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Greetings!
Heading to Southeast Conference
We will be heading to Sitka next week for the Southeast Conference. Please let us know if you will be joining so we can catch up with you. Ki Jung Lee, Rachell Peterson and Kirsten Henning will be attending in person.
Update on the Land Grant initiative
The State of Alaska recently issued a decision to relinquish the proposed lands along the Chilkat River on the Canadian border to the University. The next step will be to submit this selection to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. It is a multi-year process and we do not know if or when BLM would allow for conveyance.
During our last community visit, we heard concerns about protecting traditional use hunting and cabins. To clarify, this parcel is outside of the Chilkat Bald Eagle Reserve and not connected to the Kelsall or Tahini Rivers. None of the folks we have talked to had any additional concerns about cabins if that parcel would be conveyed to the University.
Separately, as we mentioned earlier, the Upper Klehini selection that UA submitted for consideration was previously selected by the Mental Health Trust, and is therefore no longer a potential Land Grant selection. There is no update on the Lower Klehini parcel request.
We are also doing everything we can to coordinate with BLM on any conflicting Native Veteran allotment requests.
Please visit our website for more information on the Land Grant Initiative, and click on the "Southeast" section to view maps of potential selections in the Chilkat Valley. Of course, if you still have questions, please contact us anytime.
For some background, at the end of 2022, Congress passed legislation to finalize the University’s land entitlement as part of its Land Grant. This is a complex, multi-year process that involves both the State and the federal government. The way this works is that the UA Land team can select from federal land holdings that are part of the state’s remaining general selections.
If the University does receive conveyance of these new landholdings, then we will continue to communicate with all of you, and find ways to address community needs while generating revenue for the UA Scholars program. The UA Land team does not have any development plans for the parcels at this time.
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