HR3903-119

What This Bill Does

This bill authorizes a land exchange between Chugach Alaska Corporation and the United States to resolve split ownership created by Exxon Valdez oil-spill habitat acquisitions. The findings explain that the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council used settlement funds to acquire fee title and conservation easements on surface estates in the Chugach Region, while Chugach Alaska retained dominant subsurface estate rights under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. That created a conflict between federal conservation ownership on the surface and Chugach Alaska subsurface rights.

The bill directs the Secretary of the Interior to accept Chugach Alaska's offer to convey roughly 231,000 acres of non-Federal subsurface land and, in exchange, convey all federal rights, title, and interest in roughly 65,374 acres of federal exchange land. The federal exchange land includes specified National Forest System parcels such as Drier Bay, Kushtaka Lake, Snow River, Hinchinbrook Island, and other parcels identified in the Chugach Regional Land Study and Report. Land conveyed to Chugach Alaska is treated as land conveyed under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and remains subject to valid existing rights, reservations, rights-of-way, encumbrances, and public easements where applicable.

Who Benefits and How

Chugach Alaska Corporation benefits by exchanging constrained subsurface rights under conservation surface estates for federal land with clearer ownership and development value. Chugach Region Village Corporation shareholders benefit indirectly because the exchange resolves conflicts affecting Native corporation land interests in the region. Federal conservation land managers benefit because the United States consolidates surface and subsurface ownership on lands acquired through the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Habitat Protection and Acquisition Program. The State of Alaska and federal habitat trustees benefit from a cleaner land-title structure for conservation easements and acquired surface estates. Public recreation and habitat users benefit if consolidated ownership reduces future development conflicts on protected lands.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Secretary of the Interior land staff must complete the exchange, title review, conveyance documents, easement reservations, and map corrections. Chugach Alaska Corporation gives up approximately 231,000 acres of subsurface estate interests in exchange for the federal land. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management staff must manage parcel descriptions, valid existing rights, and post-exchange land status changes. Third-party rights holders may need to track whether existing rights, rights-of-way, or encumbrances continue after conveyance. Federal land administrators also bear the administrative burden of resolving conflicts between maps, acreage estimates, and legal descriptions.

Key Provisions

• Directs and expedites an exchange of land and interests in land between Chugach Alaska and the United States.
• Modifies statutory definitions for Chugach Alaska, the Chugach Region Land Study Report, Federal exchange land, non-Federal land, and the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Habitat Protection and Acquisition Program.
• Requires the Secretary of the Interior to accept Chugach Alaska's subsurface conveyance offer and convey specified federal exchange land within one year.
• Provides that Chugach Alaska conveyances are treated as Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act land and remain subject to valid existing rights.
• Provides map-correction authority for minor map, acreage, or description errors by mutual agreement.