CIRI S/H's & VILLAGES SHOULD SHARE IN ANWR WEALTH
Fellow CIRI S/H's: If ANWR is opened and if in fact there are large reserves of oil there, you, as at large and village shareholders should share. This was the original intent of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act,(ANSCA). Section 7i and 7j intended that you share, through your village, or as an at-large shareholder. Here is an abbreviated history of how it has come about that you are not able to share as a shareholder or village of any of the 12 Regional Corporations other than ARTIC SLOPE. We must get this changed; all should share..
260 Villages and at-large shareholders -7i and 7j Rights
A Brief Cronology :
12-18-71 ANSCA ENACTED Secion 7i of ANSCA requires that 70% of revenues from a region's subsurface must be shared amongst all twelve regions. Under 7j the receiving region, in turn, must share 50% of the 7i revenues with their village corporations and at-large shareholders.
12-02-80 ANILCA enacted. (ANILCA is a monumental federal statute dealing with many land issues in Alaska. It has been dubbed as one of the most profound piece of federal land use legislation ever passed.) Section 1431 (o) provided that within five years of the opening of ANWR, ASRC (Artic Slope Regional Corporation) could trade into ANWR, but subject to valid existing rights. The intent here was to allow an eventual trade conditioned on the preservation of 7i and 7j rights of the other eleven regions through 7i, and of the village corporations and at-large shareholders through 7j.
6-29-82 7i Agreement between the twelve Regional Corporations. Article II 6(g) of this agreement provided that surface for subsurface trades are not 7i-able. The Villiage Corporations were not a party to this, hence it can be argued that their rights under 7j remain, including the right to share in the revenue from ANWR from the subsurface that ASRC traded into, as explained in the next paragraph.
08-09-83: ASRC traded surface for ANWR subsurface, then sold the exploration and development rights for millions of dollars. Since then the Artic Slope Regional Corporation has refused to recognize any obligation to share under 7i, and have further refused to honor their obligation under ANILCA. They have thus refused to honor the rights of the villiage and at-large shareholders which ANILCA specifically preserved. The buying oil companies drilled; it is thought that they have struck it big, although no official estimates have been released.
There followed a lengthy arbitration of the 7i agreement and at least two court challenges. The special master's report, in this arbitration challenge to the 7i agreement by the Aleut Corporation, recommended that the court in the pending lawsuit not let the village corporations become a party to the action, and the villages did not thus become a party. Hence the rights of the village corporation shareholders were taken without representation. The village corporations have been doubely excluded: First from the 7i agreement and secondly, from the arbitration. ASRC prevailed in the arbitration, but the specific issue of the rights of the village corporations and of the at-largeshareholders was not decided. Nor has there been any court case which has directly addressed or ruled on the issue of the rights of at-large shareholders and the rights of the village corporations to share in ASRC's potential wealth from their subsurface in ANWAR, under 7i and 7j.. I seem to have no more room on this post. More later. Gosta
260 Villages and at-large shareholders -7i and 7j Rights
A Brief Cronology :
12-18-71 ANSCA ENACTED Secion 7i of ANSCA requires that 70% of revenues from a region's subsurface must be shared amongst all twelve regions. Under 7j the receiving region, in turn, must share 50% of the 7i revenues with their village corporations and at-large shareholders.
12-02-80 ANILCA enacted. (ANILCA is a monumental federal statute dealing with many land issues in Alaska. It has been dubbed as one of the most profound piece of federal land use legislation ever passed.) Section 1431 (o) provided that within five years of the opening of ANWR, ASRC (Artic Slope Regional Corporation) could trade into ANWR, but subject to valid existing rights. The intent here was to allow an eventual trade conditioned on the preservation of 7i and 7j rights of the other eleven regions through 7i, and of the village corporations and at-large shareholders through 7j.
6-29-82 7i Agreement between the twelve Regional Corporations. Article II 6(g) of this agreement provided that surface for subsurface trades are not 7i-able. The Villiage Corporations were not a party to this, hence it can be argued that their rights under 7j remain, including the right to share in the revenue from ANWR from the subsurface that ASRC traded into, as explained in the next paragraph.
08-09-83: ASRC traded surface for ANWR subsurface, then sold the exploration and development rights for millions of dollars. Since then the Artic Slope Regional Corporation has refused to recognize any obligation to share under 7i, and have further refused to honor their obligation under ANILCA. They have thus refused to honor the rights of the villiage and at-large shareholders which ANILCA specifically preserved. The buying oil companies drilled; it is thought that they have struck it big, although no official estimates have been released.
There followed a lengthy arbitration of the 7i agreement and at least two court challenges. The special master's report, in this arbitration challenge to the 7i agreement by the Aleut Corporation, recommended that the court in the pending lawsuit not let the village corporations become a party to the action, and the villages did not thus become a party. Hence the rights of the village corporation shareholders were taken without representation. The village corporations have been doubely excluded: First from the 7i agreement and secondly, from the arbitration. ASRC prevailed in the arbitration, but the specific issue of the rights of the village corporations and of the at-largeshareholders was not decided. Nor has there been any court case which has directly addressed or ruled on the issue of the rights of at-large shareholders and the rights of the village corporations to share in ASRC's potential wealth from their subsurface in ANWAR, under 7i and 7j.. I seem to have no more room on this post. More later. Gosta
posted by Gosta and Carole on QE 2 2007 | 7:32 AM
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