03/07/2024 08:00 AM House COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS

                                                                                                                                
        SJR 13-AMEND ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
8:57:46 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR MCCORMICK announced that the  final order of business would                                                               
be SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO.  13, Encouraging the United States                                                               
Congress and the President of the  United States to pass and sign                                                               
legislation amending  the Alaska Native Claims  Settlement Act to                                                               
release  certain  land held  in  trust  back to  affected  Alaska                                                               
Native village corporations.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
8:58:05 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR FORREST DUNBAR, Alaska  State Legislature, prime sponsor,                                                               
presented  SJR   13.    He  paraphrased   the  sponsor  statement                                                               
[included  in  the  committee  packet],  which  read  as  follows                                                               
[original punctuation provided]:                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     SJR  13 supports  the Alaska  Native Village  Municipal                                                                    
     Lands Restoration  Act of 2023 introduced  in S.2615 by                                                                    
     Senators  Murkowski  and  Sullivan  and  H.R.  6489  by                                                                    
     Congresswoman Peltola in response  to the desire of the                                                                    
     state  of  Alaska  to end  the  Municipal  Lands  Trust                                                                    
     (MLT).                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
     Rural communities  across Alaska are  facing challenges                                                                    
     due  to  the lack  of  affordable  housing and  limited                                                                    
     opportunities for  economic and  community development.                                                                    
     One  of  the   contributing  factors  challenging  many                                                                    
     communities  is a  legacy of  the Alaska  Native Claims                                                                    
     Settlement Act (ANCSA).                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
     When  it  was  enacted,  section  14  (c)(3)  of  ANCSA                                                                    
     required the  reservation of  lands allotted  to Alaska                                                                    
     Native Village Corporations  for future municipalities.                                                                    
     Today, those  lands are held  in trust by the  state of                                                                    
     Alaska  through the  MLT. The  architects of  ANCSA did                                                                    
     not   consider   that   many  communities   would   not                                                                    
     incorporate  under  Alaska  state  law.  Only  8  ANCSA                                                                    
     villages have  formed a new  municipality to  date, the                                                                    
     last  in  1995.  Today,  the  MLT  holds  approximately                                                                    
     11,500 acres and  the state of Alaska is  forced by its                                                                    
     trust responsibility to manage  these lands in way that                                                                    
     limits access and opportunity in communities.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     SJR  13   expresses  the  Alaska   State  Legislature's                                                                    
     support for  the Alaska Native Village  Municipal Lands                                                                    
     Restoration  Act  of  2023,  joining  groups  like  the                                                                    
     Alaska  Federation of  Natives,  Alaska Native  Village                                                                    
     Corporation Association and State  of Alaska in support                                                                    
     of dissolving the trust and  returning lands to support                                                                    
     community development. I urge you to support SJR 13.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
9:00:51 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
GREGG  RENKES, Senior  Vice President  for Government  Relations,                                                               
Chenega Corporation,  gave invited  testimony during  the hearing                                                               
on SJR  13.  He said  SJR 13, along with  the governor's support,                                                               
would help  Alaska's delegation push  the [Alaska  Native Village                                                               
Municipal  Lands Restoration  Act of  223]  with the  hope of  it                                                               
                                  th                                                                                            
becoming law by the end of the 118   United States Congress.  The                                                               
federal  legislation   addresses  a  loose  end   and  unintended                                                               
consequences of the Alaska Native  Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA).                                                               
He highlighted Section  14(c)(3) of ANCSA and  explained that for                                                               
the vast  majority of villages,  the land is still  being managed                                                               
by  the state  Municipal Lands  Trustee (MLT)  Program.   Decades                                                               
after  the  passage  of  ANCSA   and  many  years  after  village                                                               
corporations turned  over land,  no new municipalities  have been                                                               
created.   In the 50  years that  the state has  administered the                                                               
federal program for  nearly 50 years, only 8  ANCSA villages have                                                               
formed a new  municipality.  Perpetual management  of these lands                                                               
in the state  trust was not envisioned by the  crafters of ANCSA.                                                               
He  said  it's   time  to  return  the  land   to  these  village                                                               
corporations so they can own and  manage the land for the benefit                                                               
of  their  community members  and  shareholders.   He  noted  the                                                               
difficulty of developing these lands  due to restrictions imposed                                                               
by  the  state's  fiduciary  responsibility   to  a  future,  yet                                                               
unknown, municipality.   He reported  that 83  communities across                                                               
Alaska still  have their  land tied  up in the  MLT program.   In                                                               
addition  to the  83 communities,  all  village corporations  and                                                               
communities  that want  to  develop their  lands  but have  never                                                               
participated  in the  land  trust  must deal  with  the cloud  on                                                               
title.   He explained that  many buildable areas in  Chenega that                                                               
could be future  development sites fall within lands  held by the                                                               
trust, undermining the  corporation's right to self-determination                                                               
and  self-governance.   He asserted  that Chenega  should control                                                               
these lands, not  the State of Alaska.  Most  critically, the MLT                                                               
program  prevents  Chanega  from  improving  the  community  with                                                               
additional  housing and  creating  economic  opportunity for  the                                                               
residents.   He  said the  unintended consequences,  such as  the                                                               
failure of the land trust to  provide a sunset provision, need to                                                               
be  addressed to  fulfill  the  promise of  ANCSA  and allow  for                                                               
economic opportunity and housing  in small communities across the                                                               
state.                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
9:09:55 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE asked  whether the state is  supposed to be                                                               
managing lands held in the MLT program.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
MR.  RENKES  said  the  state had  taken  responsibility  as  the                                                               
fiduciary to a future municipality not  to allow any use of these                                                               
lands that  would predetermine their  uses by  said municipality.                                                               
He said the  safest legal path forward for the  state is to allow                                                               
limited use of the lands to keep them intact for future use.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE asked whether  the state, as the fiduciary,                                                               
should  be maintaining  the land  with  proper forest  management                                                               
practices.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
MR. RENKES said proactive measures  to protect the lands would be                                                               
part of  the state's fiduciary  responsibility; however,  most of                                                               
the 11,550 acres in the trust  are vacant lands in the centers of                                                               
small village communities.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
9:14:05 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT  asked whether  the original  intent was                                                               
to make  the land  available for  a "state  function," such  as a                                                               
courthouse.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MR. RENKES answered yes.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT inquired  about the communities' various                                                               
levels of  reconveyance and sought  to confirm that  [the federal                                                               
legislation] would  remove state  ownership and return  the lands                                                               
to the communities.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
MR.  RENKES responded  yes,  regardless of  partial  or full  re-                                                               
conveyance, or  no conveyance, all village  corporations would be                                                               
put be "put back on the same  footing" in control of the lands in                                                               
these communities.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT noted the  huge struggle to place Alaska                                                               
Department  of Fish  & Game  (ADF&G) biologists  and teachers  in                                                               
remote  places  throughout the  state.    She asked  whether  the                                                               
opportunity to house  a trooper in a bunk house  would be lost if                                                               
the land is returned.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
MR.  RENKES  said  even  now  that is  not  possible  because  it                                                               
violates  appropriate use  of the  land.   However, housing  is a                                                               
critical  need,  so returning  land  to  the village  corporation                                                               
could free up opportunity for workforce housing.                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
9:19:02 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MARJORIE  MARY, President,  Baan O  Yeel Kon  (BOYK) Corporation,                                                               
gave  invited  testimony during  the  hearing  on  SJR 13.    She                                                               
provided  a  brief  history  of   Rampart  Village,  a  federally                                                               
recognized  Tribe  located  on  the  banks  of  the  Yukon  River                                                               
approximately 120  air miles  north of Fairbanks.   She  said the                                                               
formula   provided  in   ANCSA   Section   14(c)(3)  has   proved                                                               
problematic  to the  BOYK Corporation  since the  passage of  the                                                               
law,  and as  a result,  the corporation  chose to  provide those                                                               
lands  via lease  or by  quitclaim  deed to  the Rampart  Village                                                               
council  for   bonafide  municipal  use.     She  explained  most                                                               
recently, the  corporation attempted to support  the council with                                                               
10 acres of  land selected with the assistance  of the Department                                                               
of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for  the development of a new                                                               
community  landfill and  obtained  U.S. Environmental  Protection                                                               
Agency  (USEPA)  grant funds  that  would  build  a road  to  the                                                               
approved site;  however, the  MLT program  decided not  to accept                                                               
the  parcel.     Consequently,   with  no  other   recourse,  the                                                               
corporation transferred  the deed  via quitclaim directly  to the                                                               
council, as  well as a portion  of land adjacent to  the airport,                                                               
that would allow  access to a gravel site and  the development of                                                               
a new baseball park.  She  said while the BOYK corporation wishes                                                               
to  comply  with  ANCSA's  terms,   they  also  have  a  duty  to                                                               
shareholders and the  community.  She opined  that the management                                                               
of  the municipal  trust has  been  a major  impediment to  rural                                                               
Alaska's economic  development.  She urged  full consideration of                                                               
SJR  13.   If the  legislation passes,  she said  the corporation                                                               
would continue to work to  fulfill land requirements of the Tribe                                                               
without the  additional constraints and  lackadaisical management                                                               
of the MLT program thwarting their growth.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
9:24:42 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
BENJAMIN MALLOTT,  Vice President,  Alaska Federation  of Natives                                                               
(AFN), gave invited  testimony during the hearing on SJR  13.  He                                                               
said  AFN has  long  supported Section  14(c)(3) legislation  and                                                               
passed  multiple resolutions  urging  congress  to restore  lands                                                               
conveyed  under ANCSA.   He  said that  having the  state unified                                                               
with Alaska corporations and villages  makes a big difference and                                                               
characterized SJR 13 as a big step forward.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR MCCORMICK invited questions from committee members.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
9:27:02 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  RUFFRIDGE  shared   his  understanding  that  the                                                               
provision  under Section  14(c)(3)  was  intended to  incentivize                                                               
incorporation,  which  8  communities   have  accomplished.    He                                                               
questioned the barrier to other villages following suit.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  DUNBAR  reiterated  that   the  land  was  intended  for                                                               
municipal  facilities.   He spoke  to the  difficulty of  working                                                               
with the  state to build  housing, for example, which  would spur                                                               
incorporation.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
MR. RENKES  said the  capacity and cost  of setting  up municipal                                                               
government makes  it "awkward" for  small villages, so  Tribes or                                                               
village   corporations   have   taken    over   some   of   those                                                               
responsibilities.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
9:30:58 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  MCKAY referenced  a  sentence  in the  governor's                                                               
letter [included  in the committee  packet] and asked how  SJR 13                                                               
would affect the pipeline.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR DUNBAR  shared his  belief that it  would not  affect the                                                               
pipeline  and  suggested  that  the governor's  words  may  be  a                                                               
request for a broader revision of ANCSA.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
MR. RENKES said the issue  referenced by Representative McKay has                                                               
nothing to do with Section 14(c)(3).                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
9:32:43 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR MCCORMICK shared  his belief that SJR 13  would address the                                                               
housing crisis in  rural Alaska and for that  reason, he intended                                                               
to move it  forwarded as quickly as possible.   He announced that                                                               
SJR 13 would be held over.