§ 1615. — Withdrawal and selection of public lands; funds in lieu of acreage.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 43USC1615]
TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS
CHAPTER 33--ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT
Sec. 1615. Withdrawal and selection of public lands; funds in
lieu of acreage
(a) Withdrawal of public lands; list of Native villages
All public lands in each township that encloses all or any part of a
Native village listed below, and in each township that is contiguous to
or corners on such township, except lands withdrawn or reserved for
national defense purposes, are hereby withdrawn, subject to valid
existing rights, 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, as amended:
Angoon, Southeast.
Craig, Southeast.
Hoonah, Southeast.
Hydaburg, Southeast.
Kake, Southeast.
Kasaan, Southeast.
Klawock, Southeast.
Saxman, Southeast.
Yakutat, Southeast.
(b) Native land selections; Village Corporations for listed Native
villages; acreage; proximity of selections; conformity to Lands
Survey System
During a period of three years from December 18, 1971, each Village
Corporation for the villages listed in subsection (a) of this section
shall select, in accordance with rules established by the Secretary, an
area equal to 23,040 acres, which must include the township or townships
in which all or part of the Native village is located, plus, to the
extent necessary, withdrawn lands from the townships that are contiguous
to or corner on such townships. All selections shall be contiguous and
in reasonably compact tracts, except as separated by bodies of water,
and shall conform as nearly as practicable to the United States Lands
Survey System.
(c) Tlingit-Haida settlement
The funds appropriated by the Act of July 9, 1968 (82 Stat. 307), to
pay the judgment of the Court of Claims in the case of The Tlingit and
Haida Indians of Alaska, et al. against The United States, numbered
47,900, and distributed to the Tlingit and Haida Indians pursuant to the
Act of July 13, 1970 (84 Stat. 431) [25 U.S.C. 1211], are in lieu of the
additional acreage to be conveyed to qualified villages listed in
section 1610 of this title.
(d) Withdrawal of lands for selection for village of Klukwan; benefits
under this chapter; existing entitlements; forest reserves;
quitclaims to Chilkat Indian Village; location, character, and
value of lands to be withdrawn; withdrawal and selection
periods; nonwithdrawal of lands selected or nominated for
selection by other Native Corporation or located on Admiralty
Island
(1) The Secretary is authorized and directed to withdraw seventy
thousand acres of public lands, as defined in section 1602 of this
title, in order that the Village Corporation for the village of Klukwan
may select twenty-three thousand and forty acres of land. Such
Corporation and the shareholders thereof shall otherwise participate
fully in the benefits provided by this chapter to the same extent as
they would have participated had they not elected to acquire title to
their former reserve as provided by section 1618(b) of this title:
Provided, That nothing in this subsection shall affect the existing
entitlement of any Regional Corporation to lands pursuant to section
1613(h)(8) of this title: Provided further, That no such lands shall be
withdrawn from an area previously withdrawn as a forest reserve without
prior consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture: Provided further,
That the foregoing provisions of this subsection shall not become
effective unless and until the Village Corporation for the village of
Klukwan shall quitclaim to Chilkat Indian Village, organized under the
provisions of the Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984), as amended by the
Act of May 1, 1936 (49 Stat. 1250) [25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.], all its
right, title, and interest in the lands of the reservation defined in
and vested by the Act of September 2, 1957 (71 Stat. 596), which lands
are hereby conveyed and confirmed to said Chilkat Indian Village in fee
simple absolute, free of trust and all restrictions upon alienation,
encumbrance, or otherwise: Provided further, That the United States and
the Village Corporation for the village of Klukwan shall also quitclaim
to said Chilkat Indian Village any right or interest they may have in
and to income derived from the reservation lands defined in and vested
by the Act of September 2, 1957, after December 18, 1971, and prior to
January 2, 1976.
(2) The lands withdrawn by the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (1)
of this subsection shall be located in the southeastern Alaska region
and shall be of similar character and comparable value, to the extent
possible, to those of the Chilkat Valley surrounding the village of
Klukwan. Such withdrawal shall be made within six months of October 4,
1976, and the Village Corporation for the village of Klukwan shall
select, within one year from the time that the withdrawal is made, and
be conveyed, twenty-three thousand and forty acres. None of the lands
withdrawn by the Secretary for selection by the Village Corporation for
the village of Klukwan shall have been selected by, or be subject to an
outstanding nomination for selection by, any other Native Corporation
organized pursuant to this chapter, or located on Admiralty Island.
(Pub. L. 92-203, Sec. 16, Dec. 18, 1971, 85 Stat. 705; Pub. L. 94-204,
Secs. 9, 10, Jan. 2, 1976, 89 Stat. 1150; Pub. L. 94-456, Sec. 1, Oct.
4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1934; Pub. L. 95-178, Sec. 1, Nov. 15, 1977, 91 Stat.
1369.)
References in Text
The public land laws, referred to in subsec. (a), are classified
generally to this title.
The mining laws and the mineral leasing laws, referred to in subsec.
(a), are classified generally to Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining.
The Alaska Statehood Act, as amended, referred to in subsec. (a), is
Pub. L. 85-508, July 7, 1958, 72 Stat. 239, as amended, which is set out
as a note preceding section 21 of Title 48, Territories and Insular
Possessions. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see
Tables.
Act of July 9, 1968 (82 Stat. 307), referred to in subsec. (c), is
Pub. L. 90-392, July 9, 1968, 82 Stat. 307, known as the Second
Supplemental Appropriation Act, 1968, which is not classified to the
Code.
The United States Court of Claims, referred to in subsec. (c), and
the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals were merged
effective Oct. 1, 1982, into a new United States Court of Appeals for
the Federal Circuit by Pub. L. 97-164, Apr. 2, 1982, 96 Stat. 25, which
also created a United States Claims Court [now United States Court of
Federal Claims] that inherited the trial jurisdiction of the Court of
Claims. See sections 48, 171 et seq., 791 et seq., and 1491 et seq. of
Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Act of July 13, 1970 (84 Stat. 431), referred to in subsec. (c), is
Pub. L. 91-335, July 13, 1970, 84 Stat. 431, which enacted section 1211
of Title 25, Indians. For complete classification of this Act to the
Code, see Tables.
Act of June 18, 1934, as amended by the Act of May 1, 1936, referred
to in subsec. (d)(1), is act June 18, 1934, ch. 576, 48 Stat. 984, as
amended by act May 1, 1936, ch. 254, Sec. 1, 49 Stat. 1250, popularly
known as the Indian Reorganization Act, is classified generally to
subchapter V (Sec. 461 et seq.) of chapter 14 of Title 25. For complete
classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out
under section 461 of Title 25 and Tables.
Act of September 2, 1957, referred to in subsec. (d)(1), is Pub. L.
85-271, Sept. 2, 1957, 71 Stat. 596, which is not classified to the
Code.
Amendments
1977--Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 95-178 struck out provisions relating to
allocations received by the Regional Corporation for the southeastern
Alaska region under section 1613(h)(8) of this title and selection and
conveyance of such allocated lands.
1976--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 94-456, Sec. 1(a), struck out ``Klukwan,
Southeast.'' from list of villages.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 94-204, Sec. 10, inserted provisions relating
to the selection and conveyance of such allocation as the Regional
Corporation for the southeastern Alaska region shall receive.
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 94-456, Sec. 1(b), designated existing
provisions as par. (1), substituting provision relating to authorization
and direction of Secretary to withdraw lands in order that the Village
Corporation may select twenty-three thousand and forty acres for
provision that the lands enclosing and surrounding the village which
were withdrawn by subsec. (a) are rewithdrawn to the same extent and for
the same purposes as provided by said subsec. (a) for one year from
January 2, 1976, during which the Village Corporation shall select an
area equal to twenty-three thousand and forty acres in accordance with
subsec. (b) and inserting proviso against withdrawal of such lands from
an area previously withdrawn as a forest reserve without prior
consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, and added par. (2).
Pub. L. 94-204, Sec. 9, added subsec. (d).
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 1602, 1611, 1613, 1621,
1629h, 1641 of this title.
