[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 188 (Tuesday, September 29, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 51945]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-25973]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary


Alaska Land Managers Forum

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, DOI.

ACTION: Notice, Reestablishment of Advisory Committee.

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SUMMARY: This notice is published in accordance with section 9(a)(2) of 
the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C. App. 2 (1988) and 
41 CFR 101-6.1015(a). Following consultation with the General Services 
Administration and the Office of Management and Budget, notice is 
hereby given that the Secretary of the Interior is administratively 
reestablishing an advisory committee known as the Alaska Land Managers 
Forum. The purpose of the committee is to advise the Secretary on 
Alaska land and resources issues.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Deborah L. Williams, Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Interior 
for Alaska, Office of the Secretary, Department of the Interior, 1689 C 
Street, Suite 100, Anchorage, Alaska 99501-5151, (907) 271-5485.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    In the 40 years since Statehood, land ownership and management in 
Alaska has undergone a massive change. In 1959, nearly all of Alaska 
(99.8 percent) was owned by the Federal Government, and most of this 
land (365 million acres) was public domain under the jurisdiction of 
the Bureau of Land Management. Today, the State has received title to 
90 million acres of a 104.5 million acre entitlement. Alaska Natives, 
through village and regional corporations established under the Alaska 
Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971, have become major land holders 
(37 million acres interim conveyed or patented) with the eventual 
ownership of 45.5 million acres. Finally, over 145 million acres in 
Federal ownership are in national forests, parks, and wildlife refuges. 
These changes in land status have, in turn, generated changes in the 
roles and relationships of the State and Federal agencies in Alaska. 
Also, Native corporations, as owners of 12 percent of the State's land 
area, have become major participants in the complexities of land and 
resource management.
    Since Statehood, there have been several different types of 
cooperative planning entities charged with making an overview of Alaska 
issues and developing comprehensive recommendations to the State and 
Federal Governments. None of these planning entities exist today. The 
Secretary of the Interior is reestablishing the Alaska Land Managers 
Forum Advisory Committee in accordance with the provisions of the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (5 U.S.C. App.), for the purpose 
of advising him on land and resource issues in Alaska.
    Membership on the Forum consists of individuals appointed by the 
Secretary of the Interior. Appointed as cochairs are the Special 
Assistant to the Secretary of the Interior for Alaska as the Federal 
Cochair, the Lt. Governor of the State of Alaska as the State Cochair, 
and the President of the Alaska Federation of Natives (or designee) as 
the Alaska Native Cochair. In addition, the charter provides for 
appointing the commissioners or directors of specified State agencies, 
the State directors of specified Federal land management agencies, and 
the heads of two Alaska Native organizations.
    Administrative establishment of the Alaska Land Managers Forum is 
necessary and in the public interest.

    Dated: September 16, 1998.
Bruce Babbitt,
Secretary of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 98-25973 Filed 9-28-98; 8:45 am]
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