Cite as: 521 U. S. 1 (1997)
Opinion of the Court
of the lands within the Range—uplands as well as submerged lands—would not have been transferred to Alaska at statehood as real property used for the protection of wildlife unless covered by the proviso. Unless all lands—submerged lands and uplands—covered by the application were "set apart" within the meaning of the proviso to § 6(e), they would have passed to Alaska under the main clause of § 6(e). There is no basis for concluding that the United States retained uplands but not submerged lands within the Range.
C
In sum, we conclude that the United States did not transfer to Alaska submerged lands within the Range at state-hood. The 1957 application to create the wildlife refuge clearly encompassed submerged lands. Since its seaward boundary is the low-water line along Alaska's coast, the Range necessarily encompasses the tidelands. Further reflecting an intent to withhold submerged lands is the statement of justification accompanying the application, which describes the habitat of various species along the coast and beneath inland waters. A Department of the Interior regulation in effect when the application was filed and when Congress passed the Alaska Statehood Act operated to "segregate" the lands for which the application was pending. Section 6(e) of the Alaska Statehood Act expressly prevented lands that had been "set apart as [a] refug[e]" from passing to Alaska. It follows that, because all of the lands covered by the 1957 application had been "set apart" for future use as a refuge, the United States retained title to submerged lands within the Range. We therefore sustain the United States' exception to the Master's recommendation.
VI
We overrule Alaska's exceptions to the Special Master's recommended rulings that (1) Alaska's submerged lands in the vicinity of barrier islands should be measured as a 3-mile
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