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Amends Section 7 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1606) by replacing specified sentences in subsection (j), striking and inserting a new heading and text for subsection (j) concerning distribution of corporate funds and other net income, adding a new paragraph (4) identifying Native Villages (Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell) and their eligibility to receive distributions as at-large shareholders of the Regional Corporation for Southeast Alaska, and by adding a new subsection (s) (Effect of amendatory Act) clarifying that the amendatory act and its amendments do not affect the revenue distribution ratio among Native Corporations or certain settlement agreements or other provisions of subsection (i) or (j).
Adds a new subsection (d) to 43 U.S.C. 1607 establishing enrollment and share-entitlement rules for individuals from the Native Villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell to the corresponding Urban Corporations, including rules for inherited shares and a provision preserving acreage allocations under sections 12(b) and 14(h)(8).
Adds a new subsection (e) to authorize Native residents of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, Alaska to organize as Urban Corporations and preserves existing land entitlements for Native Corporations established before enactment.
Makes five southeastern Alaska communities that were omitted from the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act eligible to form Urban Corporations and receive settlement lands and shares. The bill directs the Secretary to enroll eligible Alaska Natives from Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell into newly authorized Urban Corporations, conveys roughly 23,040 acres of surface land to each Urban Corporation (with corresponding subsurface to the Southeast Regional Corporation), protects existing rights and easements, requires mutual‑use agreements for roads/facilities, allows each Urban Corporation to create a settlement trust, and authorizes $12.5 million in grants to support implementation. Also changes ANCSA enrollment and share rules (including how inherited Regional Corporation shares transfer into the new Urban Corporations), preserves prior land entitlements and distribution eligibility for affected village members, limits liability except for willful acts, and establishes timelines and map-based descriptions for the conveyances and easement processes.
Authorizes Alaska Natives enrolled in the communities of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell to form Urban Corporations for those communities under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
Authorizes Alaska Natives enrolled in those communities to receive certain settlement land pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
Adds a new subsection (e) to Section 16 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1615) at the end of that section.
Authorizes the Native residents of each of the Native Villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, Alaska to organize as Urban Corporations.
States that nothing in this new subsection affects any entitlement to land of any Native Corporation that was established before the date of enactment of this subsection under this Act or any other law.
Primary direct beneficiaries are Alaska Native individuals who reside in or are enrolled from Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell: they can organize as Urban Corporations, receive shares, and gain access to specified settlement surface lands. The Southeast Alaska Regional Corporation will receive the subsurface estates for these conveyed parcels, which affects resource and mineral rights administration. Existing ANCSA Native Corporations and Regional Corporations are protected: prior land entitlements, allocations, and distribution eligibility are preserved so that previously conferred rights are not reduced by this Act. Federal implementation responsibilities fall on the Department of the Interior/Secretary (enrollment, conveyances, share accounting, map-based legal descriptions), increasing administrative workload and requiring interagency coordination. Local governments and public users will be affected by easement, public access, and mutual‑use provisions for roads and facilities; there may be negotiations and operational changes to shared infrastructure. The authorized $12.5M in grants provides implementation funding that can ease transition costs, but long‑term land and resource management obligations will rest with the new Urban Corporations and the Regional Corporation. Potential areas of practical or legal friction include precise share transfer mechanics, resolving overlapping claims or easements, timing of conveyances tied to map finalization, and coordination between corporations and affected communities.
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Introduced July 30, 2025 by Lisa Murkowski · Last progress July 30, 2025
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Introduced in Senate