The "Cape Fox Land Entitlement Finalization Act of 2025" addresses land entitlement for the Cape Fox Village Corporation in Alaska. It waives the core township requirement for certain land and allows selection outside the exterior selection boundary. The Secretary of the Interior is tasked with conveying the land to Cape Fox and the subsurface estate to Sealaska Corporation. The conveyance is to fulfill entitlement under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Additionally, it reserves a public access easement for National Forest System land and ensures that existing rights and encumbrances are respected.
Cape Fox Land Entitlement Finalization Act of 2025
This bill waives a statutory core township selection requirement for the Cape Fox Corporation and allows Cape Fox to receive other lands to fulfill its remaining land entitlement. Cape Fox is an Alaska Native village corporation for the Alaska Native village of Saxman, Alaska.
Specifically, the bill states that Cape Fox shall not be required to receive its previously selected land of approximately 185 acres located within the township in which the Alaska Native village of Saxman, Alaska, is located. Instead, the bill allows Cape Fox to receive land outside of Cape Fox's current exterior selection boundary upon written notice of the new selection to the Department of the Interior.
In particular, if Cape Fox submits written notice of its selection of approximately 180 acres of surface land within the Tongass National Forest in Alaska to Interior within 90 days of the bill's enactment, then Interior must convey the federal land to Cape Fox. Upon conveyance of the surface estate of the federal land to Cape Fox, Interior must convey the subsurface estate of the federal land to Sealaska Corporation (the Alaska Native regional corporation representing southeastern Alaska).
The bill reserves a public access easement on the federal land conveyed to Cape Fox and Sealaska.