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NOW DON YOUNG JOINS FRANK MURKOWSKI IN CRITICIZING THE EXXON VALDEZ TRUST LAND BUYING TO COVER UP THEIR SUPPORT OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DOING THE VERY SAME THING!
Anchorage Daily News
Tuesday, September 28, 1999
WATCHDOG
DON
Voice of the Times
CONGRESSMAN Don Young minced no words the other day in criticizing federal agencies that have hampered, delayed and otherwise obstructed implementation of certain provisions of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
He was particularly sharp in what he had to say about the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council.
The government, through the council, he said, "is engaged in a campaign to eradicate private Native ownership of land in Southcentral Alaska.
Speaking at a meeting of the House Resources Committee, as he won approval for a bill that would give the Chugach Alaska Native Corp. access to traditional land and ancient burial sites in the Chugach National Forest, Young said:
"In its zeal, the council has bought sacred Native burial sites, religious buildings and historic places. While village corporations and private entities sold the lands containing these sites, ANCSA intended that regional corporations acquire them if the others did not want them. Chugach is adamant that these sacred sites belong in Native - not government - hands."
House committee approval of the bill comes in the face of threats by the Clinton-Gore administration to veto the measure if it passes the full Congress. Of course. National environmental organizations don't want anybody to have access across the lands - not even the Natives who have historic rights in the area.
At issue here is a 73,000-acre tract within the Chugach National Forest. Despite provisions of the settlement act, the U.S. Forest Service, abetted in recent years by the Exxon spill council, has worked diligently to deny access to the land and to flim-flam the transfer of traditional title into government hands.
After fighting for 28 years to try to get access, it's no wonder that some village corporations took payments in lieu of land. The government, with unlimited legal staffs and an abundance of bureaucratic rules and regulations, can be a difficult monster to battle.
Rep. Young, chairman of the Resources committee, is seeking here a direct assault on the these forces. Senior Democratic members on his committee were opposed, standing with the environmental lobbies, with President Clinton, and with his hand-picked choice of a successor, Vice President Gore.
Alaska Natives might want to remember who their enemies are when election time rolls around next year.
Be informed! Don't allow yourself to be snowed by CARA.
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