The Alaska Coalition was founded in 1970 to lobby for potential national parks, national wildlife refuges, wilderness areas and wild rivers during the dividing up of Alaska federal lands that occurred in the early 1970s. The state and people of Alaska had been given rights to take over 103,350,000 acres of Alaska federal lands at the time of statehood (out of the total of 375,000,000 acres in Alaska) — by far the most generous statehood land grant in American history. Then, under pressure to open the way for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, Congress finally worked out a settlement of the aboriginal land claims of Alaska's original people — the Alaska Natives, Indians and Aleuts. As a result of a vigorous campaigns, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act was enacted in 1971. Thanks to the work of the Alaska Coalition, it included a national interest lands section which required federal study to identify and give interim protection to as much as 80 million acres for future parks, refuges and wilderness areas.
Source: AlaskaWild.org "Alaska Coalition History" (accessed April 24, 2020)
By-laws, correspondence, minutes, newsletters, legislation, publications, reference files.
Alaska Lands Bill files documenting the nationwide campaign to designate certain Alaska lands as units of the National Park, National Wildlife Refuge, Wild and Scenic Rivers, and National Wilderness Preservation System.
Open to all users.
Literary rights of representatives of the records-creating organization transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.
Donated by F.O.E. Northwest Office, 10/22/1980.