[Senate Report 105-100]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 195
105th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE

 1st Session                                                    105-100
_______________________________________________________________________


 
               KAKE TRIBAL CORPORATION LAND EXCHANGE ACT

                                _______
                                

                October 7, 1997.--Ordered to be printed

_______________________________________________________________________


  Mr. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            ADDITIONAL VIEWS

                         [To accompany S. 1159]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred to the bill (S. 1159) having considered the same, 
reports favorably thereon with an amendment and recommends that 
the bill as amended do pass.
    The amendment is as follows:
    Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu 
thereof the following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Kake Tribal Corporation Land 
Exchange Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF SETTLEMENT ACT.

    The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (Pub. L. 92-203, December 
18, 1971, 85 Stat. 688, 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), as amended, is further 
amended by adding at the end thereof:

``SEC. KAKE TRIBAL CORPORATION LAND EXCHANGE.

    ``(a) General.--The Secretary of Agriculture in accordance with the 
equal value provisions of section 22(f) shall convey to the Kake Tribal 
Corporation the Federal land as described in subsection (c).
    ``(b) Title to Surface and Subsurface.--Subject to valid existing 
rights and easements, the Secretary shall, no later than the deadline 
specified in (c)(2) of this section, convey to Kake Tribal Corporation 
title to the surface estate in the land described in subsection (c)(2) 
and convey to Sealaska Corporation title to the subsurface estate in 
that land.
    ``(c) Description and Deadlines.--The land to be conveyed under 
this section is in the Copper River Meridian and is further described 
as follows:
          ``(1) the surface and subsurface estates to the municipal 
        watershed land to be conveyed by Kake Tribal Corporation and 
        Sealaska to the United States no later than 90 days after the 
        effective date of this section is shown on the map dated 
        September 1, 1997, and labeled Attachment A, and is described 
        as follows:

                    Municipal Watershed--T56S, R72E

                Section                               Approximate acres
                13.............................................      82
                23.............................................     118
                24.............................................     635
                25.............................................     640
                26.............................................     346
                34.............................................       9
                35.............................................     349
                36.............................................     248
                                                                 ------

                Approximate Total..............................   2,427
                                                                 ======

          ``(2) the surface and subsurface estates to the land to be 
        conveyed to Kake Tribal Corporation and Sealaska by the 
        Secretary of Agriculture shall be lands in the Hamilton Bay and 
        Saginaw Bay areas and shall be conveyed within 180 days after 
        the conveyance of lands in subsection (c)(1); and are to be 
        selected from the lands depicted on the maps dated September 1, 
        1997, and labeled Attachments B and C.
    ``(d) Management of Watershed.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall 
enter into a Memorandum of Agreement with the City of Kake, Alaska to 
provide for management of the municipal watershed.
    ``(e) Timber Manufacturing; Export Restriction.--Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, timber harvested from land conveyed to Kake 
Tribal Corporation under this Act is not available for export as 
unprocessed logs from Alaska, nor may Kake Tribal Corporation sell, 
trade, exchange, substitute, or otherwise convey that timber to any 
person for the purpose of exporting that timber from the State of 
Alaska.
    ``(f) Relation to Other Requirements.--The land conveyed to Kake 
Tribal Corporation and Sealaska Corporation under this section shall be 
for all purposes, considered land conveyed under the Alaska Native 
Claims Settlement Act.
    ``(g) Maps.--The maps referred to 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, DC. The acreage cited in this section is approximate, and 
if a discrepancy arises between cited acreage and the land depicted on 
the specified maps the maps shall control. The maps do not constitute 
an attempt by the United States to convey State or private land.''.

                         Purpose of the Measure

    The purpose of S. 1159, as ordered reported, is to direct 
the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into an equal value 
exchange of lands and interests therein, in the Tongass 
National Forest with Kake Tribal Corporation and Sealaska 
Corporation.

                          Background and Need

    The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) authorized 
the transfer of 23,040 acres of land from the United States 
government to Kake Tribal Corporation.
    ANCSA required all village corporations to select all 
public land in the core township area. This core township area 
included the present day municipal watershed. Kake Tribal did 
not know that it would not be able to make economic use of the 
watershed in the future. During the 70's it was commonly 
assumed that logging in these watersheds would not be a problem 
as the Forest Service was allowing it at the time. Only after 
Kake made its selections under ANCSA did the problems caused by 
excessive logging in municipal watersheds and near anadromous 
fish streams become better understood.
    In the 1980's, Congress took measures to protect drinking 
water sources by amending legislation including the Safe 
Drinking Water Act which contains provisions such as the Sole 
Aquifer Program and the Well Head Protection Program to protect 
public water supplies. These protective measures were 
implemented long after Kake Tribal had selected lands in the 
municipal watershed area. Therefore, to provide Kake Tribal the 
opportunity to maximize the benefits from its ANCSA land 
selections and to protect the community watershed something 
needed to be done.
    To resolve this problem, S. 1159 would require the Kake 
Tribal Corporation to convey ownership of approximately 2,427 
acres of land used for the municipal watershed to the United 
States Forest Service. In exchange, the Kake Tribal Corporation 
will be allowed to select other lands in the Saginaw and 
Hamilton Bay areas. This legislation requires this exchange of 
lands, and interests therein, to be of equal value. The 
legislation also directs the Secretary of Agriculture to enter 
into a Memorandum of Agreement with the City of Kake for the 
management of the watershed. Lastly, the legislation requires 
that any timber harvested from land acquired by Kake Tribal 
Corporation not be available for export.

                          Legislative History

    S. 1159 was introduced on September 10, 1997, by Senator 
Murkowski. The Full Committee held a hearing on S. 1159 on 
September 17, 1997. At the business meeting on September 24, 
1997, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 
1159, as amended, favorable reported.

           Committee Recommendations and Tabulation of Votes

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open 
business session on September 24, 1997, by a unanimous voice 
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 
1159, if amended as described herein.

                          Committee Amendments

    During the consideration of S. 1159, the Committee adopted 
an amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by Senator 
Murkowski. In addition to numerous clarifying, technical and 
conforming changes, the bill was reported with an amendment 
assuring the Sealaska subsurface estate will be transferred to 
the United States in conjunction with the Kake Tribal surface 
estate. Additionally, the amendment clarifies that the values 
of the lands and interests to be exchanged be equal.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

    Section 1--Short Title.--This section states the Short 
Title of the S. 1159 to be the ``Kake Tribal Corporation Land 
Exchange Act''.
    Section 2--Amendment of Settlement Act.--Section 2(a) 
directs the Secretary of Agriculture, in accordance with the 
equal value provision of Section 22(f) of ANCSA to convey to 
Kake Tribal Corporation lands as described in subsection (c) of 
the legislation. Section 2(b) directs the Secretary to convey 
to Kake Tribal Corporation the surface estate and to Sealaska 
Corporation the subsurface estate of the lands described in 
subsection (c)(2) of the legislation. Section 2(c)(1) directs 
that within 90 days after enactment the surface and subsurface 
interests owned by Kake Tribal and Sealaska Corporation are to 
be conveyed to the Secretary. This section also contains a 
legal description of those lands along with a reference to maps 
showing the municipal watershed. Section 2(c)(2) requires that 
within 180 days after the lands described in Section 2(c)(1) 
have been conveyed to the Secretary, the Secretary shall convey 
the surface estate to Kake Tribal Corporation and the 
subsurface estate to Sealaska Corporation in lands selected by 
Kake Tribal Corporation from the area depicted on the map 
described in this section. Section 2(d) directs the Secretary 
to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement with the city of Kake, 
Alaska to provide for management of the municipal watershed 
described herein. Section 2(e) requires that any timber 
harvested from the lands conveyed to Kake Tribal Corporation 
under this section not be available for the purpose of 
exporting that timber from the state of Alaska. This section 
also prohibits any party to which Kake Tribal Corporation may 
sell, trade, exchange, substitute, or convey any of the timber 
from the lands it receives under this section from using the 
timber for the purpose of export. Section 2(f) requires the 
land conveyed to Kake Tribal Corporation and Sealaska 
Corporation to be for all purposes, considered land conveyed 
under ANCSA. Section 2(g) directs the maps referred to in this 
section to be maintained on file in the Office of the Chief, 
Forest Service, and in the Office of the Secretary of the 
Interior, Washington, D.C. Should a discrepancy arise between 
cited acreage and lands on the maps, this section dictates that 
the maps control.

                   Cost and Budgetary Considerations

    The following estimate of the cost of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                   Washington, DC, October 6, 1997.
Hon. Frank H. Murkowski,
Chairman, Committee Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1159, 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 contact is Victoria V. 
Heid.
            Sincerely,
                                         June E. O'Neill, Director.
    Enclosure.

               Congressional budget office cost estimate

S. 1159--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 
could affect offsetting receipts (a form of 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. S. 1159 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
and would impose no significant costs on the budgets of state, 
local, or tribal governments.
    S. 1159 directs the Secretary of Agriculture to convey to 
the Kake Tribal Corporation and Sealaska Corporation the 
surface and subsurface estate of lands in the Hamilton Bay and 
Siginaw Bay areas within the Tongass National Forest, to be 
selected by the two corporations from federal lands depicted on 
the maps described in the bill dated September 1, 1997. The 
bill also provides that, in exchange, the Kake Tribal 
Corporation and Sealaska Corporation convey to the United 
States the surface and subsurface estates to about 2,400 acres 
of municipal watershed land. The bill would direct the 
Secretary of Agriculture to enter into a Memorandum of 
Agreement with the city of Kake, Alaska, to provide for 
management of the municipal watershed.
    S. 1159 does not specify the federal land to be conveyed to 
the Kake Tribal Corporation, but it does provide that the 
exchange be on the basis of equal value, unless the Secretary 
determines it is in the public interest to make the exchange 
for other than equal value. For the purpose of this estimate, 
CBO assumes that the lands exchanged under the bill will be of 
approximately equal value. Enacting this bill could decrease 
offsetting receipts receipts to the federal government because, 
according to the Forest Service, the federal lands to be 
conveyed to the corporation under the exchange would likely 
include areas with merchantable timber, whereas the land to be 
acquired from the corporation in the proposed exchange has been 
partially harvested, and that portion would thus be unavailable 
for further harvest (for at least several more years). 
Furthermore, the Forest Service would consider the acquired 
area unsuitable for future harvesting because it lies within 
the municipal watershed for the city of Kake. CBO estimates 
that any net increase in direct spending from foregoing timber 
receipts would total less then $50,000 per year over the 1998-
2007 period.
    Based on information from the Forest Service, CBO estimates 
that the agency could incur additional administrative costs to 
manage the municipal watershed, such as upgrading some roads, 
obliterating and revegetating other roads, and surveying the 
area. However, we estimate that such costs would total less 
than $500,000 per year, subject to appropriation of the 
necessary amounts.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Victoria V. 
Heid. This estimate was Approved by Paul N. Van de Water, 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                      Regulatory Impact Evaluation

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out S. 1159. The bill is not a regulatory measure in 
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or 
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals 
and businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of S. 1159, as ordered reported.

                        Executive Communications

    On September 25, 1997, the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources requested legislative reports from the Department of 
Agriculture and the Office of Management and Budget setting 
forth Executive agency recommendations on S. 1159. These 
reports had not been received at the time the report on S. 1159 
was filed. When the reports become available, the Chairman will 
request that they be printed in the Congressional Record for 
the advice of the Senate. The testimony provided by the Forest 
Service at the Committee hearing follows:

    Statement of Eleanor Towns, Director of Lands, Forest Service, 
                       Department of Agriculture

    Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for 
the opportunity to discuss S. 1159 with you. I am Eleanor 
Towns, the national director of the lands program for the 
Forest Service. I am accompanied today by James B. Snow, Deputy 
Assistant General Counsel, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
    S. 1159 would amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 
(ANCSA) to require the Secretary of Agriculture to convey 
Federal land in the Tongass National Forest to the Kake Tribal 
Corporation, Huna Totem Corporation, and Sealaska Corporation 
within 90 days of enactment, in exchange for surface interests 
in certain land within the townships of Kake and Hoonah. The 
Administration strongly opposes enactment of both bills.
    This bill sets unacceptable precedents by reopening native 
entitlements under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 
(ANCSA) and by enabling village corporations to exchange lands 
they selected under ANCSA for more valuable Federal land. Both 
bills direct land exchanges that are not in the public 
interest.

                 ancsa effected an equitable settlement

    The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) granted 
over 200 village corporations rights to select public lands for 
a variety of uses. Each corporation was required to select the 
public lands within the township in which the village is 
located. Any remaining lands needed to complete a village 
corporation's entitlement were to be selected from adjacent 
townships withdrawn for selection. Section 16 of ANCSA entitled 
each of ten village corporations in Southeast Alaska, including 
those from Kake Tribal and Huna Totem Corporation, to select 
23,040 acres of public land in contiguous and reasonably 
compact tracts.
    ANCSA provided each village corporation with management 
control over land in the core township immediately around the 
village. ANCSA did not require or contemplate that all land 
conveyed to village corporations be suitable for development. 
Nor did it require or contemplate a Federal responsibility to 
maximizefinancial returns to the village and regional 
corporations from the lands they selected.
    If S. 1159 is enacted, any of the over 200 village 
corporations could argue that they too were entitled to 
exchange land they were required by law to select under ANCSA 
for more valuable Federal land. Setting this precedent would 
severely disrupt Federal land management throughout Alaska with 
significant costs and consequences for all of the American 
taxpayers. ANCSA was a final settlement and, as such, 
represented many trade-offs and compromises. Bills such as 
those before us threaten to unravel the settlement through 
piece-meal amendments.
    In addition, the lands that Kake has identified for 
conveyance to them were not identified and withdrawn under 
ANCSA for selection by the corporation, and we are concerned 
that future claims by other village corporations would 
potentially seek to use a similar procedure to acquire lands 
not prescribed by ANCSA. In the long run, these types of 
exchanges could transfer vast wealth from the public to private 
corporations without equal value consideration to the United 
States.

               land exchanges not in the public interest

    Mr. Chairman, we do not believe that the land exchanges 
directed in S. 1159 is in the public interest. The primary 
reason the Forest Service pursues land exchanges is to provide 
more efficient management of a forest through consolidation of 
existing federal ownership and to dispose of isolated parcels 
that are uneconomical to manage or where further consolidation 
is not anticipated. These bills are in direct conflict with 
these goals.
    A premise in all public land law is that exchanges should 
be based on equal value, not acre-for-acre as is proposed by 
these bills. It is common sense that the American public should 
get back something of equal value to what it gives up. In S. 
1159 and S. 1158, Kake Tribal Corporation and Huna Totem 
Corporation would receive prime timber lands from the Federal 
government, but in return, some of the land that the Federal 
government would be receiving lands has already been cutover.
    Another problem with the exchanges directed by these bills 
concerns the subsurface estate. Under ANCSA, Sealaska 
Corporation received the subsurface estate underlying village 
corporation selections in southeast Alaska. Under the bills, 
Sealaska would not exchange its rights underlying the areas 
conveyed to the United States but would acquire all the 
additional subsurface underlying the lands conveyed to Kake 
Tribal Corporation and Huna Totem Corporation. This would 
create a split estate in the areas that would be conveyed to 
the Federal government with the Federal government owning the 
surface and Sealaska Corporation owning the subsurface. Because 
of the many management problems engendered by split estates, 
USDA policy in exchanges it to require the exchange of both the 
surface and subsurface. The bills would result in a 4,426-acre 
windfall of additional subsurface estate in the Tongass 
National Forest for Sealaska Corporation and would not be in 
the public interest.
    Section 22(f) of ANCSA authorizes equal value exchanges in 
Alaska between the Federal government and Native corporations. 
In 1976, that authority was amended to allow for departures 
from equal value when the appropriate Secretary determined it 
to be ``in the public interest'' primarily in response to the 
difficulty of appraising land in Alaska where comparable sale 
data was sparse. However, the Forest Service's consistent 
administrative application of section 22(f) is to require equal 
value exchanges, with ambiguities in valuation permitted only 
where a demonstrable federal interest would be advanced by an 
exchange. No federal interest would be advanced by S. 1159 or 
S. 1158.
    Mr. Chairman, now let me specifically address our concerns 
about S. 1159.

S. 1159, a bill ``To Amend ANCSA regarding Kake Tribal Corporation land 
        exchange''

    S. 1159 requires that the Secretary of Agriculture convey 
Federal lands in the Tongass National Forest to Kake Tribal 
Corporation and Sealaska Corporation within 90 days of 
enactment in exchange for surface interests in lands in the 
township of Kake.
    Under S. 1159, the Kake Tribal Corporation would reconvey 
the surface interest in approximately 2,427 acres of land in 
Kake township to the United States, but the subsurface estate 
in these lands would be retained by Sealaska Corporation. In 
return, Kake Corporation would receive an equal number of acres 
of prime commercial timber land. This proposal mandating a 
numerically equal-acre exchange gives Kake Tribal Corporation a 
tremendous windfall.
    The shareholders of Kake Tribal Corporation have derived 
significant benefits from the land the Corporation now wants to 
convey back to the United States, and will continue to do so 
even if no further development occurs on this land. Much of the 
area has been roaded and operable timber on the tract has been 
harvested by the Corporation. In addition, the land comprises 
part of Kake's municipal watershed, which provides clean water 
for the village and for a fish hatchery and fish processing 
facilities owned by Kake Tribal Corporation. Together, these 
facilities represent a significant share of the village's 
economy.
    S. 1159 directs the return from private to Federal 
ownership of lands needed as a municipal watershed based on the 
false premise that protection of municipal watersheds is a 
Federal responsibility. It is not.
    The recent Revision of the Tongass Land Management Plan 
expressly discourages the acquisition of lands in municipal 
watersheds in its management prescriptions for land exchanges. 
This prescription clearly reflects the principle, practiced by 
the State of Alaska and many communities, that communities 
should control their own municipal watershed.
    We see no compelling reason that the Federal government 
should re-acquire the property and manage it for local 
watershed purposes. The Forest Service does not have the staff 
or the budget to serve as the municipal water managers for Kake 
or any other community. To become municipal watershed managers 
for as many as 200 villages in Alaska would take considerable 
investment of money. We believe that our energies would be 
better spent in our mission areas.
    Section 3(d) of S. 1159 directs the Forest Service to enter 
into a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Kake to 
resolve our objection to managing a municipal watershed. This 
arrangement, however, engenders problems of its own. As a 
Federal agency we would oppose turning over surface management 
of a tract of land to another entity to manage, given the 
different laws under which we operate. The residents of Kake 
have several mechanisms for influencing how Kake Tribal 
Corporation manages its land in the municipal watershed. We 
believe a memorandum of understanding between the city and the 
corporation over existing ownerships would be more appropriate.
    Should the lands be conveyed to Federal ownership, existing 
developments within the watershed lands would have to be 
authorized to Kake Tribal Corporation under special use permits 
and potentially be modified to meet federal standards. These 
include the Kake Tribal Corporation fish hatchery, a dam 
(reservoir), a pipeline, and a water tank. Also included are an 
access road and powerline. Forest Service administration of 
such developments and permits is undesirable. Finally, no 
provision has been made to assure road right-of-way access to 
lands to be acquired from Kake Tribal Corporation. Currently, 
these lands are used by local residents for a variety 
subsistence and recreational purposes. Should the Forest 
Service acquire these lands, access would be essential.
    Most of the land identified for conveyance to Kake Tribal 
Corporation from Federal ownership has not been harvested. 
Where harvesting has taken place near these National Forest 
System lands, the Federal Government has significant investment 
in infrastructure including the construction of several miles 
of permanent roads in which as much as $1 million has been 
invested. Additionally, several hundred thousand dollars have 
been invested in improving these second-growth timber stands. 
All of these Federal investments would facilitate the 
Corporation's development of the timber resources on the land 
to be conveyed by the United States under this bill. We believe 
the exchange required in S. 1159 would result in a windfall to 
Kake Tribal Corporation.
    We are also concerned about the effects that enactment of 
S. 1159 would have on the timber program on the Tongass 
National Forest. For instance, if the lands near Saginaw Bay on 
Kuiu Island are transferred to Kake Tribal Corporation, 
existing timber sales currently being planned in the area by 
the Forest Service would be disrupted. Approximately 5 MMBF is 
currently under contract and would be jeopardized, and 
approximately 9 MMBF would be reduced from the current sale 
program planned through the year 2006. Considerable time and 
expense would be required to modify the timber sale plans. The 
existing log transfer facility at Saginaw Bay would be needed 
for both Federal and Corporation timber sales which would 
impose significant log-accountability problems. This would 
isolate considerable National Forest System land on which 
timber sales are programmed and planned.
    The lands in Saginaw Bay are also highly valued for 
subsistence hunting. Both Saginaw Creek and Straight Creek in 
Saginaw Bay are major salmon streams, supporting subsistence 
and commercial fishing.
    There are also several technical and administrative 
problems with the legislation. For example, it would be 
virtually impossible to convey the Federal lands involved 
within 90 days of enactment of the bill. It is not possible to 
complete a land survey in that amount of time, even under 
contract. Also, determination of values requires considerable 
examination and evaluation, which would exceed the 90 days 
stipulated in the language. There would also be a high cost in 
surveying both the Federal and private lands being exchanged. 
Recent local estimate of cost is $20,000 per mile of boundary. 
A rough estimate based on previous proposals could cost the 
agency roughly $500,000.
    Another issue is whether section 14(c)(3) of ANCSA, which 
requires the conveyance to a municipal corporation of the 
surface estate of any lands ``. . . on which the Native village 
is located as much additional land as is necessary for 
community expansion, and appropriate rights-of-way for public 
use, and other foreseeable needs,'' encompasses some portion of 
the watershed lands at issue in S. 1159. Kake Tribal 
Corporation has not filed its 14(c) reconveyance plan with the 
Bureau of Land Management.
    Finally, existing public uses of the Tongass National 
Forest could be compromised due to the lack of access through 
lands being conveyed to Kake Tribal Corporation.

                  ADDITIONAL VIEWS OF SENATOR BUMPERS

    During consideration of S. 1159, the Committee adopted an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute that requires that the 
values of the lands and interests to be exchanged under this 
bill be equal. As a result, I voted to report the bill from the 
Committee. However, I have two additional concerns that are not 
adequately addressed in the Committee reported bill.
    First, the Forest Service is concerned that the bill is a 
bad precedent. I agree. S. 1159 requires the Forest Service to 
enter into a land exchange agreement with Kake Tribal 
Corporation, a village corporation, in order to return to 
Federal ownership lands within the township immediately 
surrounding the village that are important for municipal 
watershed purposes. In return, the village corporation will 
receive other lands on the Tongass National Forest that it can 
harvest. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), 
Public Law 92-203, granted more than 200 village corporations 
rights to select public lands for a variety of uses. Each 
corporation was required to select, as part of its entitlement, 
all public land within the township in which the village is 
located. While ANCSA intended a village corporation to control 
lands within the immediately surrounding township, it did not 
require or anticipate that all lands conveyed to village 
corporations be suitable for development. The Forest Service 
believes that enactment of these bills will likely result in 
additional village corporations requesting to return lands 
around their village that they were required by law to select 
pursuant to ANCSA in order to secure land currently in Federal 
ownership that is more economically viable. Ultimately, S. 1159 
has the potential to undo settled Alaska Native claims as more 
and more villages seek to turn lands back to the federal 
government in exchange for more desirable lands elsewhere in 
the state.
    Second, the Forest Service opposes S. 1159 because it does 
not believe that enactment of the bill will result in a 
mutually beneficial exchange. I agree. Land exchanges are 
generally pursued where both parties derive benefits. The 
Forest Service asserts that no compelling reason exists for the 
Forest Service to re-acquire lands in order to manage them for 
local watershed purposes. In fact, the recent revision of the 
Tongass Land Use Management Plan expressly discourages the 
acquisition of lands containing municipal watersheds due to 
management difficulties (lack of staff and equipment as well as 
the need to prepare special use permits for existing 
developments on the lands such as dams, pipelines, and water 
tanks). While the fact that the exchange contemplated under 
this bill must be equal value rather than acre for acre is a 
very positive step, the bill still has serious flaws that 
should be addressed.

                                                      Dale Bumpers.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
the bill S. 1159, as ordered reported, are shown as follows 
(existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black 
brackets, new matter is printed in italic, existing law in 
which no change is proposed is shown in roman):

 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (43 U.S.C. 1601, et seq.) 
                               as Amended

SEC.   . KAKE TRIBAL CORPORATION LAND EXCHANGE.

    (a) General.--The Secretary of Agriculture in accordance 
with the equal value provisions of section 22(f) shall convey 
to the Kake Tribal Corporation the Federal land as described in 
subsection (c).
    (b) Title to Surface and Subsurface.--Subject to valid 
existing rights and easements, the Secretary shall, no later 
than the deadline specified in (c)(2) of this section, convey 
to Kake Tribal Corporation title to the surface estate in the 
land described in subsection (c)(2) and convey to Sealaska 
Corporation title to the subsurface estate in that land.
    (c) Description and Deadlines.--The land to be conveyed 
under this section is in the Copper River Meridian and is 
further described as follows:
          (1) the surface and subsurface estates to the 
        municipal watershed land to be conveyed by Kake Tribal 
        Corporation and Sealaska to the United States no later 
        than 90 days after the effective date of this section 
        is shown on the map dated September 1, 1997, and 
        labeled Attachment A, and is described as follows:


Municipal Watershed--T56S, R72E

        Section                                        Approximate acres
        13........................................................    82
        23........................................................   118
        24........................................................   635
        25........................................................   640
        26........................................................   346
        34........................................................     9
        35........................................................   349
        36........................................................   248
                        -----------------------------------------------------------------
                        ________________________________________________
        Approximate Total......................................... 2,427
                        =================================================================
                        ________________________________________________
          (2) the surface and subsurface estates to the land to 
        be conveyed to Kake Tribal Corporation and Sealaska by 
        the Secretary of Agriculture shall be lands in the 
        Hamilton Bay and Saginaw Bay areas and shall be 
        conveyed within 180 days after the conveyance of lands 
        in subsection (c)(1); and are to be selected from the 
        lands depicted on the maps dated September 1, 1997, and 
        labeled Attachments B and C.
    (d) Management of Watershed.--The Secretary of Agriculture 
shall enter into a Memorandum of Agreement with the City of 
Kake, Alaska to provide for management of the municipal 
watershed.
    (e) Timber Manufacturing; Export Restriction.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, timber harvested 
from land conveyed to Kake Tribal Corporation under this Act is 
not available for export as unprocessed logs from Alaska, nor 
may Kake Tribal Corporation sell, trade, exchange, substitute, 
or otherwise convey that timber to any person for the purpose 
of exporting that timber from the State of Alaska.
    (f) Relation to Other Requirements.--The land conveyed to 
Kake Tribal Corporation and Sealaska Corporation under this 
section shall be for all purposes, considered land conveyed 
under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
    (g) Maps.--The maps referred to 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, DC. The acreage cited in this section is 
approximate, and if a discrepancy arises between cited acreage 
and the land depicted on the specified maps the maps shall 
control. The maps do not constitute an attempt by the United 
States to convey State or private land.

                                
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