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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 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contiguous to or corners on such township, except lands withdrawn
or reserved for national defense purposes, are hereby withdrawn,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village is located, plus, to the extent necessary, withdrawn lands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character, and value of lands to be withdrawn; withdrawal and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.
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