Angoon v. Hodel

Appellants appeal from a partial summary judgment invalidating a permit for the construction and operation of a log transfer facility on Admiralty Island and enjoining its use. Jurisdiction to hear this appeal is provided by 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1). The district court held that the environmental impact statement (EIS) prepared in connection with the permit was inadequate under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321-4370, because it failed to consider an alternative whereby the land on Admiralty Island could be exchanged for land elsewhere. Appellees cross-appeal from the district court’s dismissal of their claims that proposed timber harvesting on Admiralty Island violates the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), 43 U.S.C. §§ 1601-1629a, and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), Pub. L. No. 96-487, 94 Stat. 2371 (1980) (codified as amended in scattered sections of 16 and 43 U.S.C.). Jurisdiction to hear this appeal is provided by 28 U.S.C. § 1291.We reverse the district court’s judgment invalidating the permit and enjoining use of the log transfer facility. We affirm in all other respects.Appellants, defendants below, are Shee Atika, Inc. (Shee Atika), an Alaska Native Village Corporation that claims a surface estate in some 23,000 acres of Admiralty Island; Sealaska Corporation (Sealaska), an Alaska Native Regional Corporation that owns subsurface rights in land owned by Shee Atika; federal officials in the Department of the Army who issue permits under section 404 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1344, and section 10 of the River and Harbor Act of 1899, 33 U.S.C. § 403; and other federal officials who administer laws relating to Native Americans. We refer to appellants collectively as Shee Atika-Sealaska.

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Adds precedent that influences how ANCSA corporations, regulators, and shareholders interpret governance rights and remedies.