President Jimmy Carter celebrates after signing the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act on Dec. 2, 1980.
Here in Alaska, we are especially grateful for Carter’s commitment to passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act , groundbreaking for its protection of both extraordinary lands and the rights of people who live there. In the years since its passage, we have been privileged to witness the wisdom and success of ANILCA.calling it “one of the most exceptional pieces of conservation legislation enacted by our great nation — or any nation.
Tribal organizations statewide played a central role in shaping and passing ANILCA that followed on the heels of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. In Southeast Alaska, the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood were very active in passage of both Acts, taking a broad view of customary and traditional harvest and trade.
Carter has been subject to the spectrum of Alaska manners. At the outset, Alaska’s political and business elite saw ANILCA as a betrayal of the state and a blueprint for economic ruin. But the economic and conservation benefits of his legacy are now widely acknowledged.The Act spurred a multibillion-dollar annual tourist economy attracting millions of visitors. Communities that once scorned the Act have come to see its value.