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August 21, 2015 The Honorable Bill Walker Re: Akiachak Native Community Litigation Dear Governor Walker: The Resource Development Council for Alaska, Inc. (RDC) is writing to urge your administration to appeal the Akiachak Native Community lawsuit that, along with a Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) final rule effective January 22, 2015, would result in the establishment of additional trust land in Alaska. It is imperative that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia be appealed to achieve a final resolution on this critical issue. RDC is a statewide business association comprised of individuals and companies from Alaska’s oil and gas, mining, forest products, tourism and fisheries industries. RDC’s membership includes Alaska Native Corporations, local communities, organized labor, and industry support firms. RDC’s purpose is to encourage a strong, diversified private sector in Alaska and expand the state’s economic base through the responsible development of our natural resources. The federal court held that the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) did not repeal the Secretary of the Interior’s authority to take lands into trust pursuant to another statute, Section 5 of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. The court further held that the Alaska exception diminished the privileges and immunities of Alaska tribes relative to other tribes. As a result, the federal court has determined that tribes can petition to place their lands in trust under the federal government. This could create a patchwork of governmental jurisdiction in Alaska that further complicate and threaten community and resource development, block access to rights and property, reduce tax revenues, undermine state and local regulation, impact infrastructure development, and impede state management of fish and game resources. If the court’s decision is allowed to stand, it will transfer primary jurisdiction over land taken into trust from the State of Alaska to the federal government and the affected Indian tribe. With more than 200 entities in Alaska identified as tribes by the BIA, the land under trust could expand in magnitude with unintended consequences across the state, including potential impacts to a future gasline in our great state. ANCSA states in Chapter 33, 1601 (b), “The settlement should be accomplished rapidly, with certainty, in conformity with the real economic and social needs of Natives, without litigation, with maximum participation by Natives in decisions affecting their rights and property, without establishing any permanent racially defined institutions, rights, privileges, or obligations, without creating a reservation system or lengthy wardship or trusteeship, and without adding to the categories of property and institutions enjoying special tax privileges or to the legislation establishing special relationships between the United States Government and the State of Alaska.” RDC urges your administration to appeal the Akiachak case finding overturning the Congressional intent found in ANCSA, which has long been interpreted by the Department of Interior, in what was known as the Alaska exception, to preclude the federal government’s acquisition of land in trust for tribes in Alaska. It is imperative to achieve finality on this critical issue. Sincerely, cc: Craig Richards, Attorney General |