(Anchorage, AK) – With five different opinions issued by three different Solicitors of Indian Affairs in the U.S. Department of the Interior over the past several years, confusion exists over whether the 51-year-old Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) extinguished the federal government’s ability to take lands into trust in Alaska. The State filed a lawsuit […]
(Anchorage, AK) – The State of Alaska continues to hold the federal government accountable for failing to clean up contaminated lands transferred to Alaska Natives as part of the 1971 Alaska Claims Settlement Act. On Nov. 23, the State filed an amended complaint (207KB PDF) with U.S. District Court in Alaska after the federal defendants misconstrued congressional directives […]
WHEREAS, the United States of America and the State of Alaska had a duty to resolve the land claims of the Alaska Native peoples, and the settlement of those claims was integral to the future of Alaska and the country. The discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay in 1968 created a sense of urgency in […]
When the chapter about the COVID-19 pandemic is written in Alaska’s history, it will be remembered as a time of resilience, shared sacrifice, and the never-give-up spirit that lives within all Alaskans. With new tools for economic development and prosperity, I believe we can come back stronger than ever before. COVID-19 exposed critical vulnerabilities in Alaska’s […]