Alaska’s federal delegation has taken up a longstanding effort to transfer a cultural site in Denali National Park to an Alaska Native Corporation.
The Geese House — in the remote, northwest corner of the park — has a natural rock formation with a deep chamber surrounded by slabs of red stone. There are no manmade structures there, but it’s a place of great cultural importance to the Athabascan people, according to Alaska Native corporation Doyon Limited.
The corporation selected the area in the 70s under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. But it was never conveyed, and it was later absorbed into the park under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.
Senator Lisa Murkowski’s Geese House Site Conveyance Act would transfer the site to Doyon to manage for cultural use, along with more than 20,000 of surrounding land. The act prohibits commercial development, mining, or transferring the land to a third party.
The legislation, which is co-sponsored by Senator Dan Sullivan, has been referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Representative Nick Begich has introduced a companion bill in the House.
Doyon did not respond to requests for comment.