The Mother Kuskokwim Tribal coalition celebrates the Biden Administration’s announcement today (June 28th, 2024) that it is moving forward with protections for 28 million acres of D1 lands across Alaska, including several million acres in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta region.
“The Biden Administration’s decision today is an important step toward a future full of wild salmon, healthy people, and healthy lands and waters. We look forward to seeing protections for Alaska’s D1 lands upheld and finalized as soon as possible,” said Anaan’arar Sophie Swope, Executive Director of Mother Kuskokwim. “D1 lands in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region are vital to our people’s way of life. These protections ensure future generations will be able to live safely with and on the land, carrying our customary and traditional knowledge.”
Many of the D1 lands in the region are the headwaters of river systems. They are important to whitefish, sheefish, salmon, many other fish species, caribou, moose, waterfowl, and other migratory birds — and to people.
The Trump Administration attempted to roll back Alaska’s D1 protections, which have been in place under section 17 (d) 1 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act for more than 50 years, during the final days of its administration — without even notifying Tribes. The Biden Administration paused that action during its first days in office.
During a 2023 comment period, the Bureau of Land Management held 19 hearings around Alaska, including one in Bethel, where testimony was unanimous in support of protections. State-wide, over half of Alaska’s federally recognized Tribes stood in solidarity to keep all protections in place. Several Native Corporations including Calista also submitted comments in support of no the ‘no action’ Alternative which would keep all protections in place.
2.2 million acres of D1 lands are around Crooked Creek, the proposed mine site for the Donlin Gold mine, in the Kuskokwim River system. D1 lands also connect important migratory routes for both salmon and caribou, and they are vital to Indigenous and rural food security, with 21,139,400 acres of D1 lands designated as Federal Subsistence Lands.
Learn more about Mother Kuskokwim at https://nodonlingold.org.