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- By Tribal Business News Staff
- Real Estate
The Department of the Interior this week completed conveying nearly 28,000 acres of federal land to the NANA Regional Corporation. The Alaska Native corporation now holds roughly 713,000 acres — 96% of its full entitlement under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, or ANCSA.
The Section 12(c) conveyance under ANCSA marks another step in a process that has stretched more than 50 years. While Alaska Native corporations made their initial land selections in the early 1970s, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has continued working on complex conveyances involving overlapping claims, land withdrawals and environmental reviews.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum called the transfer part of the Trump administration’s efforts to honor agreements with Alaska Native corporations while “reducing federal barriers to resource development.”
The parcels in this transfer lie at the western end of the proposed 211-mile Ambler Road corridor, adjacent to high-grade copper, zinc and gold deposits. Removing these lands from BLM jurisdiction gives NANA greater control over future exploration, infrastructure planning and conservation measures in the Ambler mining district, according to a report by North of 60 Mining News.
Congress passed ANCSA in 1971 to resolve aboriginal land claims by establishing 12 regional and over 200 village corporations instead of reservations. The act provided for the conveyance of roughly 44 million acres total.
John Lincoln, CEO of NANA Regional Corporation, said the land transfer completed a process started "many years ago" by elders and past leadership.
"We look forward to continuing to work closely with our federal government on the conveyance of the remaining 100,000-plus acres of selected lands and on other issues of great importance to our state and nation," Lincoln said in a statement.
