Editor’s note: This story has been edited to clarify July’s Circuit Court of Appeals ruling.
A decision Monday by Alaska’s new attorney general will allow Alaska’s 229 federally recognized tribes to place land into federal trust, shielding it from state and local taxes and regulation.
In a statement issued just before noon, Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth announced that the state will no longer fight plaintiffs who had been suing for the right to put land into trust.
In July, the Washington D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said new federal regulations mean Alaska tribes can put land into federal trust just as tribes in the other 49 states can. That decision means the plaintiffs’ case is moot; they now have the rights they were seeking
“I don’t see any need to use our limited resources in pursuing dead-end litigation,” Attorney General Lindemuth said in a prepared statement. “While litigation remains an option, it seems more productive to come back to the table and see if the State’s concerns can be addressed outside of litigation. In my experience, litigation is a blunt instrument — useful at times, but often a more tailored, nuanced solution that better addresses all concerns can be found outside the courtroom.”
Because the case was ruled moot, the state of Alaska could bring its own legal battle at a later date, if it finds the federal land-into-trust process unacceptable. Lindemuth left that option open in Monday’s statement.
Lindemuth’s decision ends a 10-year legal battle that began when four tribes and one individual sued the Department of the Interior for the right to put land into trust. The Interior Department had for decades relied upon a memo that applied federal law differently in Alaska than the rest of the United States.
U.S. District Court judge Rudolph Contreras upheld the plaintiffs’ arguments, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (part of the Department of the Interior) prepared to implement the decision, but the state of Alaska appealed the verdict to the court of appeals.
Seven tribes have already applied to put land into trust, said BIA spokeswoman Nedra Darling from Washington, D.C. She added that Monday’s decision by the state means the federal government will begin to process those applications, which have been on hold until the resolution of the legal dispute.
One of the seven applications will have a direct impact in Juneau. It was filed by the Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.
A Freedom of Information Act request previously filed by the Juneau Empire revealed that CCTHITA plans to place its land along Willoughby Avenue, including the Andrew Hope Building, into trust.
CCTHITA President Richard Peterson previously said the trust application is intended to give the tribe economic development opportunities.
Peterson did not return a message left on his cellphone Monday morning.
Trust land applications have also been filed in Haines area and the Kenai Peninsula.
Placing land into trust is intensely controversial among some Alaskans because of the implications it has for land ownership and sovereignty. Trust land is “Indian Country” under federal rules, and tribes could have the authority to create their own laws and justice systems for that trust land.
Tribes could also create their own fish and game rules for trust land, something that has alarmed hunting and fishing organizations across the state.
Currently, Indian Country is limited in Alaska to the Metlakatla Indian Reservation and a handful of existing Native allotments scattered across the state.
The immediate effect of Monday’s decision is limited. As implemented throughout the other 49 states, the land-into-trust process is a lengthy one, and the federal government must follow a detailed process involving public hearings and testimony for each land-into-trust application.
Such applications are not guaranteed, moreover. Monday’s decision merely means that tribes will be allowed to apply for trust status on their limited landholdings. Most tribes have little land as compared to Native corporations, which are not affected by Monday’s decision.
