Akiachak prepares to seek federal trust status for land

BETHEL, Alaska (AP) – Alaska’s Akiachak tribe is preparing to inventory land for federal trust status following a federal appeals court decision allowing Alaska Native communities to have their lands placed out of state jurisdiction.

KYUK-AM reports a federals appeals court in Washington, D.C. dismissed the state’s challenge of land trust applications on July 1.

Akiachak Native Community Council Chairman Phillip Peter Sr. says placing land into federal trust would allow for greater tribal sovereignty and access to federal funds to improve law enforcement.

He says the tribe and Akiachack Native Corporation are meeting to conduct the inventory after the peak of the summer subsistence season.

The Department of Interior will publish a list of tribes that have filed for trust status later this year.

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Information from: KYUK-AM, http://www.kyuk.org