U.S. Water News Online
WASHINGTON -- Alaska officials are asking the federal government for official state ownership of lands beneath eight rivers and lakes.
The Salcha and Kasilof rivers are on the list the state Department of Natural Resources submitted to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
Under federal law, the lands under navigable waters belong to states. But unresolved debates about the definition of "navigable'' and other disputes have prevented the state from obtaining title to most such submerged land in Alaska.
In December 2002, the Bush administration said it wanted states to ask for recordable disclaimers as a way to get their land. The disclaimer is a statement that the federal government does not own a piece of property. The disclaimers can apply not only to riverbeds but also to road rights of way, including those claimed by states under the defunct federal Revised Statute 2477.
The Bush administration said it was trying to resolve property disputes without going to court -- the most common way to establish ownership. Environmental groups, however, said the new policy opened a new path for developers. Last year, they tried unsuccessfully to pass legislation in Congress that would have blocked all disclaimers in national parks and refuges.
Dick Mylius, a state DNR spokesman, said the disclaimers would recognize the state's existing ownership, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.
"This is simply an administrative process that allows BLM to formally disclaim any title interest in the beds of these state-owned navigable waters and clears the cloud on the state's title,'' Mylius said. "The state's title to submerged lands is somewhat clouded because it took ownership at statehood without any written documentation.''
Other lands for which the state applied include those under: the Chilkoot and Chilkat rivers and lakes near Haines, and the Tsirku and Klehini rivers, both tributaries of the Chilkat.
BLM will take public comment on the applications.
The BLM is already considering state applications for Tazlina River and Lake, Klutina River and Lake, the Kvichak River and Lake Iliamna.
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