Chugach Alaska Land Exchange Oil Spill Recovery Act of 2025

This bill lets the Chugach Alaska Corporation trade its underground mineral rights under certain conserved lands for federal land it can fully own and use. It aims to fix long‑running land “split” problems left after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, where the government bought surface rights for habitat, but Chugach kept the subsurface rights. The swap would move about 231,000 acres of Chugach’s subsurface rights to the federal government and give Chugach about 65,000 acres of federal land in return, helping protect wildlife areas while giving Chugach land it can develop to support its Native shareholders . The Interior Department must carry out the exchange within one year of the law taking effect, and any land Chugach receives will be treated like other land it gets under Alaska Native land laws. Existing third‑party rights on any parcel still apply .

Supporters say this will make conservation management simpler in the spill area and reduce conflict between habitat protection and development needs in local Alaska Native communities. The plan follows a federal study that identified which lands could be exchanged to balance conservation with economic opportunity in the Chugach region .

• Who: Chugach Alaska Corporation, U.S. Department of the Interior, and communities and habitats in the Chugach region .
• What changes: Trade of about 231,000 acres of subsurface rights for about 65,000 acres of federal land; consolidates conservation on the surface and gives Chugach land it can fully use .
• When: Exchange must be completed within one year after enactment if Chugach offers the trade .