Cite as: 521 U. S. 1 (1997)
Opinion of the Court
In sum, we conclude that the application by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife to withdraw lands for a wildlife refuge reflected a clear intent to reserve submerged lands as well as uplands. The Range's boundary was drawn so that the periodically submerged tidelands were necessarily included within it; the boundary description referred on its face to submerged features such as bars and reefs. Moreover, the purpose of the federal reservation—protecting the habitats of various species found along the coast and in other navigable water bodies within the Range—supported inclusion of submerged lands within the Range.
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We now consider whether, prior to Alaska's admission to the Union, the United States defeated the future State's title to the submerged lands included within the proposed Range.
The Alaska Statehood Act set forth a general rule that the United States would retain title to all property it held prior to Alaska's admission to the Union, while the State of Alaska would acquire title to all property held by the Territory of Alaska or its subdivisions. Pub. L. 85-508, § 5, 72 Stat. 340. There were several exceptions to that provision. Of primary relevance here is § 6(e), which transferred to Alaska "[a]ll real and personal property of the United States situated in the Territory of Alaska which is specifically used for the sole purpose of conservation and protection of the fisheries and wildlife of Alaska . . . [provided] [t]hat such transfer shall not include lands withdrawn or otherwise set apart as refuges or reservations for the protection of wildlife . . . ." Id., at 340-341.
In our view, under § 6(e) of the Alaska Statehood Act, the United States retained the Range as lands "withdrawn or otherwise set apart as refuges or reservations for the protection of wildlife," rather than transferring the lands to Alaska. As discussed above, the 1957 application reflected an intent to include submerged lands within the Range. Shortly after
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