[House Report 106-899]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



106th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     106-899

======================================================================



 
                HUNA TOTEM CORPORATION LAND EXCHANGE ACT

                                _______
                                

 September 26, 2000.--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 S. 426]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill (S. 
426) 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, having considered the same, report favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purposes of S. 426 are 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.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    S. 426 provides for a land exchange between the Huna Totem 
Corporation, a Village Corporation in Southeast Alaska that was 
organized under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 
(ANCSA), and the United States.
    The Huna Totem Corporation of the City of Hoonah in 
Southeast Alaska was awarded lands pursuant to ANCSA. Some of 
these lands have significant timber resources, and the 
Corporation has been active in the timber industry because 
logging provides important economic benefits to its Native 
shareholders.
    A significant portion of Huna Totem's property lies on part 
of the local watershed and within view of the City because 
ANCSA mandated the Corporation's land selection to be within or 
adjacent to the core township enclosing the village. However, 
there is considerable controversy within Hoonah over 
potentially logging this property because of the proximity of 
the logging to the city and the watershed. Huna Totem would 
prefer to acquire land away from the City, and by extension 
away from the local controversy, through an equal-value land 
exchange with the United States.
    S. 426 resolves the local problem through an equal-value 
land exchange. Under the bill, the Corporation transfers 
approximately 2,000 acres of the watershed/viewshed lands to 
the United States in exchange for lands of an equal value and 
accessible to Hoonah, selected from areas specified in the 
bill. The lands conveyed to the United States under S. 426 are 
added to the Tongass National Forest. The bill also contains a 
provision prohibiting Huna Totem Corporation from exporting 
unprocessed logs from the new lands it acquires through the 
exchange.
    In the 105th Congress, the Committee on Resources held 
hearings on and reported a similar bill, H.R. 3088, providing 
for the same land exchange as that in S. 426. H.R. 3088 was not 
considered further.
    For additional information, please see Senate Report 106-
30.

                            Committee Action

    S. 426 was introduced on February 12, 1999, by Senator 
Frank Murkowski (R-AK). The bill passed the Senate with 
amendments on April 19, 1999, by unanimous consent. In the 
House of Representatives, the bill was referred to the 
Committee on Resources. On September 13, 2000, the Full 
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. No amendments 
were offered and the bill was ordered favorably reported by 
voice vote to the House of Representatives.

            Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII 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 this bill.

                    Compliance With House Rule XIII

    1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) 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 this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) 
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 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
    2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) 
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this 
bill 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 could affect offsetting receipts and result in an increase 
in direct spending of less than $500,000 a year, but that this 
``would not have a significant impact on the federal budget.''
    3. Government Reform Oversight Findings. Under clause 
3(c)(4) of rule XIII 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 on this bill.
    4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 
3(c)(3) of rule XIII 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 this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                Washington, DC, September 15, 2000.
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 S. 426, the Huna Totem 
Corporation Land Exchange Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan 
Carroll.
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

S. 426--Huna Totem Corporation Land Exchange Act

    CBO estimates that enacting S. 426 would not have a 
significant impact on the federal budget. Because the 
legislation could affect offsetting receipts (a credit against 
direct spending), pay-as-you-go procedures would apply, but we 
estimate that any increase in direct spending would total less 
than $500,000 a year. S. 426 contains no intergovernmental or 
private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates 
Reform Act and would impose no significant costs on the budgets 
of state, local, or tribal governments.
    S. 426 would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey 
the surface estate to certain federal lands in the Tongass 
National Forest to the Huna Totem Corporation, and also to 
convey the subsurface estate to such federal lands to the 
Sealaska Corporation. The lands to be conveyed would be 
selected by the two corporations from federal lands depicted on 
the map described in the legislation and dated September 1, 
1997. The legislation also provides that the Huna Totem 
Corporation and Sealaska convey to the United States 
approximately 2,000 acres of surface and subsurface estate.
    S. 426 does not specify the federal land to be conveyed to 
the Huna Totem Corporation, but it provides that the exchange 
be on the basis of equal value. Because the federal budget is 
on a cash basis, the budgetary impact of the land exchange is 
measured by its effect on the government's cash flow, such as 
changes in offsetting receipts from timber harvests. CBO 
expects that enacting this legislation could decrease 
offsetting receipts to the federal government. According to the 
Forest Service, the agency would generally consider the area 
acquired from the corporation to be unsuitable for future 
harvesting because it lies within the watershed and viewshed 
for the city of Hoonah. Some of the federal land that could be 
conveyed to the corporation under S. 426 currently does not 
generate federal timber receipts because it has been logged 
recently; however, a portion of the federal land that could be 
conveyed is not currently being harvested because it has been 
set aside as part of a conservation reserve under the Tongass 
National Forest management plan. According to the Forest 
Service, if the corporation harvested those areas following the 
exchange, then the agency would be obliged under the forest 
management plan to reserve for conservation another area of 
federal land within the Tongass National Forest that would 
otherwise be harvested under current law. We estimate that any 
resulting loss of timber receipts would be less than $500,000 a 
year over the 2001-2010 period.
    On March 11, 1999, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 
426, the Huna Totem Corporation Public Interest Land exchange 
Act, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources on March 4, 1999. The two versions of the 
legislation are nearly identical, and our estimates of their 
costs are the same.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll. 
This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                    compliance with public law 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                preemption of state, local or tribal law

    This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or 
tribal law.

          Change in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

    In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, as shown as follows (new matter is 
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

                  ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *



SEC. ____. HUNA TOTEM CORPORATION LAND EXCHANGE.

    (a) General.--In exchange for lands and interests therein 
described in subsection (b), the Secretary of Agriculture 
shall, subject to valid existing rights, convey to the Huna 
Totem Corporation the surface estate and to Sealaska 
Corporation the subsurface estate of the Federal lands 
identified by Huna Totem Corporation pursuant to subsection 
(c). The values of the lands and interests therein exchanged 
pursuant to this section shall be equal.
    (b) The surface estate to be conveyed by Huna Totem 
Corporation and the subsurface estate to be conveyed by 
Sealaska Corporation to the Secretary of Agriculture are the 
municipal watershed lands as shown on the map dated September 
1, 1997, and labeled attachment A, and are further described as 
follows:

       MUNICIPAL WATERSHED AND GREENBELT BUFFER T43S, R61E, C.R.M.

Portion of Section                  Approximate Acres
    16............................................................    2 
    21............................................................  610 
    22............................................................  227 
    23............................................................   35 
    26............................................................  447 
    27............................................................  400 
    33............................................................  202 
    34............................................................   76 
    Approximate total.............................................1,999.

    (c) Within ninety (90) days of the receipt by the United 
States of the conveyances of the surface estate and subsurface 
estate described in subsection (b), Huna Totem Corporation 
shall be entitled to identify lands readily assessible to the 
Village of Hoonah and, where possible, located on the road 
system to the Village of Hoonah, as depicted on the map dated 
September 1, 1997, and labeled Attachment B. Huna Totem 
Corporation shall notify the Secretary of Agriculture in 
writing which lands Huna Totem Corporation has identified.
    (d) Timing of Conveyance and Valuation.--The conveyance 
mandated by subsection (a) by the Secretary of Agriculture 
shall occur within ninety (90) days after the list of 
identified lands is submitted by Huna Totem Corporation 
pursuant to subsection (c).
    (e) Timber Manufacturing; Export Restriction.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, timber harvested 
from land conveyed to Huna Totem Corporation under this section 
shall not be exported as unprocessed logs from Alaska, nor may 
Huna Totem 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 
Huna Totem Corporation and Sealaska Corporation under this 
section shall be considered, for all purposes, 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, D.C. The acreage cited in this section is 
approximate, and if there is any discrepancy 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.

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

    This same dubious land exchange was brought before the 
Committee in the 105th Congress. That bill failed to pass the 
House; this one deserves to meet the same ignominious fate. 
[See: H.R. 3088, H. Rept. 105-784 (Dissenting views)].
    We again oppose this legislation because it is contrary to 
the public interest and imposes a fundamentally undesirable 
exchange of lands upon the U.S. Forest Service. Under S. 426, 
the Forest Service would be forced to accept lands nearby the 
Southeast Alaskan community of Hoonah that they do not want to 
acquire and do not want to manage. To make matters worse, the 
Huna Corporation would be authorized to self-select and obtain 
lands from the Tongass National Forest.
    Simply put, the situation is this: the Huna corporation can 
not long more lands near the community because of local 
opposition to additional clear-cutting so they want to acquire 
and log more lands from the national forest. Huna corporation 
has already logged the vast majority of the 23,000 acres they 
received under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. 
In effect, they want to unilaterally rewrite that settlement to 
obtain more desirable lands, while foisting upon the Forest 
Service management responsibilities for core lands around the 
village of Hoonah.
    This is clearly not a case where Congress would ratify a 
mutually negotiated land exchange. It's not even clear how much 
national forest land the Huna corporation would seek to obtain, 
since the export restrictions in the bill make the Tongass land 
less valuable for logging than the village lands the 
corporation currently owns. In order to equalize exchange 
values under the terms of this bill, Huna may argue that more 
than 2,000 acres of national forest should be conveyed out of 
public ownership. Prime sitka spruce logs, for example, may be 
a dozen times more valuable to the corporation if exported than 
if processed domestically. But if left standing as old-growth 
national forest, without this exchange, the values to future 
generations greatly exceed any short-term logging profit.
    S. 426, which seeks to have Congress impose an adversarial 
land exchange on the Forest Service, has failed to change or 
improve with age. Both the Secretaries of Agriculture and 
Interior oppose the bill and have stated that they will 
recommend a veto if it is enacted by Congress. The House should 
reject this legislation.

                                                      George Miller

                                  
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