Bill Stops Further UN Land Grabs in US 

A bill introduced by Rep. Don Young, a Republican from Alaska, would bar any further transfers of U.S. land to the United Nations without congressional action.

The legislation (HR-901, The American Land Sovereignty Protection Act) notes that land has been designated to the UN by the President through international agreements and by independent entities without congressional authority.

It also notes that these designation may affect the value and the use of nearby private property as well as impairing the sovereignty of the states.

The bill is intended to "reaffirm the power of the Congress . . . over the disposal, management and use of lands belonging to the U.S., and to protect the rights of private property owners

The bill forbids the Secretary of the Interior from nominating U.S.-owned land for the World Heritage List without first certifying hat commercial use of the land -- and other lands within 10 miles -- will not be adversely affected; and that "the nomination is specifically authorized by a law" enacted after this bill.

Some sites in the U.S. have already been designated Biosphere Reserves under a United Nations program. The bill revokes such designation and requires that any future designations be subject to a "management plan" that ensures that the use of "intermixed or adjacent non-Federal property is not limited or restricted" by such designation.

Young's bill requires the Secretary of State to submit an annual report on each Biosphere Reserve in the U.S. to the chairman and ranking member of the House Committee on Resources and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The report must include an accounting of all money spent to manage the reserve, a list an explanation of all non-government organizations that contributed to the management of the reserve, and an account of complaints received the Secretary concerning the Reserve

With certain exception, the bill provides that a nomination or designation of lands under an international agreement is invalid if the land is owned by a state unless the state has enacted a law authorizing such designation and, private land cannot be designated under international agreements without written consent of the owner.