 June 20, 2002
Murkowski in April offered the Cape Fox Land Entitlement Adjustment Act of 2002 (S.222) to help relieve the hardships caused by special conditions imposed upon Cape Fox in ANCSA. Although ANCSA restricted other village corporations from selecting lands within two miles of a home rule city, Cape Fox was restricted from selecting lands within six miles of Ketchikan. "While this was done, in large part, to protect Ketchikan's watershed, it placed Cape Fox on an unequal economic footing relative to other village corporations in Southeast Alaska," Murkowski said. "Despite its best efforts, Cape Fox has been unable to overcome the disadvantage the law built into its land selection opportunities." Murkowski testified that between the Ketchikan City selection problem and the fact that the corporation could not select lands already owned by the Annette Island Reservation at Metlakatla, that Cape Fox was uniquely disadvantaged by ANCSA. Cape Fox Corp. Chairman Richard Shields testified that an independent appraisal performed last year found that the corporation had lost close to $50 million in economic value because of the land selection problems. "This legislation begins to correct an old injustice that still plagues us, but beyond that, it will help enable Cape Fox to not only better provide for ourselves, but also to support the development, growth and most importantly, the economic diversity of the greater Alaskan community," said Shields in his testimony. Murkowski on June 18th before a hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests argued for the legislation that relieves Cape Fox of the obligation to select 160 acres of land in the mountainous northeast corner of the corporation's core township. It permits Cape Fox instead to select 99 acres of timber land adjacent to its existing holdings on Revilla Island and directs the Forest Service to convey that land to Cape Fox. These changes will leave the corporation about 200 acres it still can select. The bill also authorizes an exchange of up to 3,000 acres of corporation land near George Inlet on Revilla Island for approximately 2,600 acres of Forest Service land near Berners Bay, north of Juneau. The Forest Service has long wanted to acquire the George Inlet parcels for wildlife and recreation purposes. The land to be selected near Slate Lakes, north of Berners Bay, will enable the proposed Kensington Gold Mine to operate totally on private land, which may help speed its development. Murkowski added the proposed land exchange would help Cape Fox, but also the public by solving a related subsurface land ownership issue. "Approximately 9,000 acres of the Tongass, where the subsurface rights are privately owned, would revert to full ownership by the United States if we are successful in passing this bill," said Murkowski. "This bill will allow Cape Fox to make the transition from its dependence on timber harvest to a more diversified portfolio of income-producing lands," Murkowski said. The bill, with modifications, was supported by the U.S. Forest Service at the hearing. The bill remains in the committee for consideration
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