Sealaska Legislation

Tongass Conservation Society’s Position on Senate Bill 730 and House Bill 1408

TCS opposes S 730 and HR 1408, cited as “Southeast Alaska Native Land Entitlement Finalization and Jobs Protection Acts”.  These bills propose to transfer publicly owned lands in the Tongass National Forest to a private company, Sealaska Corp. Sealaska already selected its remaining lands from the agreed upon withdrawal areas in accordance with The Alaska Land Transfer Acceleration Act on June 10, 2008.  We oppose allowing Sealaska Corporation to select lands other than those already selected within the boundaries established under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971.  These outside selections would significantly compromise the unique values of the Tongass National Forest for wildlife habitat, fish propagation and recreational opportunities now available to all Americans. Passage would undermine the Tongass Land Management Plan and the Tongass Transition Framework being developed by the USDA.  S 730 and HR 1408 would authorize an exchange of low value timberland for some of the best fish and wildlife habitat in the United States, if not the world, so Sealaska Corporation can log these areas and ship the unprocessed logs overseas.

Our concern about this threat to the ecological integrity of the Tongass National Forest comes from direct observation of Sealaska’s intensive logging practices (practices that would be illegal on National Forest land) including: clearcutting timber from the alpine edge all the way to the beach without leaving any remnant old-growth stands of trees and leaving inadequate timber buffers along waterways to protect resident and anadromous fish stream habitat. Many of our members make their livelihood from fishing on the waters of the Tongass National Forest.  Still others are in visitor, tourism and outdoor recreation businesses.  S730 and HR 1408 would privatize dozens of undeveloped coves, bays and streams currently publicly accessible for recreational use.  The “enterprise/native futures” sites are poorly defined in these bills, leaving valuable archeological sites of interest to all of humanity at risk of unrestricted eventual development.  For example:  The oldest human remains yet found in North America have been found in the Prince of Wales Island Archipelago, the site of most of Sealaska Corporation’s selections in these bills, and these human remains are not genetically related to the Alaska Native peoples currently residing in Southeast Alaska.

Additional Congressional action is not necessary for the Bureau of Land Management to complete conveyance of Sealaska Corporation land entitlements under ANCSA.  Finalization of these entitlements should be a priority, but TCS does not agree with any proposal that extends beyond the withdrawal areas agreed upon under ANCSA and strongly opposes S730 and HR 1408.

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