Unrecognized Southeast Alaska Native Communities Recognition and Compensation Act

This bill recognizes five Southeast Alaska Native communities that were left out of an earlier law. It lets Alaska Native residents in Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell create local corporations and receive land to settle their claims.

The Interior Department must transfer about 23,040 acres to each new corporation. The regional Native corporation for Southeast Alaska receives the underground rights. The land includes roads, trails, and log transfer sites, and it stays open for subsistence uses and noncommercial hunting, fishing, and recreation, with posted, reasonable rules for safety and the environment.

• Who is affected: Alaska Native residents of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell.
• What changes:
  • Residents can form new local Alaska Native corporations and receive land to settle their claims.
  • Eligible residents get 100 shares in their new local corporation; people who inherited regional shares from someone originally enrolled to these villages get the same number of shares in the local corporation.
  • These shareholders still receive regional dividends as “at‑large” shareholders.
  • Each corporation may set up a community trust to support health, education, and welfare, and to preserve local Native heritage; funds help elders and children first.
• Land and access:
  • About 23,040 acres go to each new corporation; the regional Native corporation gets the underground rights.
  • The land includes any U.S. interest in roads, trails, and related facilities; existing use agreements continue.
  • Public access for subsistence and noncommercial recreation remains, with reasonable posted rules.
• When:
  • The goal is to finish the initial land transfers within about two years after each new corporation is created, with a possible one‑year extension to finish access-route decisions.
  • A road‑use agreement with the Forest Service should be in place within about one year; until then, temporary access continues.