Feds reopen comments on Yukon Flats land swap
Published Tuesday, April 15, 2008
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Stumble It!The Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday it will accept more comments on environmental documents outlining plans to exchange hundreds of thousands of acres with the Alaska Native corporation Doyon.
The proposed land swap would hand the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge at least 150,000 acres of habitat-rich land owned by Doyon. On the other side, the corporation would get title to 110,000 acres of land, thought to be rich with oil and gas reserves, and development rights to other land in the Yukon Flats area.
Jim Mery, a senior vice president at Doyon, said poor weather in the early winter prevented some villages from seeing details of the plan’s proposed Environmental Impact Statement. Considering that and the number of comments the federal government has received so far, Doyon has no problem with an extended comment period, he said.
“This doesn’t trouble us,” Mery said. “We think it’s actually a reasonable response to the requests.”
The extended comment period — the government’s first window closed March 25 — will give agencies and organizations, Doyon shareholders, and people from inside and outside Alaska another 30 days to comments on the plan’s supporting documents. The Fish and Wildlife Service will review the responses after the extended comment period closes May 19 before publishing a final statement.
Dacho Alexander, first chief of the Gwichyaa Zhee Gwich’in tribe in Fort Yukon, said he expects many people will be pleased with the extension. He said residents of Interior villages have felt disenfranchised from the process surrounding the plan, adding that others worry the documents could contain outdated or inaccurate data.
“This is what people have wanted, have been saying they wanted, for a long time now,” Alexander said.
The decision to accept more comments resulted from requests from the public, the Fish and Wildlife Service said in a news release Monday.
The draft EIS can be viewed online http://YukonFlatseis.ensr.com and at identified spots in Interior Alaska cities and villages.
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If MY US goverment is going to trade land to a company that will develop jobs in the oil and gas industry, trade with a company that is not prejudice against none shareholders. Doyon was given exclusive rights the land they wanted now that times have changed it seems like they are more interested in money than protecting their heritage and lands.
US goverment I have some swamp land can I trade for something more desirable to me?
i am a doyon shareholder. we give up 150,000 acres prime habitat, along the yukon, with subsurface rights for 110,000 acres of brush country 200 miles off of the yukon with no subsurface rights. there's no actual evidence that supports oil in these lands. as if the u.s. government is about to change its ways and actually hook us up this time around. they're are still stealing land. anyone that thinks otherwise on this bogus land swap (icluding some doyon board members) are either being bought out or just plain ignorant to what is really being given to our people.
Doyon can still use the land thay have to go after oil if thay wish, every body knows that no one from any village has never used any of the land that is going to be exchanged and most every one in the villages mabey will fish a little and most are living a life style that is funded thru food stamps and federal money grants each month to the folks and all the game in the remote areas is being ate up by wolves and black and brown bears.
they need to put a better offer on the table. i guarantee our people in the vill will still be waiting for food stamps and federal funding with the offer that we may be taking.
Panda......... don't assume that everyone in the village is on food stamps and federal money grants. Obviously you do not live in any of the Yukon Flats villages because if you did; you would know that probably 90% of our population lives a subsistence lifestyle. Its true.... our moose are being eaten by wolves and bears but for pete's sake..... that is no reason to be swapping land! Before you start assuming....... come to one of the Yukon Flats villages and live here for a couple of years THEN you will learn the true nature of our people (Gwich'in).
Good news that the amount of concern is real and large enough not to get swept under the carpets of arrogance and corruption. This is not to say that the Flats region doesn't need the development of economy, infrastructure and cultural preservation... by all means move forward with the times! Lets just make sure that the people of the region are not shafted by hastey and shady deals that don't benefit them through upgraded power plants, natural gas pipelines, cheaper gas and oil costs and education support funding that'll lead directly to local employment, management and business opportunities. It is important also that hunting and fishing rights and access are protected for the original inhabitants of the area against highway poachers who are foolish enough to get their $40,000 vehicles stuck in the tundra.
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