http://crockettlives.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/obama-gives-alaska-away/

According to some US individuals, including the group State Department Watch,[33] eight Arctic islands currently controlled by Russia, including Wrangel Island, are claimed by the United States. However, according to the United States Department of State[34] no such claim exists. The USSR/USA Maritime Boundary Treaty,[35] which has yet to be approved by the Russian Duma, does not specifically address the status of these islands nor the maritime boundaries associated with them.

On June 1, 1990, Secretary of State James Baker signed an executive agreement with Eduard Shevardnadze, the former U.S.S.R. foreign minister. It specified that even though the treaty had not been ratified, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. agreed to abide by the terms of the treaty beginning June 15, 1990. According to State Department Watch, neither the public nor Congress were informed of this executive agreement during the period leading up to the ratification vote. [36] The Senate ratified the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Maritime Boundary Treaty in 1991, which was then signed by President George Bush.[37]

In 2004 Wrangel Island and neighboring Herald Island, along with their surrounding waters, were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List.[38]

Post-Soviet era

According to some US individuals, including the group State Department Watch,[33] eight Arctic islands currently controlled by Russia, including Wrangel Island, are claimed by the United States. However, according to the United States Department of State[34] no such claim exists. The USSR/USA Maritime Boundary Treaty,[35] which has yet to be approved by the Russian Duma, does not address the status of these islands nor the maritime boundaries associated with them.

In 2004 Wrangel Island and neighboring Herald Island, along with their surrounding waters, were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List.[36]

On June 1, 1990, Secretary of State James Baker signed a secret executive agreement with Eduard Shevardnadze, the former U.S.S.R. foreign minister. It specified that even though the treaty had not been ratified, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. agreed to abide by the terms of the treaty beginning June 15, 1990. The Senate ratified the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Maritime Boundary Treaty in 1991, which was then signed by President George Bush.

This executive agreement was hidden from the public and Congress for nearly two years after it was signed in June 1990. It was not disclosed in any public news release when it was signed in June 1990. It was not mentioned in the President George Bush’s transmittal of the proposed treaty Agreement to the Senate. It was not mentioned in any testimony at the Senate hearing on the proposed treaty Agreement by the State Department in June 1991. It was not mentioned in the Committee Report on that hearing. It was not mentioned in the full Senate debate in September 1991. http://www.statedepartmentwatch.org/1990ExecAgreement.htm

The United States-U.S.S.R. Maritime Boundary moved the line between Russia and Alaska in such a way that eight islands that were specified as part of Alaska when it was purchased from Russia would become part of Russia once again.

The imperiled Arctic Ocean islands include Wrangell, Bennett, Jeannette and Henrietta. Wrangell became American in 1881 with the landing of the U.S. Revenue Marine ship Thomas Corwin. The landing party included the famed naturalist John Muir. It is 3,000 square miles in size.

Northwest of Wrangell are the DeLong Islands, named for George Washington DeLong, the captain of USS Jeannette. Also in 1881, he discovered and claimed these three islands for the United States. He named them for the voyage co-sponsor, New York City newspaper publisher James Gordon Bennett. The ship’s crew received a hero’s welcome back in Washington, and Congress awarded them gold medals.

In the Bering Sea at the far west end of the Aleutian chain are Copper Island, Sea Lion Rock and Sea Otter Rock. They were ceded to the U.S. in Seward’s 1867 treaty with Russia.