Alaska Native Corporations

Some Sealaska shareholders are pushing for a change in corporate decision-making. They say the current discretionary voting system favors board incumbents, and slows change. Managers of the Southeast regional Native corporation say the current system works well.Related Link: Read the proxy statement, and hear a report on 2009’s term limits vote.

Sealaska has started a new division to focus on economic initiatives in Southeast Alaska. It shares the name of the regional Native corporation’s lands-selection effort. But officials say it will have a wider focus.Related Link: Read the Haa Aani CEO’s job description.

Sealaska will distribute almost $8 million to shareholders in April. The Southeast regional Native corporation has about 20,000 tribal members, more than half living outside the region.Related Link: Learn more about Sealaska dividends.

Sealaska says a survey it conducted shows more than half of Southeast Alaskans support a lands-selection bill it’s trying to push through Congress. The poll shows support increasing when residents learn more about the legislation. But opponents say they’ve found out enough to know it’s a bad idea.Related Link: Click here for links to earlier…

The federal government is giving the Sealaska Corporation close to a million dollars to thin second-growth forests on Prince of Wales Island. The Forest Service also plans to thin trees using federal stimulus money. But they’ve got different aims.Related Link: Click here for more information and earlier reports.

Sealaska Corporation says alleged threats made by its board chairman will not derail efforts to get a lands-selection bill through Congress. Albert Kookesh, also a state senator, was part of a corporate delegation visiting a recent Craig City Council meeting. Sealaska officials pushed local leaders to support its proposed takeover of valuable timberlands on Prince…

Older Sealaska shareholders have until November 20th to sign up for larger dividends. It’s the first time the regional Native corporation is making an extra payment to elders. But it’s not the first corporation to do so.Related Link: Find out more about the program, and those of other corporations.

Sealaska wants the federal government to spend some of its stimulus money thinning trees. The Southeast regional Native corporation has asked for close to a million dollars to expand its own forest-management program. Officials say the money could keep 40 rural residents on the job.Related Link: Find out more about Sealaska’s timber operations. Click here,…

Sealaska board members could face term limits under a measure before shareholders. If it passes, the regional corporation for Southeast Natives would see a major change in its elected leaders. Shareholders are also considering giving elders more stockRelated Link: Click here, then on “more,” for links to Sealaska documents.

Southeast Alaska’s biggest Native corporation and its largest tribal organization are developing new business partnerships. Leaders say they hope to provide employment and services for villages and other economically-strapped parts of the region.