Alaska Land Swap Trades 231,000 Acres of Subsurface Rights to Feds for Conservation Cleanup

The Chugach Alaska Land Exchange Oil Spill Recovery Act of 2025 is essentially a massive, mandatory land trade designed to clean up a legal mess left over from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. The core problem? After the spill, the government used settlement money to buy up the surface rights to over 600,000 acres for conservation. But thanks to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), the regional corporation, Chugach Alaska, held the subsurface rights—meaning they owned the valuable minerals and oil underneath, which they have a right to develop. This bill fixes that split ownership.

Swapping Oil Rights for Developable Land

This Act formalizes a mandatory swap: Chugach Alaska will convey approximately 231,000 acres of its subsurface rights to the U.S. government, perfecting the conservation status of those lands (SEC. 2). In return, the Secretary of the Interior must transfer about 65,374 acres of Federal land in fee simple (meaning Chugach gets both surface and subsurface rights) to Chugach Alaska, provided Chugach makes the offer within one year (SEC. 4). This helps the federal government achieve its conservation goals by eliminating the threat of mineral development on those protected lands, and it helps Chugach Alaska consolidate its holdings into more easily developable assets to meet its obligations to its shareholders.

What the Exchange Looks Like on the Ground

For the federal government, this is a big win for conservation. They gain full ownership of the subsurface rights to lands purchased under the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Habitat Protection and Acquisition Program, guaranteeing that those areas—which are now primarily National Forest and National Park Service lands—remain protected indefinitely (SEC. 4). For regular folks who care about the environment, this removes a major conflict point: no more worrying about oil or mineral extraction disrupting the conservation efforts funded by the original spill settlement.

On Chugach Alaska’s side, they are giving up vast, scattered subsurface rights that were difficult and expensive to develop due to the split ownership, and receiving consolidated, fee simple land. This new land includes specific parcels of National Forest System Land (about 63,414 acres) and smaller tracts of BLM and NPS land (about 1,960 acres) (SEC. 4). This makes it easier for them to manage and potentially develop their assets without the bureaucratic hurdles of working around federal conservation easements. This is a practical solution for a Native Corporation needing to generate returns for its shareholders.

The Mandatory Clause and Real-World Impact

One detail that jumps out is the mandatory nature of the exchange. Section 4 states that if Chugach Alaska offers the subsurface rights, the Secretary must accept and transfer the federal exchange land. This streamlines the process dramatically, but it also removes the typical discretionary oversight that usually accompanies massive land deals. The only real condition is that the title Chugach offers must be in a form the Secretary finds acceptable, which gives the Secretary broad, undefined discretion over what passes muster.

This bill resolves a complex, decades-long administrative headache. While it’s a highly specific deal between the government and a corporation, the real-world impact is clear: the conservation status of over 200,000 acres of Alaskan land is solidified, and a major Alaska Native Corporation receives consolidated assets, simplifying land management for everyone involved. For third parties, the bill notes that the exchange is subject to any existing rights, like easements or rights-of-way, meaning if you already have a cabin or a utility line running through one of these parcels, your rights should still be protected, though the administrative agency managing the land will change.