An Act relating to the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve.

Updated: January 31, 2000

Although the bill status lists SB 194 as concerning the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, the substance of the this legislation is to correct a land ownership problem caused by a survey error.

Mr. David Pahl of Haines, Alaska purchased a piece of property near the Klehini River in 1995. Originally, the property was part of a state land disposal that had been subdivided and surveyed. Unfortunately, one of the parcels had been mis-monumented.

Mr. Pahl relied on the errant survey markers to define the location of his property. Right-of-way requirements of a state highway project revealed that the recorded plat of Mr. Pahl’s property was an adjacent parcel, which had largely been taken by the Klehini River. Mr. Pahl appealed to the Department of Natural Resources to rectify the situation by giving him title to the piece of property he always thought was his. This solution is not available because an earlier action had placed the subject property within the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve.

SB 194 would allow the Commissioner of Nature Resources and the director of the Division of Lands to reclaim the property from the Preserve and give title to Mr. Pahl in exchange for the largely submerged parcel.