STOP LOGGING ON KHANTAAK ISLAND IN YAKUTAT, ALASKA

In Yakutat, Alaska the village ANC or village native corporation, Yak-Tat Kwaan Inc, has been clear cut logging our ancestral lands through their subsidiary, Yak Timber. As part of the Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971, tribal members' ancestral lands were turned over to village corporations to manage for all the People. The last three decades of the last century saw the village corporation logging on a massive scale on ancestral lands. In recent decades, the community came together and stated their preference for no more large scale logging. in 2019 and without including shareholders or the community in their decision, Yak Timber again began large scale commercial logging. Except this time, the logging included historical, cultural and sacred sites. Despite protests and requests for input, the village corporation has gone too far. The corporation board of directors notified shareholders on September 14, 2022 of their decision to log Khantaak Island. Khantaak holds cemeteries, historic sites, sacred sites and many food gathering areas unique in the region.
Also important is the islands' function of providing a barrier against damage to the community from intense storms from the Gulf of Alaska and even tsunamis. The islands provide safe harbor for many land and water animals including sea otters, deer, eagles, and many more bird, land and ocean species. We want to gather signatures to show the Yak-Tat Kwaan board of directors the opinion of residents, tribal members and shareholders across the U.S.