By ANNE SUTTON
The Associated Press

JUNEAU - U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has reintroduced legislation to resolve land problems facing a village Native corporation near Ketchikan.

Unlike a previous measure, the legislation from the Alaska Republican does not involve a controversial swap of U.S. Forest Service lands at Berners Bay near Juneau.

Instead, the measure would allow the Saxman-based Cape Fox Corp. to trade 160 acres of its own mountainous land for 99 acres of timbered U.S. Forest Service land next to its current holdings on Revillagigedo Island.

The corporation supports the latest version of the bill, said CEO Bruce Borup.

"It works for Cape Fox," Borup said.

The corporation claims it was treated unfairly in the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act because the lands it received had no economic value.

Murkowski said she hoped to redress the wrong done to Native shareholders.

"It is my hope that this legislation will provide the remedies needed to help address this long-standing inequity," Murkowski said in a prepared statement announcing the measure's introduction Wednesday.

An earlier version of the trade, that included land next to the Kensington gold mine in Berners Bay, a popular recreational area, was strongly opposed by environmentalists and Juneau residents. The legislation died in the U.S. Senate two years ago.

The current version was introduced last year but did not have a committee hearing.

Borup is hoping to gain momentum by building local support behind the bill.

Community and conservation groups are cautiously optimistic that the measure may be expanded to protect the Leask Lake area, north of Ketchikan, which includes important deer habitat and is used by the public for hunting and fishing and accessing other recreational areas.

Areas of the Leask Lake corridor, now owned by the Alaska Mental Health Land Trust, are slated for cutting by Ketchikan-based Alcan Logging.

Borup said he is hoping to offer the 99 acres instead, should the legislation pass Congress.

"If Alcan needs to deliver wood to their customers, I will work with them to cut that parcel before they move into sensitive areas identified by the Leask Lake users," said Borup.

Southeast Alaska Land Trust director Diane Mayer said she views the bill as an opportunity to protect an important area.

"I think the big news is that there is a collective interest in getting that done. So if there's a way that this bill can help promote that collective interest, then we are interested in working with it," said Mayer.