‘Landless Natives’ is back…and should be opposed

Sen. Murkowski has re-introduced the "Landless Natives Bill" in the Senate Energy Committee in the form of S.2554. The goal is to form new, for-profit corporations for the five communities that are in this bill; Haines, Ketchikan, Tenakee, Wrangell and Petersburg. These five communities were already considered in the 1971 ANCSA, Alaska Native Claim Settlement Act, but did not meet the qualification of a majority Native population at the time of the settlement to receive village corporation status. The Native people in these communities did however receive additional shares in the at-large regional corporation (Sealaska Corp.). In other words, these communities are not "landless" at all.

ANCSA required village corporations have "contiguous and reasonably compact tracts" and "must include a township in which all or part of the Native village is located." Under this bill each of the new corporations would be a recipient of 23,400 acres of cherry picked public parcels in the Southeast Alaska Tongass forest. Most of these locations are not even near the communities they are supposed. Some of these cherry picked locations include areas around Couverton, Homeshore, the portage between Pt. Fredrick and Tenakee Inlet, the Corner Bay Road bulkhead and control over the entire Corner Bay road system, Seal Bay and other prime spots. We all enjoy these public lands. Privatization will limit access and will cause these lands to be subject to logging and other commercial activities which has unfortunately happened in the past in Southeast Alaska.

If approved there are approximately 80 Alaskan communities that could also qualify for another bite of the ANCSA apple, resulting in an unending transfer of public lands into private ownership. It would upend the important settlement made in 1971 between the federal government and the Native people of Alaska.

This time Sen. Murkowski is trying to lump S.2554 with all other federal land proposed bills. The Senate Energy Committee will decide the next steps, if any. Please oppose this privatization of the Tongass National Forest.

Juan Munoz

Juneau