44
Opinion of the Court
The Pickett Act nowhere specifically mentions submerged lands, and Alaska therefore challenges the Master's conclusion that the Pickett Act gave the President the express authority to dispose of them. Its argument rests mainly on the proposition that the Pickett Act's reference to "withdraw[al]" of "public lands" cannot include submerged lands, because such lands are not subject to sale, settlement, or entry under the general land laws and therefore need not be "withdrawn." Cf. Utah Div. of State Lands, 482 U. S., at 203 (1888 Act stated that lands designated for reservoir sites were " 'reserved from sale as the property of the United States, and shall not be subject . . . to entry, settlement or occupation' "; rejecting claim that Act authorized inclusion of submerged lands in part because such lands were already exempt from sale, entry, or occupation); Mann v. Tacoma Land Co., 153 U. S. 273, 284 (1894) ("[T]he general legislation of Congress in respect to public lands does not extend to tide lands"); Shively, 152 U. S., at 48 ("Congress has never undertaken by general laws to dispose of" land under navigable waters).
Assuming, arguendo, that Alaska's construction of the Pickett Act is correct, it does not control the outcome of this case. We conclude that Congress ratified the terms of the 1923 Executive Order in § 11(b) of the Statehood Act. Despite Alaska's protestations to the contrary, there would have been no barrier to Congress retaining a petroleum reserve, including submerged lands, at the point of Alaska's statehood, provided it satisfied Utah Div. of State Lands' requirements of demonstrating a clear intent to include submerged lands within the Reserve's scope and a clear intent to defeat Alaska's title. It follows that Congress could achieve the same result by explicitly recognizing, at the point of Alaska's statehood, an Executive reservation that clearly included submerged lands. Cf. Utah Div. of State Lands, supra, at 205-207 (examining United States' claim that references to the bed of Utah Lake made by the Geological
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