Local outfitters opposed to Sealaska land plan

A group of Wrangell-based outfitters and tour guides last week came out in opposition to a bill currently before Congress that would cede hundreds of thousands of acres to Sealaska under the Southeast Alaska Native Land Entitlement Finalization and Jobs Protection Act.

If passed, the bill would open up lands beyond the original boundaries of the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and would transfer the acreage from government control to the shareholders of Sealaska.

One of those outfitters, Dan Roope of Southeast Alaska Fly Fishing, spoke up at the Nov. 22 Borough Assembly meeting to ask...