In the last week of August, the Biden administration finalized protection of 28 million acres of federal land and water in Alaska that is critical for birds, fish, caribou, and the communities that rely on them. That’s an...more
Congresswoman Harriet Hageman, Chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs, announced a hearing scheduled for July 24, 2024, at 10:15 AM to consider four bills related to...more
In a momentous legal development, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon L. Gleason has vacated and remanded a decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to place a 787-square-foot parcel of land in downtown Juneau into...more
On August 3, 2023, Senator Lisa Murkowski and Senator Dan Sullivan introduced S.2615, which would amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to provide that Alaska Native Village Corporations will no longer be required to...more
May 10, 2023 Shareholder On May 5, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a new funding program to assist Alaska Native entities to address and remediate contaminated lands in Alaska....more
Alaskans should prepare for major changes to the unique legal framework governing tribal lands in Alaska. In mid-November, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced that it can acquire lands in trust for Alaska’s...more
On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed an omnibus spending package for the upcoming fiscal year. Included in its nearly 3,000 pages is a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). As reauthorized, VAWA...more
On June 25, in a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court held that Alaska Native Corporations (“ANCs”), are entitled to COVID-19 relief funds; solidifying that ANCs qualify as tribes. The ruling in Yellen v. Confederated Tribes of...more
On June 25, 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6–3 decision, in Yellen v. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, that Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) are “Indian tribes,” as defined by the Indian...more
Like the emergency relief funding provided to state and local governments during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act of 2020 allocated an...more
On June 25, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Yellen v. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, holding that Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) qualify as “Indian tribes” under the Indian Self-Determination and...more
A majority panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently dismissed the State of Alaska’s challenge to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s authority to acquire land in trust for Alaska...more