Land & Resources

In 2016, Chugach sold the ‘below-ground’ coal rights in the Bering River Coal Field, which were then retired by a conservation agency. The transaction protects the land from coal mining development, while we retain the full rights to any other minerals or subsurface development in the area.

Chugach forests have played an integral role in the company’s history. In 2014, Chugach identified California’s Cap & Trade Program as an opportunity for Alaska Native forest owners and their shareholders to benefit. Participants can generate revenue as carbon credits are sold, while also maintaining the land for other development, cultural and subsistence use and future timber harvests. Chugach was instrumental in working with the state of California to empower ANCs to participate in the program.

That hard work has paid off, and Chugach began its first carbon offset project on 115,000 acres of its forests in 2017. Quite simply, the program pays Chugach to continue to sustainably manage our lands while preserving access to the lands for recreational and cultural activities, and future timber harvesting. We’re also doing our part to help the planet, as utilizing our forests to offset carbon emissions helps to slow the effects of climate change.

On March 12, 2019, the President signed into law a lands package (John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management and Recreation Act) that included the Chugach Lands Study Act. The Act required the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service to conduct a study to identify the effects that federal land acquisitions have had on Chugach’s ability to develop its lands, and to identify accessible and economically viable Federal land for a possible land exchange with the corporation.

The Chugach Region Land Study was completed in December 2022, and the report includes potential lands identified for exchange. The Alaska Delegation is now ready to introduce legislation in the 118th Congress to implement the results of the Land Study. A land exchange with Chugach would provide federal agencies and the public significant conservation benefits while providing Chugach with the meaningful economic benefits it was promised under ANCSA and resolve the conflict that exists. If passed, this legislation would grant Chugach ownership of approximately 65,000 acres of culturally significant and economically viable lands.

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Chugach is constructing a commercial hard rock quarry in Port Gravina that can provide materials for infrastructure, development, construction and repair projects throughout Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.