The New York Times reports that Don Young plans to pursue Sealaska’s Tongass land grab bill, now that he’s chair of the new House subcommittee on American Indian and Alaska Native affairs.
Young plans “to reintroduce a controversial bill that would allow the transfer of thousands of acres of the Tongass National Forest to a Southeast Alaska native corporation for possible timber development. Proponents say the deal is the most equitable way for the federal government to meet its remaining obligations under a 1971 settlement ordering the return of about 375,000 federal acres to Sealaska, but critics argue that privatization of the lands will undermine efforts to shift forest management away from old-growth logging.”
