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The National Park Service and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980: Administrative History Chapter Two: The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act |
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C. Origins of the National Interest Lands Provision (17(d)(2)) (continued)
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 was a landmark piece of legislation that is generally considered to be the most generous settlement ever made between the United States government and a group of Native Americans. The act was, moreover, a unique and most interesting experiment that attempted to employ a purely capitalistic invention—the corporation—to protect what is essentially a non-capitalistic, predominantly subsistence life style.
The act, at the same time, was complicated, ambiguous, and sometimes contradictory. [68] ANCSA created unique organizations, established relationships between those organizations, defined a variety of land categories, attempted to rationalize the land selection process, and established timetables for disposition of public lands in Alaska. Briefly, and that is all that is possible here, ANCSA granted Alaskan Natives compensation of fee simple title to 40,000,000 acres of land and $925,500,000 for extinguishment of all aboriginal titles, or claims of title to lands. [69] The Act provided for the creation of twelve, with the option later exercised, for a thirteenth, regional corporations and more than 200 village corporations that would share the land and money according to a sometimes complicated formula. [70] Additionally section 14(h) (1) allowed the regional corporations to select cemeteries and historic sites (up to 2,000,000 acres) outside village and regional withdrawals, including land on wildlife refuges and in national forests. [71] And, while the conference committee rejected an explicit statement on subsistence as included in the Senate version of the bill, ANCSA, according to the conference committee report, protected the "Native people's interest in and use of subsistence resources on the public lands" through the withdrawal authority of the Secretary of the Interior. [72]
The Act also provided for the creation of a Joint Federal-State Land Use Planning Commission (Section 17(1)(a)). Composed of ten members appointed by the governor of Alaska (4, with the governor or his designee as one of the members), president (1), and secretary of the interior (4), the commission was established to, according to the first federal co-chairman, provide an institution "through which the claims and policies of the three main participants and those of private and public interest can be examined, brokered, and molded into a long-range, balanced land pattern for the state." [73] The conference committee removed the regulatory and enforcement powers given the commission in the senate bill, leaving it only an advisory role.
Nevertheless, the functions given the commission were such as to allow it to play a significant role in the upcoming land allocation and planning process. Among the functions outlined were making recommendations to the secretary of the interior regarding withdrawals, advising state and Natives in making selections, and making recommendations to avoid conflict between state and Natives in making selections. [74]
The conservation lands provisions—sections 17(d)(1) and 17(d)(2)—immediately became the subject of considerable disagreement, even among some who had participated in the Senate-House conference committee. Section 17(d)(1) had its origins in the Kyl amendment. Known as the public interest lands provision, it was designed to prevent a land rush following revocation of public land order 4582. The purpose, as outlined in the conference committee report, was to permit the secretary of the interior to make the withdrawals directed under section 17(d)(2)(A); and to permit the secretary to determine if there were other areas that should be withdrawn, classified, or reclassified before they were opened to entry:(d)(1) Public Land Order Numbered 4582. 34 Federal Register 1025 as amended, is hereby revoked. For a period of ninety days after the date of enactment of this Act all unreserved public lands in Alaska are hereby withdrawn from all forms of appropriation under the public land laws, including the mining (except locations for metalliferous minerals) and the mineral leasing laws. During this period of time the Secretary shall review the public lands in Alaska and determine whether any portion of these lands should be withdrawn under authority provided for in existing law to insure that the public interest in these lands is properly protected. Any further withdrawal shall require an affirmative act by the Secretary under his existing authority, and the Secretary is authorized to classify or reclassify any lands so withdrawn and to open such lands to appropriation under the public land laws in accord with his classifications. Withdrawals pursuant to this paragraph shall not affect the authority of the Village Corporations, the Regional Corporations, and the State to make selections and obtain patents within the areas withdrawn pursuant to section II.
Section 17(d)(2)—the national interest lands provision—permitted the secretary to withdraw land for possible inclusion in one of the conservation systems, established timetables for withdrawals, study, and congressional action on recommendations:
(2)(A) The Secretary, acting under authority provided for in existing law, is directed to withdraw from all forms of appropriation under the public land laws, including the mining and mineral leasing laws, and from selection under the Alaska Statehood Act, and from selection by Regional Corporations pursuant to section 11, up to, but not to exceed, eighty million acres of unreserved public lands in the State of Alaska, including previously classified lands, which the Secretary deems are suitable for addition to or creation as units of the National Park, Forest, Wildlife Refuge, and Wild and Scenic Rivers Systems: Provided, That such withdrawals shall not affect the authority of the State and the Regional and Village Corporations to make selections and obtain patents within the areas withdrawn pursuant to section 11.
(B) Lands withdrawn pursuant to paragraph (A) hereof must be withdrawn within nine months of the date of enactment of this Act. All unreserved public lands not withdrawn under paragraph (A) or subsection 17(d)(1) shall be available for selection by the State and for appropriation under the public land laws.
(C) Every six months, for a period of two years from the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall advise the Congress of the location size and values of lands withdrawn pursuant to paragraph (A) and submit his recommendations with respect to such lands. Any lands withdrawn pursuant to paragraph (A) not recommended for addition to or creation as units of the National Park, Forest, Wildlife Refuge, and Wild and Scenic Rivers Systems at the end of the two years shall be available for selection by the State and the Regional Corporations and for appropriation under the public land laws.
(D) Areas recommended by the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (C) shall remain withdrawn from any appropriation under the public land laws until such time as the Congress acts on the Secretary's recommendations, but not to exceed five years from the recommendation dates. The withdrawal of areas not so recommended shall terminate at the end of the two year period.
(E) Not withstanding any other provision of this subsection, initial identification of lands desired to be selected by the State pursuant to the Alaska Statehood Act and by the Regional Corporations pursuant to section 12 of this Act may be made within any area withdrawn pursuant to this subsection (d), but such lands shall not be tentatively approved or patented so long as the withdrawals of such areas remain in effect: Provided, That selection of lands by Village Corporations pursuant to section 12 of this Act shall not be affected by such rights granted as authorized by this Act. In the event Congress enacts legislation setting aside any areas withdrawn under the provisions of this subsection which the Regional Corporations or the State desired to select, then other unreserved public lands shall be made available for alternative selection by the Regional Corporations and the State. Any time periods established by law for Regional Corporations or State selections are hereby extended to the extent that delays are caused by compliance with the provisions of this subsection.
Efforts to secure justice for the Native peoples of Alaska also set in motion events that would result in passage of one of the most significant pieces of conservation legislation in this nation's history. Passage of an Alaska national interest lands conservation act would not be easy, but would come only after a nine-year struggle. For the National Park Service participation in that effort would have important effects on the Service itself, and would result, too, in a thorough reappraisal of its approach to management of parklands in Alaska.
End of Chapter Two
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Last Modified: Tues, Jan 9 2001 10:08 am PDT
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