Opinion ID: 3053495
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: ancsa

Text: Congress enacted ANCSA in 1971 in order to “resolve land disputes between the federal government, the state of Alaska, Alaskan Natives, and non-native settlers.” Leisnoi, Inc. v. Stratman, 154 F.3d 1062, 1064 (9th Cir. 1998). In its findings and declaration of policy, Congress recognized “an immediate need for a fair and just settlement” of aboriginal land claims that was to be “accomplished rapidly, with certainty, in conformity with the real economic and social needs of Natives, [and] without litigation . . . .” 43 U.S.C. § 1601(a), (b). In furtherance of this basic purpose, “Alaskan Natives received, in exchange for the extinction of all claims of aboriginal title, 14128 STRATMAN v. LEISNOI, INC. approximately forty-four million acres of land and nearly $1 billion in federal funds.” Leisnoi, 154 F.3d at 1064. These resources were distributed amongst thirteen “Regional Corporations,” groups of Natives unified by a “common heritage and sharing common interests[,]” 43 U.S.C. § 1606(a), and an unspecified number of “Village Corporations,” corporate entities based around native villages. 43 U.S.C. § 1607. The native villages were defined to include “any tribe, band, clan, group, village, community, or association in Alaska” either listed by name or determined by the Secretary to have met certain requirements. 43 U.S.C. § 1602(c). To qualify as a “native village” under ANCSA, the Secretary must determine that: (A) twenty-five or more Natives were residents of an established village on the 1970 census enumeration date as shown by the census or other evidence satisfactory to the Secretary, who shall make findings of fact in each instance; and (B) the village is not of a modern and urban charac- ter, and a majority of the residents are Natives. 43 U.S.C. § 1610(b)(2). Department of the Interior (“DOI”) regulations establish procedures for determining village eligibility, and initially envisioned that these determinations would be made by the end of 1973; the Director of the Juneau Area Office (“Regional Director”) of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (“BIA”) was required to make an initial determination of eligibility not later than December 19, 1973, 43 C.F.R. § 2651.2(a)(8), and protests to the eligibility determination were barred if brought 30 days after publication of the decision, id. at § 2651.2(a)(9). The Regional Director was required to render a decision as to the protest within 30 days, id. at § 2651.2(a)(4), and appeal from that decision could be taken before the Interior Board of Land Appeals (“IBLA”), id. STRATMAN v. LEISNOI, INC. 14129 at § 2651.2(a)(5). That decision would not become final until personally approved by the Secretary. Id. Although ANCSA fixes the total allocation from the Federal government to village corporations at twenty-two million acres, the final allocation of land to each village corporation depends upon the distribution of Native Alaskans in eligible villages. First, the area included in the patent issued to the village corporation varies based on the number of natives residing in the village: for example, a village with twenty-five Native Alaskans is entitled to patent an area of public lands equal to 69,120 acres, while a village with a population of over 600 is entitled to 161,280 acres. See 43 U.S.C. § 1613(a). Next, any difference between the twenty-two million acres reserved for village corporations and the amount of land actually claimed by eligible villages as discussed above must be reallocated “on an equitable basis after considering historic use, subsistence needs, and population.” 43 U.S.C. § 1611(b).1 The final allocation of lands to eligible village corporations is therefore contingent upon the resolution of the eligibility of all other putative villages within each regional corporation. Further, the village allocations affect the computation of lands granted to the regional corporations, if the area patented to the village corporations within a regional corporation exceeds the percentage of acreage allotted to the regional corporation based on its relative size within the state. See 43 U.S.C. § 1611(c)(1)-(2). Once a village is deemed eligible, its village corporation may select lands pursuant to 43 U.S.C. § 1611. In those situations where land selection criteria cannot be met because of a deficiency of available lands, the Secretary must “withdraw three times the deficiency from the nearest unreserved, vacant 1 In the current version of § 1611(b), Congress specified that this allocation was to have taken place no later than October 1, 2005. Aside from this addition, this section remains essentially unchanged from the 1971 version. Compare Pub. L. No. 92-203, § 12(b), 85 Stat. 688, 701 (1971). 14130 STRATMAN v. LEISNOI, INC. and unappropriated public lands[,]” withdrawing, “insofar as possible, . . . lands of a character similar to those on which the village is located and in order of their proximity to the center of the Native village[.]” 43 U.S.C. § 1610(a)(3)(A). The foregoing eligibility and land selection provisions of ANCSA created problems for villages within the Koniag, Inc. (“Koniag”) region, Leisnoi’s regional corporation, because of a shortage of available lands on Kodiak Island. A further problem for Koniag, and the village corporations in the region, was uncertainty over the status of several putative villages. In the mid- through late-1970s, eleven villages brought suits challenging ineligibility determinations made by the Secretary. See Koniag, Inc. v. Andrus, 580 F.2d 601, 603-04 (D.C. Cir. 1978). Congress addressed these problems in ANILCA.