Unrecognized Southeast Alaska Native Communities Recognition and Compensation Act
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Would let Alaska Native residents of five Southeast Alaska communities — Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell — form their own urban corporations under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, decades after they were left out of that 1971 law.
Each new corporation would receive roughly 23,040 acres of federal land, redressing what supporters describe as an historical omission that denied these communities the land and shares given to other Alaska Native villages.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to let Alaska Native residents of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell organize as "Urban Corporations," decades after these communities were excluded from the original 1971 settlement act. It would require the Interior Department to convey the surface estate of about 23,040 acres of federal land to each corporation, following maps specified in the bill, while conveying the subsurface estate for that land to the Regional Corporation for Southeast Alaska. It would enroll qualifying Natives as shareholders, give each 100 shares of stock, and let each corporation form a settlement trust to fund health, education, welfare, and cultural preservation for its community. The land conveyed would carry existing rights, including federal roads, trails, log transfer facilities, leases, and related rights-of-way, and would remain open to subsistence use and noncommercial recreation. The bill does not disturb other Native corporations' existing land entitlements, revenue-sharing ratios, or Alaska's separate statehood land selections, and it sets timelines and conditions — including a Haines-specific two-phase conveyance tied to mining claim status — governing how and when transfers occur.
Key provisions
- 1Would authorize Native residents of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell to organize as Urban Corporations under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
- 2Would require the Secretary to enroll eligible Natives as shareholders and issue 100 shares of Settlement Common Stock to each
- 3Would preserve shareholders' continued eligibility for at-large distributions from the Regional Corporation for Southeast Alaska
- 4Would require Interior to convey approximately 23,040 acres of surface land to each urban corporation and subsurface rights to the regional corporation
- 5Would include federal roads, trails, log transfer facilities, leases, and appurtenances in the conveyed land
- 6Would allow each urban corporation to establish a settlement trust to fund health, education, welfare, and cultural preservation for its community
- 7Would require the Forest Service to seek a binding mutual use agreement for shared use of roads and transportation facilities
Who would be affected
Alaska Native residents enrolled in the villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, who could become shareholders in new urban corporations; the Regional Corporation for Southeast Alaska, which would receive subsurface rights; the Department of the Interior and Forest Service, which must convey land and negotiate road-use agreements; and the State of Alaska and holders of guiding/outfitting permits on affected land.
Why it matters
Community members would gain land assets, corporate shares, and a mechanism (settlement trusts) to fund local health, education, and cultural programs, correcting what the bill's findings describe as a decades-old omission from the 1971 settlement act. Federal agencies would take on new land-conveyance and negotiation obligations, and other Native corporations' existing entitlements and revenue splits would be preserved unchanged.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Amends Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (Sec. 3)
Adds a new subsection letting Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell residents organize as Urban Corporations
Amends Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Section 8 (43 U.S.C. 1607) (Sec. 4)
Adds enrollment and share-issuance rules for the five new urban corporations
Amends Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Section 7 (43 U.S.C. 1606) (Sec. 5)
Restructures distribution provisions and preserves at-large distribution eligibility and existing revenue ratios for the new corporations
Creates Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (Sec. 6)
Adds new Section 43 authorizing land conveyances and settlement trusts for the five urban corporations
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- Interior's interim surface land conveyance to each urban corporation
- Forest Service's mutual use road agreement with each urban corporation
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates H.R. 41 would have a negligible effect on the federal deficit, with any increase in direct spending or decrease in revenues falling between zero and $500,000 over the 2026–2036 period.
H.R. 41 would allow five Alaska Native communities — Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell — to form urban corporations and receive parcels of timber land in the Tongass National Forest under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Transferring this land would reduce federal receipts from timber sales and special-use permit fees, but CBO estimates the net effect on direct spending (mandatory spending not requiring annual appropriations) and revenues would be negligible — between zero and $500,000 — over the 2026–2036 period. Administrative costs to implement the bill would also be insignificant and subject to future appropriations. CBO identified no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates in the bill.
How implementation would work
Once residents of each community organize as an Urban Corporation and the Secretary enrolls shareholders, Interior must survey and convey roughly 23,040 acres of surface land per corporation per the bill's designated maps, generally within two years of incorporation (with limited extensions for pending easement appeals), while the subsurface estate goes to the regional corporation. Land withdrawn for conveyance is removed from mining and disposal laws until transferred. The Forest Service must negotiate a binding mutual use agreement for shared road and facility access within one year of incorporation, and each corporation may establish a settlement trust, funded from land proceeds, to support elders, minors, and other enrollees' health, education, and cultural programs.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Received in the Senate.
Official CRS summary
Show the CRS summaryHide the CRS summary
This bill allows five Alaska Native communities in Southeast Alaska to form urban corporations and receive land entitlements.
Specifically, the bill allows the Alaska Native residents of each of the Alaska Native villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, Alaska, to organize as Alaska Native urban corporations and to receive certain settlement land.
The bill directs the Department of the Interior to convey specified land to each urban corporation. Further, Interior must convey the subsurface estate for that land to the regional corporation for Southeast Alaska.
The land conveyed to each urban corporation must include any U.S. interest in all roads, trails, log transfer facilities, leases, and appurtenances on or related to the land conveyed to the urban corporation.
The bill also allows each urban corporation to establish a settlement trust to (1) promote the health, education, and welfare of the trust beneficiaries; and (2) preserve the Alaska Native heritage and culture of their communities.
Legislative subjects
Alaska; Alaska Natives and Hawaiians; Federal-Indian relations; Historical and cultural resources; Indian claims; Indian lands and resources rights; Indian social and development programs; Land transfers; Minority education; Minority health; Native Americans
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-579