§1633 Administrative Provisions

Summary

Only the easements listed in section 17(b)(1) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1616(b)(1)] may be kept when land is given to Native Corporations or Native Groups. The Secretary must make those easements as small and specific as possible so they do not harm Native ways of life or subsistence uses. Each easement must be clearly located and include only the land needed for its purpose. If a needed easement was not reserved when the land was conveyed, the Secretary may buy or otherwise obtain it, and doing so is a public purpose that allows use of the exchange authority in section 22(f) [43 U.S.C. 1621(f)]. Any noncompetitive oil or gas lease offers under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 that were filed but did not result in a lease by December 18, 1971 are not valid existing rights for lands selected by, and conveyed before, on, or after December 2, 1980 to Native Corporations or individual Natives under paragraph (5) or (6) of section 14(h) [43 U.S.C. 1613(h)(5) or (6)], and thus are not valid under section 14(g) [43 U.S.C. 1613(g)] or this Act. This Act does not change or add restrictions to the Act of January 2, 1976 (89 Stat. 1145), as amended by Public Laws 94–456 and 95–178, nor on lands listed in section 22(k) [43 U.S.C. 1621(k)].