Native corporations can profit from carbon offsets

Alaska Natives have a specific asset that could be of essential importance as the world economies strive to put the current economic recession behind them. What is this unique resource? Land! The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 allowed Native corporations established under ANCSA to select a total of approximately 40 million acres of land in Alaska. Of this total, approximately 22 million acres were selected by village corporations; 18 million acres were selected by regional corporations; and an additional two million acres were reserved for existing cemeteries and historical sites, small townships, and Native allotments. The balance of these two million acres was to be conveyed to the regional corporations. These Native lands, and more specifically forestlands, offer Alaska Native regional and village corporations a unique opportunity to help stimulate economic renewal, while at the same time providing the potential for a significant economic stimulus to Native corporate shareholders through increased dividends.

To most Alaska Native people, land is sacrosanct. Not until modern times was there much of a formal system of land ownership among Alaska Natives. Through traditional use of specific land areas, families, clans, tribes, and bands eventually established "ownership" based on this historical usage of the land. The process of conveying land to official Native ownership began in 1971, although it took many years for lands to be surveyed, deeds to be recorded, and conveyances to be made. For most Alaska Natives, and especially for those living rural subsistence lifestyles, land has much more meaning than just its economic value. Land is the source of subsistence food, and its proper stewardship means survival for subsistence users today and in the future. Selling land or even developing its natural resources at the expense of limiting subsistence activities does not generally sit well with Native people, who seem to understand that there needs to be a balance between developing the land and providing land to support subsistence resources for the next generation, as well.

So, how can Alaska Native regional and village corporations and their shareholders benefit from the ownership of approximately 40 million acres of land in Alaska? And, more importantly, how can these Native lands provide financial benefits to shareholders without disrupting subsistence activities, while ensuring that these lands will remain intact for future generations? The answer to this can be gleaned from recent news stories about Japan's purchase of carbon credits from the Ukraine, a country about the size of Texas or approximately one-fifth the size of Alaska.

In March of 2009, various news agencies reported that Japan, in seeking to meet a 2012 cap on greenhouse gas emissions, as established by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, had agreed to purchase 30 million tons of heat-trapping carbon from the Ukraine in the form of carbon offset credits. The cost was not disclosed in all reports, but some estimates put the price tag at $40 million over ten years.