Unrecognized Southeast Alaska Native Communities Recognition and Compensation Act

Unrecognized Southeast Alaska Native Communities Recognition and Compensation Act

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.

Summary by the Congressional Research Service.