Haley Stevens: “My amendment provides an appropriation to recompense an Alaskan community for its inability to receive a municipal land…”

“My amendment provides an appropriation to recompense an Alaskan community for its inability to receive a municipal land entitlement under the Alaska Statehood Act and Alaska state laws. The city of Craig is a small town located on the southern end of Prince of Wales Island in southeast Alaska. It is the only community in southeast Alaska which was unable to receive a municipal entitlement under Alaska state law. This is a result of a 20-year process in the 1960s and 1970s by which the U.S. Forest Service and State of Alaska could not agree on the process for State selections under the Alaska Statehood Act at Craig. In 1971, Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. ANCSA authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to work with the State 'for the purpose of effecting land consolidations or to facilitate the management or development of the land. Exchanges shall be on the basis of equal value, and either party to the exchange may pay or accept cash in order to equalize the value of the properties exchanged.'”