[House Report 107-434]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
107th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 107-434
======================================================================
HUNA TOTEM CORPORATION LAND EXCHANGE ACT
_______
May 3, 2002.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Hansen, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
together with
DISSENTING VIEWS
[To accompany S. 506]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(S. 506) 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 purpose of S. 506 is 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. 506 directs the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into
an equal value land exchange with the Huna Totem Corporation
and Sealaska Corporation.
The Huna Totem Corporation was formed to manage the lands
and interests of Tlingit Indians from the City of Hoonah,
Alaska. With a population of 860, Hoonah is located within the
Tongass National Forest on Chichagof Island, 40 miles west of
Juneau.
Under the terms of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
of 1971 (ANCSA), Huna Totem was awarded 23,040 acres of land
from the Tongass National Forest. The Regional Corporation for
Southeast Alaska, Sealaska, was awarded the subsurface estate
to these lands.
Village Corporations were generally required to select
lands within or adjacent to the core township enclosing the
Native Villages they represent. This forced Huna Totem to
select 2,000 acres of land containing valuable timber situated
on steep hillsides, cliffs, and a watershed immediately within
view of the city. The Corporation directors and residents of
Hoonah do not believe these lands are conducive to logging
because of their undesirable topography, watershed
characteristics, and close proximity to the City of Hoonah.
Huna Totem seeks to exchange these 2,000 acres of land for
other land of equal value located in an area where logging or
other development does not present a special concern.
Accordingly, S. 506 provides for such a land exchange.
Under S. 506, Huna Totem Corporation may convey the 2,000-
acre tract to the U.S. Forest Service, and in exchange it will
receive rights to select and acquire readily accessible lands
of equal value from within an area of the Tongass as described
in the bill. Lands that Huna Totem may acquire may not be in a
wilderness or LUD II area. Sealaska's subsurface ownership
follows the surface estate to Huna Totem's lands under this
exchange. S. 506 further prohibits the export of unprocessed
logs from lands Huna Totem acquires through the exchange.
S. 506 is identical to a bill (S. 426) sponsored by Senator
Frank Murkowski and approved by the House Committee on
Resources in the 106th Congress. Similar legislation was also
approved by the Committee on Resources in the 105th Congress.
Committee Action
S. 506 was introduced on March 9, 2001, by Senator Frank
Murkowski (R-AK). On August 3, 2001, the bill passed the Senate
without amendment by unanimous consent. S. 506 was received by
the House of Representatives and referred to the Committee on
Resources. On April 24, 2002, the Full Resources Committee met
to consider the bill. No amendments were ordered and the bill
was then ordered favorably reported to the House of
Representatives by voice vote.
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 of the Constitution of the United
States grants 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, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in tax
expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office,
enactment of this bill could affect direct spending (including
offsetting receipts), but any such amount would be less than
$500,000 over the 2002-2012 time period.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does
not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not
apply.
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, April 30, 2002.
Hon. James V. Hansen,
Chairman Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 506, 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. 506--Huna Totem Corporation Land Exchange Act
CBO estimates that enacting S. 506 would have no
significant impact on the federal budget. Because the
legislation could affect direct spending (including offsetting
receipts), pay-as-you-go procedures would apply, but we
estimate that any such impacts would be less than $500,000 a
year. S. 506 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no significant costs on state, local, or tribal
governments.
S. 506 would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey
the surface estate of certain federal lands in the Tongass
National Forest to the Huna Totem Corporation, and also convey
the subsurface estate of those lands to the Sealaska
Corporation. The lands to be conveyed would be selected by the
two corporations from federal lands depicted on a map specified
in the legislation. In exchange, the corporations would convey
to the United States approximately 2,000 acres of surface and
subsurface estate.
S. 506 does not specify the federal lands to be conveyed to
the corporations, but it provides that the exchange be on the
basis of equal value. Enacting S. 506 could affect offsetting
receipts if the lands to be exchanged would generate income
from activities such as timber harvesting. According to the
Forest Service, the agency would generally consider the area
acquired from the corporation to be unsuitable for timber
harvesting because it lies within the watershed and viewshed of
the village of Hoonah.
According to the agency, some of the federal lands that
could be conveyed to the corporations might be harvested under
current law. Another portion of the federal lands that could be
conveyed to the corporations currently are not being harvested
because they have been set aside as part of a conservation
reserve under the Tongass National Forest management plan. If
the corporations harvested those areas following the exchange,
then the agency would be obligated under the forest management
plan to reserve for conservation another area of federal land
within the Tongass National Forest that otherwise would be
harvested under current law. Hence, we expect that conveying
any of these lands to the corporations would result in forgone
offsetting receipts from timber harvests. Based on information
from the agency, however, we estimate that any such losses
would be less than $500,000 a year over the 2002-2012 period.
On May 18, 2001, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 506
as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources. The two versions of the legislation are
identical, and our cost estimates 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.
Changes 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, are 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 accessible 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
Mr. Chairman, with this bill, the third time is not a
charm. The same legislation that has come before the committee
in the 105th and 106th Congresses and failed to pass the House
is back again. Unfortunately, the bill has not changed or
improved with age.
The Huna Corporation keeps knocking on Congress' door
because they contend they cannot negotiate a fair land exchange
with the U.S. Forest Service. The motivation for Huna is that
they have already logged the vast majority of their lands and
have only about 2,000 acres remaining uncut out of the original
23,000 acres that they received under the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act. But most of the residents of the village of
Hoonah do not want any more logging [See attached letter and
resolution]. So the solution set forth in this bill is to
dispose of unwanted corporation lands near the Native village
on the federal government and then freely expand the
corporation land base by obtaining old-growth forest lands out
of the Tongass National Forest.
Even though this bill was first introduced in 1997, the
Huna Corporation has failed to provide specific map or precise
acre description of the national forest lands that the
corporation desires to obtain and log. Thus, Members do not
even know what or how many acres of national forest lands that
we are being asked to convey out of public ownership. The bill
does not require that the selected lands must be in a
contiguous block, so the corporation may opt to cherry-pick
various parcels of national forest lands. The corporation may
even argue that it is entitled to more than 2,000 acres of
Tongass lands because the bill's restrictions on unprocessed
log exports from the newly acquired lands means that they need
to log more trees to equalize the valuations.
Put another way, this is not a mutually negotiated exchange
between land owners. I can not recall that this committee has
ever before approved such a unnegotiated and ill-defined land
exchange. Under the Clinton Administration, both the
Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior were strongly opposed
and issued veto threats on the prior bills [See attachment].
The Hoonah Indian Association, which is the local tribal
entity, and the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council have
opposed this legislation. While the Bush Administration may
have a different perspective about the values of public lands,
I once again urge Members to consider the interest of the
taxpayer and vote against this bill.
In closing, let me assure my colleagues and in particular,
the gentleman from Alaska, that my opposition to this bill is
solely based on its lack of merit and does not reflect on our
willingness to work with the gentleman on other Alaska matters
or other tribal issues. Last Congress, as just one example, we
resolved some complex issues in the Kake Tribal Corporation
Land Exchange Act, sending that bill with amendments back to
the Senate and on to the President where it was signed into
Public Law 106-283. I look forward to working with him on other
such matters in the future.
George Miller.
Enclosures.
Hoonah Indian Association,
Hoonah, AK, September 25, 2001.
George Miller,
Minority of the House Resources Committee,
House of Representatives.
Dear Representative Miller: Please find enclosed a courtesy
copy of recent correspondence with Congressman Hansen of the
House Resource Committee regarding House Bill S. 506.
The Hoonah Indian Association continues to be strongly
opposed to the Huna Totem Corporation's proposed Land Exchange
with the U.S. Forest Service. This letter expresses our
feelings and rationale on this matter.
Thank you for any support you can offer in this regard.
Sincerely,
David M. Belton,
Hoonah Indian Association.
The Hoonah Indian Association is a federally recognized
Tribe in accordance with and by the authority of Congress of
June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984) and May 1, 1936 (49 Stat. 1250).
------
Hoonah Indian Association,
Hoonah, AK, September 25, 2001.
Congressman James V. Hansen,
Chairman of the House Resource Committee.
Dear Mr. Chairman: On behalf of the Board of Directors, the
membership of the Hoonah Indian Association, and the Tribal
Administrator, I am directed to voice our strong opposition to
the Huna Totem Land Exchange with the U.S. Forest Service
identified as House Bill S. 506.
As a Tlingit village with a proud history and heritage we
feel that our long-term cultural and economic survival depends
on the health and beauty of our traditional lands. When the
lands around Hoonah were originally selected as part of the
ANCSA settlement, the Tribe believed that it was the intent of
Congress for the Huna people to possess land that was
historically and culturally significant as well as potentially
profitable.
The attempt to exchange lands (House Bill S. 506) solely
for maximizing corporate timber profits is alarming. Historic
and Traditional Tribal lands will be lost and newly selected
parcels that will become available for immediate harvest will
interfere with the Tongass Land Management Plan. Subsistence
opportunity and management will be seriously and negatively
confused and impacted.
The exchange involves less than 2,000 of the 23,000 acres
originally granted. This land surrounds the original village
site and community that is now Hoonah. As the land of our
ancestors, this area is in many ways our very cultural and
spiritual identity. It is the contiguous land that provided
protection from outside groups that at times had other than the
best of intentions for our well-being. It yielded the food and
forest resources that allowed our people to survive for many
generations.
The very land being considered for exchange is spoken of in
our oral traditions as the place where ``Cheet'', a warrior and
hero of the Chookaneidi clan, ascended the cliffs to light four
fires that warned the Huna People in Glacier Bay of the
approach of Wrangell warriors from the south. This story is
remembered in song and art that pay tribute to our history and
heritage.
Most significantly, this is indeed sacred land as it is
literally the final resting place of some of our healers and
shamanic spiritual leaders that are well documented to have
been buried in the caves on the hillsides and cliffs that
surround Hoonah. Prior to the coming of missionaries our
deceased ancestors were customarily cremated but Shamen were
buried along with a variety of spiritually potent objects that
were traditionally manipulated at both private healing
ceremonies and public displays to heal the sick, control the
weather and ward off malevolent spirits thus assuring the
survival of the group.
The area continues to be regarded as very special and is
well known to be more culturally significant than other areas
under Huna Totem management. To exchange this land for economic
opportunity by putting it in public hands would not only be
shameful but a sacrilege. Unfortunately, in the not so distant
past, these graves have been desecrated and looted by artifact
hunters for the funerary that they contain.
For more than two decades Sealaska, Huna Totem and the U.S.
Forest Service have engaged in clear-cutting many acres in the
Hoonah area leaving whole watersheds stripped of their best
timber, prime wildlife habitat and scenic beauty. We fell this
is a shortsighted policy that will lead to a greatly diminished
opportunity for economic diversification and customary and
traditional use in the long term. Again, we do not feel
extractive development was the only intent for the selection
and use of lands by Congress or by the people for which they
were intended.
Please be reminded of the voice of the federally recognized
Tribal Government in accordance with and by the authority of
the Acts of Congress of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984) and May 1,
1936 (49 Stat. 1250); Hoonah Indian Association Resolution #98-
14 adopted and certified April 22, 1998, at which a quorum was
present, with a vote of 5 for, 0 against, and 0 abstentions
when it was resolved that: ``* * * the Board of Directors of
the Hoonah Indian Association strongly opposes the proposed
Huna Totem Corporation Land Exchange with the United States
Forest Service.'' This view has not changed! (Resolution
attached)
Mr. Murkowski and the Huna Totem Corporation would have you
believe that an exchange would resolve a ``problem'' regarding
the land selection of 1975. They suggest that there are
``complications'' which are created by the difficult terrain
characterized by steep hillsides and cliffs and that the
``unsuitable'' terrain has kept Hoonah from achieving the goal
of developing the land for profit which was ``one'' of the main
purposes of the settlement act. Please, keep in mind that
developing the land for profit was only one of the purposes of
the settlement act. Those that support the exchange seem to
suggest that somehow a mistake was made in the selection of
land that needs to be fixed. This is not the case. There was no
mistake made when this area was selected to belong to the Huna
People.
The particular land at issue was selected primarily for its
historic, cultural and traditional value and it is very
important to those Tribal members who continue to live in the
village and others, to maintain ownership of this very special
area. We certainly do not suggest that it should be condemned
to the chainsaw nor do we feel that it would be appropriate to
transfer it to the control of the U.S. Forest Service. We do
not feel that the intentions of the Huna Totem Corporation
represent the view of the majority of the Hoonah Indian
Association members, also Huna Totem Shareholders. Regarding
the destiny of this culturally and traditionally significant
land please, do not be deceived by those who have only monetary
profit as their primary objective. We feel that the wishes of
the majority of the Huna People are being misrepresented in
this effort.
Each day we here in the village look across our beloved
Port Frederick with a certain sadness and regret. The vast
tracks of clear-cut land are daily reminders of what has been
sacrificed already for timber profits and we disagree that the
removal of trees on tribal lands is necessarily the best or
only value that the land offers. We feel that the ancestors and
those involved in the original selections would not have been
approved of this wholesale onslaught. We are all too aware of
the tremendous amount of forest that has been and continues to
be sacrificed for the meeting of corporate goals.
There is a song entitled Xuna Kahwoo (Huna People) that was
written some years ago and tells the tale of the Huna People
and how they crossed icy waters from Glacier Bay in canoes
carved by hand. It speaks of how the glacier had come down upon
them and how the sea had rise up to stop them as they sought to
claim a new land. It continues * * *
``From salmon deep in salty waters * * * From deer and bear
in forest glade Came food for life and clothes for body * * *
The land was good and the people stayed. And at their back
there stands a forest * * * At their feet the restless sea All
around the mountains guard them * * * As cloudy skies watch
silently.''
The forest referred to in this song, as being at the backs
of the Huna People, is literally the land proposed for the Huna
Totem Land exchange. Obviously this is an issue that must be
addressed and settled within the Tribe and amongst the
shareholders. In the mean time we ask that the exchange not be
allowed. We believe that it would not have been acceptable to
the Ancestors nor do we believe that it has the blessing of the
Elders. We continue to be in strong opposition to this effort.
Respectfully on behalf of the Board of Directors, the
Tribal Administrator, Johanna Dybdahl and the membership of the
Hoonah Indian Association, thank you for considering this plea.
David M. Belton,
Director of Natural and Cultural Resources.
------
Resolution No. 98-14
Whereas; the Hoonah Indian Association is a federally
recognized tribe in accordance with and by the authority of the
Acts of Congress of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984) and May 1,
1936 (49 Stat. 1250); and
Whereas; the majority of Huna Totem Corporation's
shareholders are enrolled members of the Hoonah Indian
Association or descendants of the 1939 roll; and
Whereas; the proposed Huna Totem Corporation Land Exchange
with the U.S. Forest Service has a direct affect on those
shareholders who live in Hoonah and are enrolled members of the
association.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of the Hoonah
Indian Association strongly opposes the proposed Huna Totem
Corporation Land Exchange with the U.S. Forest Service numbered
in the Senate, S. 1158 and in the House, H.E. 3088 which
directly affects our membership (also shareholders of HTC).
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be sent to the
Congressional Delegation in Washington, D.C., Honorable Frank
Murkowski, Ted Stevens, and Donald Young.
certification
As President of the Hoonah Indian Association, I hereby
certify that the above resolution was duly adopted at a regular
meeting of the association on this 22nd day of April 1998, at
which a quorum was present, with a vote of 5 for, 0 against, 0
abstentions.
Ms. Mary Rudolph,
President.
Attest:
Frank Wright, Jr.,
Tribal Secretary.
------
Department of Agriculture,
Office of the Secretary,
Washington, DC, September 28, 2000.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources, U.S. Senate,
Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: I want to express the Administration's
strong opposition to S. 426, the Huna Totem Corporation Public
Interest Land Exchange Act, as reported out of the House
Resources Committee on September 26th. The bill would direct
the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into a land exchange with
Huna Totem Corporation, which owns the surface estate, and
Sealaska Corporation, which owns the subsurface estate to
certain lands near the village of Hoonah in Southeast Alaska.
The Administration communicated its strong opposition to
the bill during its consideration in the Senate and during
consideration of an identical bill (S. 1158) in the 105th
Congress. Because the bill would set an unacceptable precedent
by reopening native entitlements under the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act (ANCSA), the Secretary of the Interior and I
would recommend that the President veto this legislation.
ANCSA granted more than 200 village corporations the right
to select public lands in Alaska for a variety of uses. Each
corporation was required to select the public lands within the
township in which it was located. ANCSA was a final settlement
and, as such, represented many trade-offs and compromises by
all parties.
If S. 426 were enacted, all of Alaska's village
corporations could argue that they too were entitled to
exchange land selected under ANCSA for land that is more
desirable. This precedent would threaten to unravel ANCSA's
historic settlement through piece-meal amendments. In turn,
Federal land management throughout Alaska would be severely
disrupted with significant costs and consequences for all
taxpayers.
Beyond the question of precedent, the land exchanges
proposed by this bill would not be in the public interest. The
primary reason the U.S. Forest Service pursues land exchanges
is to provide more efficient land management through
consolidation of existing Federal ownership and to dispose of
isolated parcels that are uneconomical to manage. S. 426
directly conflicts with these goals.
This bill is based on the premise that because some of the
land that Huna Totem Corporation received within its township
under ANCSA is municipal watershed land not subject to
development, the United States should provide the corporations
with replacement land elsewhere. ANCSA, however, contemplated
that villages would obtain all land within their ``core''
townships regardless of its development potential.
The Federal Government should not administer municipal
watershed lands in Alaska, as would be required by S. 426.
Rather, such lands should be managed by those communities that
derive benefit from the land. Federal ownership of municipal
watersheds is inconsistent with the ownership patterns
envisioned by ANCSA, whereby native corporations had to select
lands within their core townships.
The Office of Management and Budget advises that there is
no objection to the presentation of this report from the
standpoint of the Administration's program.
Sincerely,
Dan Glickman,
Secretary.