consideration other than 
that provided for in the bill. According to the Forest Service, 
the federal land that would be conveyed under H.R. 2756 has a 
higher fair market value than the land that would be acquired.
    Because the federal budget is on a cash basis, CBO 
estimates the budgetary impact of such land exchanges on the 
basis of estimated changes in the government's cash flow. CBO 
estimates that enacting this bill would result in a loss of 
offsetting receipts to the federal government because, 
according to the Forest Service, the federal land that would be 
conveyed to the corporations under the exchange includes areas 
with timber that is salable under an existing timber contract. 
In contrast, the land that would be acquired is unlikely to 
generate offsetting receipts over the next five years. Past 
logging activities have limited the resources available for 
harvesting. In addition, the Forest Service considers much of 
the area unsuitable for harvesting because it lies within the 
municipal watershed for the city of Kake. CBO estimates that 
the net increase in direct spending resulting from this 
exchange would total less than $500,000 a year over the 1999-
2003 period.
    According to the Forest Service, the agency would incur 
additional administrative costs to manage the municipal 
watershed, including upgrading some roads, obliterating and 
revegetating other roads, and surveying the area. Based on 
information from the Forest Service, CBO estimates that such 
costs would total less than $500,000 a year, subject to 
appropriation of the necessary amounts.
    H.R. 2756 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined 
in UMRA and would impose no significant costs on the budgets of 
state, local, or tribal governments. In any event, the costs to 
the tribal corporations for transferring ownership would be 
voluntary. The state of Alaska may lose some revenue sharing 
from decreased timber sales, but CBO estimates this to be a 
minimal amount.
    On October 6, 1997, CBO prepared a cost estimate for S. 
1159, the Kake Tribal Corporation Land Exchange Act, as ordered 
reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources on September 24, 1997. H.R. 2756 is similar to S. 
1159, but H.R. 2756 more specifically identifies the federal 
land proposed for conveyance to the corporations. We do not 
expect that either bill will affect mandatory or discretionary 
spending by more than $500,000 a year.
    The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Victoria V. 
Heid (for federal costs) and Leo Lex (for the state and local 
impact). This estimate was approved by Paul N. Van de Water, 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                    Compliance With Public Law 104-4

    H.R. 2756 contains no unfunded mandates.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

    In compliance with clause 3 of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is 
printed in italic):

         SECTION 41 OF THE ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT

SEC. 41. KAKE TRIBAL CORPORATION PROPERTY EXCHANGE.

    (a) Authority for Exchange.--Upon transfer to the United 
States of all right, title, and interest of the Kake Tribal 
Corporation and the Sealaska Corporation in and to the property 
described in subsection (b)(1), the Secretary of Agriculture 
shall transfer--
          (1) to the Kake Tribal Corporation, subject to valid 
        existing rights, all right, title, and interest of the 
        United States in and to the surface estate of the 
        property described in subsection (b)(2); and
          (2) to the Sealaska Corporation, subject to valid 
        existing rights, all right, title, and interest of the 
        United States in and to the subsurface estate of the 
        property described in subsection (b)(2).
    (b) Property Descriptions.--
          (1) Property to be transferred to the united 
        states.--The property to be transferred to the United 
        States pursuant to subsection (a) is described as the 
        surface estate owned by the Kake Tribal Corporation and 
        the subsurface estate owned by the Sealaska 
        Corporation, of the approximately 2,427 acres depicted 
        on the map dated September 1, 1997, and labeled 
        ``Attachment A'', and further described as follows:

                         Copper River Meridian

                               T56S, R72E

    Sections 13, 23, 24, 25, 26, 34, 35, and 36.
          (2) Property to be transferred to kake tribal 
        corporation and sealaska corporation.--The property to 
        be transferred to the Kake Tribal Corporation and the 
        Sealaska Corporation pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) 
        of subsection (a) is the surface estate and the 
        subsurface estate, respectively, to the approximately 
        2,427 acres of Federal land depicted on the maps dated 
        September 1, 1997, and labeled ``Attachment B'' and 
        ``Attachment C'', and further described as follows:

                         Copper River Meridian

                               T57S, R74E

    Sections 18 and 19;

                         Copper River Meridian

                               T57S, R72E

    Sections 31 and 32;

                         Copper River Meridian

                               T58S, R71E

    Section 13; and

                         Copper River Meridian

                               T58S, R72E

    Sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 18, 19, and 20.
    (c) Maps and Legal Description on File.--The maps and the 
legal description of the property described in this section 
shall be maintained on file in the Office of the Chief, United 
States Forest Service and in the Office of the Secretary of the 
Interior, Washington, District of Columbia. The acreage cited 
in this section is approximate. If a discrepancy arises between 
the cited acreage and the acreage depicted on the maps, the 
maps shall control. The maps do not constitute an attempt by 
the United States to convey State or private property.
    (d) Consideration.--The transfers authorized by this 
section shall be made without consideration, except as provided 
in this section.
    (e) Relation to Other Sections.--The property transferred 
pursuant to this section shall be considered land conveyed 
under and shall be subject to the provisions of this Act.

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

    H.R. 2756 would allow Kake Tribal Corporation to swap about 
2,500 acres of lands in the watershed of the City of Kake, on 
an acre for acre basis, for non-contiguous, old-growth forest 
lands from the Tongass National Forest. As is the case with the 
proposed Huna exchange (H.R. 3088), the Administration opposes 
this exchange because it would establish an unwelcome precedent 
of reopening village corporation land entitlements established 
by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971.
    While protecting the watershed of the City of Kake from the 
impacts of clear-cut logging on private, corporate lands is an 
admirable goal, this is primarily a local land use matter which 
the State of Alaska should address. The State is entitled to 
select 104 million acres under the Alaska Statehood Act, 
including lands nearby the existing 23,040 acres owned by Kake 
Corporation. Rather than impose upon the Forest Service 
unwanted management responsibilities for the municipal 
watershed lands, and convey into private ownership additional 
Tongass National Forest lands to be logged, it would be 
preferable if the State of Alaska would engage Kake Tribal 
Corporation in a land exchange or other agreement which would 
protect the remaining uncut lands in the community watershed.

                                                     George Miller.

                                
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