Haley Stevens: “The lands at issue were selected by five Alaska Native village corporations pursuant to the 1971 Alaska Native Claims…”

“The lands at issue were selected by five Alaska Native village corporations pursuant to the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The lands were selected in 1974, pursuant to an agreement among the villages, a full 6 years before the creation of Lake Clark National Park. For years, the Department followed a course of processing village land selections outlined in both appendix A and appendix C of the agreement. This prior course is well documented including formal conveyance decisions and reservation of easements. In the 1990's, the Department changed its course effectively denying the village corporations the land to which they are entitled. This provision is designed to allow the Native corporations to challenge the Department's refusal to convey them their land in a court of law. While the Alaska congressional delegation believes the Native people are entitled to the land, the Department of the Interior disagrees. We have agreed to allow an objective third party decide, based on the facts of the case and an interpretation of the 1974 agreement, whether the Native people are entitled to the lands in appendix C. Because the Interior Department has taken so long to process the villagers land claims, the statute of limitations for challenging the Department has almost expired.”