
Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), the top Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee, wants action this year on a controversial
land swap involving an Alaska Native corporation.
Young said President Bush needs to make a decision on the swap between
Doyon Ltd. and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "The window is the election," Young said, Reuters reported.
Doyon wants to give 150,000 acres in exchange for 110,000 acres within the
Yukon
Flats National Wildlife Refuge, plus mineral rights on an additional 97,000
acres. The corporation plans to drill on the land it acquires.
Several tribes oppose the swap, fearing a negative impact on the environment. "Usually, the indigenous people are at the losing end of any sort of oil development," Dacho Alexander, the first chief of the Gwichyaa Zhee Gwich'in Tribe, told Reuters.
Get the Story:
Land deal could open Alaska wildlife refuge to oil
(Reuters 3/25)
Related Stories:
Native corporation rejects land swap extension
(3/18)
Alaska Native land swap a
hot topic at conference (3/14)
Hundreds
attend meeting on Native land swap (2/22)
Draft EIS on Alaska Native corporation land swap
(1/23)
Gwich'in tribe opposes Alaska
Native land swap (6/1)
Some Native corp
shareholders oppose land swap (03/23)
Alaska Native corporation land swap proposed
(10/22)
Stevens rider allows land swap with
Native corporation (09/17)
Norton's
intervention won't help Native corporation (09/16)
Norton intervened in Native corporation-park
dispute (09/03)
Purchase of Native
allotment clears Congress (07/23)
Stevens rider pays Native friends $2.5M for
land (07/12)