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Testimony of Haida Corporation 

 Page Two of Two 



Almost all of Haida' s ancestral lands which would meet the 

 criteria quoted above were already committed to others (Native 

 corporations, wilderness, timber contracts) at the time of 

 enactment of the Haida Land Exchange Act of 1986. Some of these 

 lands were among the best timber lands in Alaska. There are just 

 three remaining areas which consist of traditional Haida lands and 

 meet the criteria described above. The areas are Sulzer Portage, 

 Nutkwa, and Karta, with Nutkwa and Karta containing over 90% of the 

 acreage which meets the Section 10 criteria. 



P.L. 99-664 provides that lands shall be withdrawn for Haida 

 Corporation's selection under Section 10 in 1995. This date was 

 chosen to permit the state of Alaska to complete its selections in 

 the National Forest by 1994 and to coordinate with the Tongass Land 

 Management Planning (TLMP) process. When this time frame was 

 established, it was not anticipated that intervening legislation 

 might be enacted which would (1) drastically reduce the pool of 

 ancestral Haida lands potentially available for Haida Corporation's 

 selection or (2) alter the Tongass Land Management Planning (TLMP) 

 process. The Karta and Nutkwa areas are both designated as 

 wilderness in the House-passed Tongass Reform Act (H.R. 987) . 



We request that the committee provide for the withdrawal of 

 about 5800 acres of land in the Sulzer Portage area for Haida 

 Corporation's selection. The withdrawal of these lands for this 

 purpose has been agreed to by the State of Alaska and the Southeast 

 Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC) . 



In this regard, we have attached for the record a proposed 

 amendment, complete with a map and legal description of the Sulzer 

 Portage lands recommended for withdrawal. The amendment contains 

 two other provisions. The first is the designation of about 5000 

 acres of land near Hydaburg as a National Recreation Area. The 

 lands were purchased in 1988 with funds from the Land and Water 

 Conservation Fund. The other provision provides for the withdrawal 

 of the subsurface estate of the Haida Traditional Use Sites, the 

 surface estate of which is owned by Haida Corporation. The 

 withdrawal is to address the management problems associated with 

 a split estate and protect the traditional qualities of these 

 lands. 



In closing, Haida Corporation requests that any Tongass 

 legislation approved by this committee confirm Haida Corporation's 

 selection rights to "lands of value to Haida." According to the 

 sponsors of the Haida legislation, these "Section 10" lands were 

 to give Haida Corporation "a future." Haida Corporation's future 

 will depend on these lands. 



