Good for the Tongass

Sealaska is committed to protecting and preserving the lands that have sustained our people for millennia. Our land legislation will do just that.

The legislation will allow us to select lands that are more suitable to fulfill the promise of ANCSA than the lands that are currently available to us. The bill also ensures that the public will gain, not lose, roadless areas and old growth forest, and it protects conservation areas and sensitive municipal watersheds that are important to local communities and the region. Sealaska will not receive any more land than it is entitled to receive in accordance with ANCSA.

Under S.730 /H.R. 1408 Sealaska is giving up selections in the original withdrawal boundaries which totals 327,000 acres. Why:

protect inventoried roadless areas
Of the 327,00 acres:
85% or 227,000 acres are designated roadless
112,000 acres are productive old-growth remain in public ownership forests that provide habitat for fish, birds, deer, wolves and bears.

As a result , Sealaska would take ownership of 85,000 acres of land with great cultural, historical and economic value. Much of this acreage is already roaded and is young growth. Approximately 8,600 acres would be reserved for sacred sites and “Native Futures” sites on which no commercial harvest or mineral development will occur. Overall, Sealaska would receive approximately 39,000 fewer acres of old growth than it would if it selected all its remaining lands from within the original ANCSA prescribed withdrawal areas.

To learn more about the details of the land legislation, please visit the pages below.

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