[House Report 106-899]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
106th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 106-899
======================================================================
HUNA TOTEM CORPORATION LAND EXCHANGE ACT
_______
September 26, 2000.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Young of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
together with
DISSENTING VIEWS
[To accompany S. 426]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill (S.
426) 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 purposes of S. 426 are 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. 426 provides for a land exchange between the Huna Totem
Corporation, a Village Corporation in Southeast Alaska that was
organized under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
(ANCSA), and the United States.
The Huna Totem Corporation of the City of Hoonah in
Southeast Alaska was awarded lands pursuant to ANCSA. Some of
these lands have significant timber resources, and the
Corporation has been active in the timber industry because
logging provides important economic benefits to its Native
shareholders.
A significant portion of Huna Totem's property lies on part
of the local watershed and within view of the City because
ANCSA mandated the Corporation's land selection to be within or
adjacent to the core township enclosing the village. However,
there is considerable controversy within Hoonah over
potentially logging this property because of the proximity of
the logging to the city and the watershed. Huna Totem would
prefer to acquire land away from the City, and by extension
away from the local controversy, through an equal-value land
exchange with the United States.
S. 426 resolves the local problem through an equal-value
land exchange. Under the bill, the Corporation transfers
approximately 2,000 acres of the watershed/viewshed lands to
the United States in exchange for lands of an equal value and
accessible to Hoonah, selected from areas specified in the
bill. The lands conveyed to the United States under S. 426 are
added to the Tongass National Forest. The bill also contains a
provision prohibiting Huna Totem Corporation from exporting
unprocessed logs from the new lands it acquires through the
exchange.
In the 105th Congress, the Committee on Resources held
hearings on and reported a similar bill, H.R. 3088, providing
for the same land exchange as that in S. 426. H.R. 3088 was not
considered further.
For additional information, please see Senate Report 106-
30.
Committee Action
S. 426 was introduced on February 12, 1999, by Senator
Frank Murkowski (R-AK). The bill passed the Senate with
amendments on April 19, 1999, by unanimous consent. In the
House of Representatives, the bill was referred to the
Committee on Resources. On September 13, 2000, the Full
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. No amendments
were offered and the bill was ordered favorably reported by
voice vote to the House of Representatives.
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 and Article IV, section 3, of the
Constitution of the United States grant 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, credit
authority, or an increase or decrease in tax expenditures.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, enactment of this
bill could affect offsetting receipts and result in an increase
in direct spending of less than $500,000 a year, but that this
``would not have a significant impact on the federal budget.''
3. Government Reform Oversight Findings. Under clause
3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, the Committee has received no report of
oversight findings and recommendations from the Committee on
Government Reform on this bill.
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, September 15, 2000.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 426, 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. 426--Huna Totem Corporation Land Exchange Act
CBO estimates that enacting S. 426 would not have a
significant impact on the federal budget. Because the
legislation could affect offsetting receipts (a credit against
direct spending), pay-as-you-go procedures would apply, but we
estimate that any increase in direct spending would total less
than $500,000 a year. S. 426 contains no intergovernmental or
private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates
Reform Act and would impose no significant costs on the budgets
of state, local, or tribal governments.
S. 426 would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey
the surface estate to certain federal lands in the Tongass
National Forest to the Huna Totem Corporation, and also to
convey the subsurface estate to such federal lands to the
Sealaska Corporation. The lands to be conveyed would be
selected by the two corporations from federal lands depicted on
the map described in the legislation and dated September 1,
1997. The legislation also provides that the Huna Totem
Corporation and Sealaska convey to the United States
approximately 2,000 acres of surface and subsurface estate.
S. 426 does not specify the federal land to be conveyed to
the Huna Totem Corporation, but it provides that the exchange
be on the basis of equal value. Because the federal budget is
on a cash basis, the budgetary impact of the land exchange is
measured by its effect on the government's cash flow, such as
changes in offsetting receipts from timber harvests. CBO
expects that enacting this legislation could decrease
offsetting receipts to the federal government. According to the
Forest Service, the agency would generally consider the area
acquired from the corporation to be unsuitable for future
harvesting because it lies within the watershed and viewshed
for the city of Hoonah. Some of the federal land that could be
conveyed to the corporation under S. 426 currently does not
generate federal timber receipts because it has been logged
recently; however, a portion of the federal land that could be
conveyed is not currently being harvested because it has been
set aside as part of a conservation reserve under the Tongass
National Forest management plan. According to the Forest
Service, if the corporation harvested those areas following the
exchange, then the agency would be obliged under the forest
management plan to reserve for conservation another area of
federal land within the Tongass National Forest that would
otherwise be harvested under current law. We estimate that any
resulting loss of timber receipts would be less than $500,000 a
year over the 2001-2010 period.
On March 11, 1999, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S.
426, the Huna Totem Corporation Public Interest Land exchange
Act, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources on March 4, 1999. The two versions of the
legislation are nearly identical, and our estimates of their
costs 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.
Change 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, as 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 assessible 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
This same dubious land exchange was brought before the
Committee in the 105th Congress. That bill failed to pass the
House; this one deserves to meet the same ignominious fate.
[See: H.R. 3088, H. Rept. 105-784 (Dissenting views)].
We again oppose this legislation because it is contrary to
the public interest and imposes a fundamentally undesirable
exchange of lands upon the U.S. Forest Service. Under S. 426,
the Forest Service would be forced to accept lands nearby the
Southeast Alaskan community of Hoonah that they do not want to
acquire and do not want to manage. To make matters worse, the
Huna Corporation would be authorized to self-select and obtain
lands from the Tongass National Forest.
Simply put, the situation is this: the Huna corporation can
not long more lands near the community because of local
opposition to additional clear-cutting so they want to acquire
and log more lands from the national forest. Huna corporation
has already logged the vast majority of the 23,000 acres they
received under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971.
In effect, they want to unilaterally rewrite that settlement to
obtain more desirable lands, while foisting upon the Forest
Service management responsibilities for core lands around the
village of Hoonah.
This is clearly not a case where Congress would ratify a
mutually negotiated land exchange. It's not even clear how much
national forest land the Huna corporation would seek to obtain,
since the export restrictions in the bill make the Tongass land
less valuable for logging than the village lands the
corporation currently owns. In order to equalize exchange
values under the terms of this bill, Huna may argue that more
than 2,000 acres of national forest should be conveyed out of
public ownership. Prime sitka spruce logs, for example, may be
a dozen times more valuable to the corporation if exported than
if processed domestically. But if left standing as old-growth
national forest, without this exchange, the values to future
generations greatly exceed any short-term logging profit.
S. 426, which seeks to have Congress impose an adversarial
land exchange on the Forest Service, has failed to change or
improve with age. Both the Secretaries of Agriculture and
Interior oppose the bill and have stated that they will
recommend a veto if it is enacted by Congress. The House should
reject this legislation.
George Miller