Sponsors (2)
Introduced March 12, 2025 by Lisa Murkowski · Last progress March 12, 2025
The bill trades faster, clearer ANCSA land conveyances and secured tribal surface/subsurface rights (creating economic and community benefits and guaranteed public access) for reduced federal flexibility, potential environmental impacts, increased administrative burdens, and limits on some local development options.
Alaska Native entities (Cape Fox Village Corporation, Cape Fox tribal members, and related corporations) gain clear, specific conveyance instructions and parcel maps that resolve ANCSA entitlement uncertainty and expedite transfer processes.
Cape Fox tribal members receive legal surface ownership of specified lands, securing territory for community use, cultural purposes, and local development.
Sealaska Corporation is granted subsurface rights to the conveyed parcels, enabling access to mineral resources and potential economic development benefits for its shareholders.
Conveying surface or subsurface federal lands to tribal entities reduces federal flexibility and may limit future public uses or federal management options for the conveyed tracts.
Tight statutory deadlines for conveyance (90–180 days) could strain agency capacity and lead to rushed title or environmental reviews, increasing risk of errors or unresolved issues.
Deeming these conveyances to satisfy ANCSA entitlements may foreclose future adjustments or competing claims, potentially preventing later resolution of boundary or entitlement disputes.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Conveys ~180 acres of Tongass surface to Cape Fox and the subsurface to Sealaska, waives a specific ANCSA core-township selection, and reserves a public easement for access.
Conveys about 180 acres of Federal surface land in the Tongass National Forest to Cape Fox Village Corporation, and conveys the subsurface estate in that same land to Sealaska Corporation, after Cape Fox submits a written notice of selection. The Act also waives a specific Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) ‘‘core township’’ selection requirement for Cape Fox and reserves a public easement to allow public access from George Inlet to inland National Forest System land. The Secretary of the Interior must complete the surface conveyance within 90 days after receiving Cape Fox’s written notice and the subsurface conveyance to Sealaska follows; Congress intends both conveyances be finished as soon as practicable but no later than 180 days after notice. Each conveyance is treated as fulfilling the respective ANCSA entitlements for Cape Fox (surface) and Sealaska (subsurface).