In a unanimous decision, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday ruled in a dispute over the selection of lands by Alaska Native village corporations.

The case stems from a difficult and drawn-out selection process among five village corporations in Cook Inlet, the most populous area in the state. The village corporations were unable to select desirable land around their villages under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, so agreements had to be drawn up affecting the way the Cook Inlet Regional Inc. (CIRI) divvied up land among the villages.

The 9th Circuit considered one of these agreements, the Deficiency Agreement of 1976. CIRI and the village corporations sought to select lands in Appendix C of the agreement but Interior refused until the lands in Appendix A were exhausted.

A three-judge panel of the court agreed with Interior's position and ruled that the Agreement required all Appendix A lands to be selected before turning to those in Appendix C.

Get the Decision:
CHICKALOON-MOOSE CREEK NATIVE ASS'N, INC. v. NORTON, No. 01-35921 (February 26, 2004)