ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska tribes are hailing a regulation that allows them to apply for federal trust status for their lands.
The U.S. Department of Interior published a final regulation this week in a prolonged dispute between tribes, the agency and the state of Alaska.
At issue was the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and an interpretation that Alaska tribes had lost that right under the settlement act.
Alaska Public Radio Network reported four tribes and one Alaska Native filed a lawsuit in 2006 over the matter.
The U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., rejected the state’s position that the settlement act mandated different treatment for tribes in Alaska. The state is appealing.
Trust status means local and state governments cannot tax economic development initiatives tribes may develop on their lands.
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