Senate panel to consider Doyon land conveyance bill for Denali preserve site

A US Senate committee is scheduled Wednesday to consider legislation that would convey a culturally significant site in the Denali National Park and Preserve area to Doyon, Limited.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee lists S. 4399, the Geese House Site Conveyance Act, on the agenda for a July 29 business meeting at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time. In Alaska, that is 5:30 a.m.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski introduced the bill. Sen. Dan Sullivan is a cosponsor. Rep. Nick Begich introduced companion legislation in the House.

The introduced Senate bill would require the Interior secretary to convey to Doyon about 21,578 acres in the preserve area of Denali National Park and Preserve. The bill says Doyon selected the land Sept. 18, 1978, under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

The land would count as an ANCSA conveyance. The measure also would direct Interior to adjust the Denali boundary to exclude the conveyed land.

The legislation sets limits on what Doyon could do with the site. The bill says Doyon could not transfer the land to anyone other than the United States, authorize mining or mineral activity on it, or permit development that would undermine the cultural value or significance of Geese House. Interior would reserve public easements required under ANCSA.

Doyon describes Geese House as a natural rock formation, not a building. The corporation says the site is near Lake Minchumina, close to the confluence of Birch Creek and the Muddy River, and has long been important in Athabascan oral tradition. Doyon says it intends to limit use of the site to shareholders and to people with a legitimate working need to visit for maintenance, protection or documentation.

Murkowski's office said in April that the bill is needed because the site was selected decades ago but was later incorporated into Denali National Park and Preserve under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. The office said the National Park Service determined existing law did not give enough authority to complete the conveyance administratively.

The Geese House parcel is not an isolated case. It reflects a broader pattern in Alaska of unresolved ANCSA land selections that federal conservation designations later encompassed, leaving Congress to reconcile Native corporation entitlements with park and preserve boundaries. Doyon has received title to more than 11.5 million acres of its 12.5 million-acre ANCSA allocation.

Wednesday's committee meeting would not be final passage. If the committee advances the bill, it would still need Senate floor action, House action on identical language and the president's signature before becoming law.