HR 2815: Cape Fox Land Entitlement Finalization Act of 2025

HR 2815 in plain English: This act waives a requirement that Cape Fox Corporation, an Alaska Native village corporation for Saxman, Alaska, must receive approximately 185 acres within a specific township to fulfill its land entitlement. Instead, Cape Fox may select approximately 180 acres of surface land within the Tongass National Forest if it notifies the Department of the Interior within 90 days of enactment. The federal government must then convey that surface land to Cape Fox and the subsurface estate to Sealaska Corporation.

Stated purpose

To provide equitable treatment for the people of the Cape Fox Village Corporation, the Alaska Native village corporation for Saxman, Alaska, by waiving a legal requirement that would have forced them to accept certain land parcels and instead allowing them to fulfill their land entitlement with roughly 180 acres of Tongass National Forest land they prefer.

Key points

• Waives the rule requiring Cape Fox to accept its previously selected ~185 acres within the Saxman township
• Allows Cape Fox to select ~180 acres of surface land in the Tongass National Forest instead
• Requires the Department of the Interior to complete the land conveyance if Cape Fox submits written notice within 90 days
• Transfers subsurface rights of the conveyed land to Sealaska Corporation
• Reserves a public access easement on all conveyed federal land

Arguments supporters make

• Cape Fox has waited a long time for land it is legally owed, and this bill finally lets the corporation receive land that actually works for its community rather than parcels that do not meet its needs.
• Honoring Alaska Native land entitlements promised under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act is a matter of keeping the federal government's word to indigenous communities.
• The bill protects public access with an easement, so the transfer does not lock the general public out of surrounding National Forest land.

Arguments opponents make

• Transferring roughly 180 acres of Tongass National Forest — public land managed for all Americans — to a private corporation permanently removes it from the federal public land base.
• Waiving the standard 'core township' requirement sets a precedent that could encourage other corporations to seek similar exceptions to settled land settlement rules.
• The subsurface estate goes to Sealaska Corporation, meaning future resource extraction rights on this land shift from federal oversight to a private entity with fewer public-interest constraints.

Tradeoffs

Fulfilling a longstanding legal land entitlement for an Alaska Native community comes at the cost of removing approximately 180 acres from the Tongass National Forest's public land base; the bill preserves a public access easement but cannot fully restore the public ownership stake that is given up.

Current status in Congress: Became law.

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