[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 121 (Monday, June 25, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34712-34713]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-12107]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[AK-930-5420-FR-L045; AA-086376--AA-086380]


Notice of Applications for Recordable Disclaimers of Interest for 
Lands Underlying Waterbodies Within the Yukon-Kuskokwim Portage; Alaska

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The State of Alaska (State) has filed applications for 
Recordable Disclaimers of Interest from the United States in certain 
lands underlying waterbodies within the Yukon-Kuskokwim Portage, 
located in the Lower Kuskokwim Region, Alaska. The State asserts that 
the water bodies were navigable and unreserved at the time of 
statehood; therefore, title to the submerged lands passed to the State 
at the time of statehood (1959). The lands included in the applications 
are within the boundary of the Yukon-Delta National Wildlife Refuge, 
created by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 
December 2, 1980.

DATES: Comments on the State of Alaska's applications should be 
submitted on or before September 24, 2007. The Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) Draft Summary Report will be posted on the BLM-Alaska 
Web-site within this notice period. Once posted, interested parties 
will have sixty (60) days to comment on the findings: http://www.blm.gov/ak/ak930/rdi/index.html.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the State of Alaska's application or the BLM 
Draft Summary Report should be sent to the Chief, Branch of Lands and 
Realty, BLM Alaska State Office, 222 West 7th Avenue, 13, 
Anchorage, Alaska 99513-7599.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jack Frost at (907) 271-5531 or [email protected] or visit the BLM-Alaska Web site http://www.blm.gov/ak/ak930/rdi/index.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 10, 2006, the State of Alaska filed 
applications for Recordable Disclaimers of Interest pursuant to Section 
315 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and the regulations

[[Page 34713]]

contained in 43 CFR Subpart 1864 for lands underlying the waterbodies 
within the Yukon-Kuskokwim Portage (Y-K Portage). The State divided the 
Y-K Portage into five separate applications, described in a 
northwesterly direction from the Kuskokwim River: Mud Creek and unnamed 
lake number one (AA-086376); Crooked Creek and Johnson River (AA-
086377); Kulik Lake and unnamed lake number two (AA-086378); unnamed 
lakes numbers three and four (AA-086379); and the Talbiksok River to 
the confluence with Portage Slough of the Yukon River (AA-086380). A 
Recordable Disclaimer of Interest, if issued, will confirm the United 
States has no valid interest in the subject lands. The notice is 
intended to notify the public of the pending applications and the 
State's grounds for supporting it. The State asserts that the water 
bodies are navigable; therefore, under the Equal Footing Doctrine and 
Submerged Lands Act of 1953, ownership of these lands automatically 
passed from the United States to the State at the time of statehood in 
1959. The State did not identify any known adverse claimant or occupant 
of the affected lands. The applied for lands are within the boundary of 
the Yukon-Delta National Wildlife Refuge, created by the Alaska 
National Interest Lands Conservation Act of December 2, 1980.
    A final decision on the merits of the applications will not be made 
before September 24, 2007. During the ninety (90) day notice period, 
interested parties may comment upon the State's applications (AA-086376 
to AA-086380), and supporting evidence. Interested parties may also 
comment on the evidence presented in the BLM Draft Summary Report 
within sixty (60) days of its availability. The BLM Draft Summary 
Report will be posted on the BLM-Alaska Web site within the ninety (90) 
day notice period: http://www.blm.gov/ak/ak930/rdi/index.html.
    Comments, including names and street addresses of commentors, will 
be available for public review at the Alaska State Office (see address 
above), during regular business hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays. Before including your address, 
phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information 
in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--
including your personal identifying information--may be made publicly 
available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold 
your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

(Authority: 43 CFR 1864.2(a))

    Dated: May 4, 2007.
Jack Frost,
Acting Chief, Branch of Lands and Realty.
[FR Doc. E7-12107 Filed 6-22-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-JA-P