Every one of us needs to contact Murkowski, Begich and Young to point out the problems inherent in this legislation. Taking timber away from any possibility of manufacture in Alaska exports jobs to China, Korea and Japan. Taking timber land away from the sustainable yield requirements of public land ensures the boom and bust employment record we see in Hoonah, Kake and other places where the timber has quickly been exported by Sealaska. Native corporations have a long history of excluding nonshareholders from access to land (for which no property taxes are paid per federal law!), confrontational exclosure of nonNative communities such as Tenakee, Point Baker and Petersburg, and an us vs. them mentality even as equal rights are demanded for use of the remaining public land.

I was just wondering what glacierdogs' point was regarding no taxes on land owned by Natives. So how about the folks residing in Point Baker, Port Protection, Tenakee and other small towns in Southeast Alaska. How are they paying for their keep? Except for perhaps Tenakee, most of these towns don't pay taxes for their little corner of our state.

And I'm not a fan of the leadership of Sealaska, I think it is evident that they are out of touch with many of their shareholders. I will assert that this Southeast Alaska Native company, like other Native Corporations are paying dividends to all Alaskans, Native and non-Native alike, in that they are bringing money into our state, where it remains within the economy for much longer than say tourism.

I appreciate the fact these companies are going to be in Alaska long after oil. They will hopefully contribute even more to the health of our economy than they do presently, which is significant nonetheless.

Their board would be wise to give a path for new participation on the board rather than staving off that participation until there is a revolt among shareholders. A meaningful succession plan would be prudent. Just my two bits.

Great letter. Lousy bill.

Unfortunately it's not 'politically catchy' bill, proven by southeast Alaska's high unemployment rates, and declining population. Fisheries and tourism is NOT able to provide a sustainable economy.

While it MAY be true that 20 USFS jobs may be lost, this bill stands to provide over 200 jobs. Also consider the fact that under USFS management trying to harvest (TLUMP) has cost the tax payers millions in lawsuits with environmental groups.

This bill transfers land back to it's original owners, who will in turn provide over 200 jobs to the public, along with public access - this is covered in the bill. land transfer in 'rain country' for jobs.

Natives DO NOT get free health care. Read the US constitution; it explains how this is payment to the original land owners. In this case, the greater point is WE SHOULD ALL have free health care as is already the case in other industrial nations.

I support getting the most $$ for our natural resource, whether it be a domestic or international sale. While our local mills seem unable to pay market value for the harvest, they are receiving timber from the same forrests through another avenue, a separate bill that our governer signed about four months ago provided a timber handout from these same forrests to out local mills.

Then there will be another land transfer to the Alaska Mental Health Trust. Like the mills that received land, and then Sealaska, they are all serving the public through services and jobs. I have one question when lands are transferred to the AK Mental Health Trust, will they provide public access as this bill IN FACT does?

If you don't like this bill for jobs, then lets figure out a ways to solve our high unemployment and declines in our southeast economy. Until then, I'm supporting this bill.

dear Valianthunter, that is NOT part of this bill. Instead, if there are concerns about how close the harvest comes to our rivers, they should go to the Alaska Forest Practices Act, who sets buffer zones to protect the life in our rivers/waters.

We don't expect our other natural resource, fisheries, to be paid less for their harvest. They get the most for their harvest, including international sales.

Why would we want to sell our natural resources for less than their worth? That doesn't make good business sense. Anyone who makes a livelihood off of our natural resources (fisheries,timber harvesting) should be able to be paid the most for their work.

............ I want to know more about what you know about the "200 jobs" you talk about. Are these permanent jobs (the 20 USFS jobs were permanent,at least until this bill came up)?...... or, are they jobs that will disappear once the logging is done?

I think native health care is subsidized. You stated 'WHY" it's subsidized, but it's subsidized, nonetheless. I also agree that subsidized health care must come to this nation as a whole ..... but I think the current Republican thrust in Washington, is to actually go in the other direction, and "privatize" Medicare. Just goes to show you who the Republicans speak for in this country.

I want to hear more from you.

hi zero cut, check out the mcdowell report posted at sealaska.com. this report address the number of jobs timber harvesting provides, along with how many retail businesses benefit. I've read their website, lisa murkowski's website, and attended the public meetings to receive information about this bill.

at first i didn't support the bills, but living on prince of wales where unemployment rates are among the highest has caused me to not enjoy my backyard trees in lieu of jobs. also the fact that our forrests in rain country grow back 3-4 times faster with the silvaculture practices used on our harvested lands.

With all due respect:

Logging jobs are NOT permanent jobs. Often the high-end logging jobs are held by guys from out-of-state, and the stevedoring jobs disappear when the logs disappear. This is exactly why the unemployment rates are so high in Edna Bay, Coffman Cove and Thorne Bay and other places throughout SE Alaska. These communities were all, once upon a time, thriving logging camps. The employment left with the logging show. Simply proposing more of the same kind of logging (or even worse) there will only tend to put-off, and perpetuate, the misery ...... all at a disastrous environmental cost to the forest itself. How can anyone think this is good?

Regarding the growth rate of trees in "rain country". I often go over to Kruzof Island (near Sitka). The land there was logged by Alaska Pulp Corporation in the 1960's. When you hike the roads there the clearcuts are still full of tangled slash, and the trees and spruce and hemlock are no taller than a tall man. It rains more there than in most places on the "inside", and originally the trees were huge ...that's exactly why APC nuked them. BUT, WHEN WILL THEY COME BACK?

@Jumpstart: Justice is NOT equality. Probably more than any other group, Native Americans have had the worst time since Europeans came and settled the Americas. They were stripped of their land, heritage, and often their lives. Down south, the U.S. committed genocide against them--many tribes simply do not exist anymore. They were enslaved in many cases, and they were forced to act white, always while being treated like they were less.

And you think to just forgive and forget is justice? Among all ethnic groups, Native Americans still have some of the highest rates of alcoholism, domestic violence, and poverty. And that is due entirely to how they were treated in the past. It's hard to make a place for yourself in the world when your entire heritage has been stolen and whatever identity you have left marginalized.

So maybe you think committing atrocities against a group of people and then making them "equal" (albeit without having been given back any of the things taken from them) is justice. But it's not. Justice is making right what went wrong, and things have not been made right.

If I may speak.

How will allowing a private corporation destroy the last remaining intact tracts of old-growth forest in the Tongass help regain someone's self-esteem?

All of the atrocities you cite happened, and I am sorry they happened, but I was not there. Nobody is asking anyone to forget anything. There are right ways to do things, and there are wrong ways.

The Native American Museum (on the mall in Washington DC) is one of the right ways; reparation of cultural artifacts is another............ but systematically devastating huge portions of the ecosystem shines as one of the WRONG ways.

I am on your side ... bad thing were done ..... they must be set straight ..... but not the way Murkowski, Don Young and Harris want to do it. They aren't interested in restoring self-esteem ..... they're primarily interested in making short-term money, and getting more fodder for the the timber beast.

@zerocut: I actually don't know enough about Sealaska to have an opinion. Clear-cutting old-growth forest is definitely wrong, however, and I'd oppose any action to do so.

I was more replying to that guy's specific comment meant to make it look like Native Americans were oh so privileged in our society, when they're really not--we shat on their heads and them hand towels only well after it had already dried.

Your comments show what is most needed. The everyday PEOPLE of this country have to start an open dialogue regarding race, and what past crimes have done to our society in the name of profit. Slaves weren't brought here enslaved merely because white plantation owners hated blacks .... they did it for cheap labor, and a bigger bottom line. White society didn't make war on Indians because they hated them ........... they did it to take their land, and profit from the taking .... and, on the way to doing this, they necessarily had to demonize them as a race. All corporations are based on the same ethic .... competing for a bigger marketshare , and taking what currently belongs to others.

Whose "Jobs Protection" indeed?

The truth is, this political payback is to protect Lisa's job and the overpaid, incompetent Sealaska board member "jobs" which have outsourced thousands of native villager's timber jobs to China, Japan, and South Korea.

This bill imposes the same failed corporate business plan that has wreaked devastation for decades on native village landscapes. This failed economic policy has forced residents to flee their destroyed local economies which were once supplemented by access to subsistence resources. With subsistence resources no longer functioning as a social safety net or practice of cultural tradition, it throws the doors open on further impacts on the Tongass.

Lisa's Sealaska Land Grab Bill simply rewards failed economic policy with corporate welfare being paid by hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer investments.

Lisa please learn from history-- your failed economic plans are harming thousands of residents here.

zero cut: native health care is NOT a subsidy, it is fulfilling an obligation (ref. US constitution article 1, section 8.) In essence, health care for indigenous peoples in the US has been 'pre paid' through trades of land and resources OWNED by indigenous natiosn for basic services of the US gov.

seak53: as I've stated many times before, Sealaska was the ONLY ANCSA REGIONAL corporation told to select within boxes marked on a map. Why? This was due to the man saw mill contracts in the Tongass at the time. Those mill contracts no longer exist. Making Sealaska select w/i those boxes is now a mute point.

I have no argument about discrediting the McDowell Reports in any way. They've provided more than 100 reports to Alaska's entities, including our government. I guess I can agree that no one is/was perfect, except Jesus!

We need a solution to our weak southeast economy, and declining population. This is THE ONLY solution on the table. It will bring our people back. The unemployment figures, and declining population proves that fisheries and tourism alone is not the answer, unfortunately.