Editing Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (section)

=== Native objections ===
[[File:Trans Alaska oil pipeline crossing South fork Koyukuk River.jpg|thumb|upright|right|The pipeline passes underneath many smaller rivers and streams, but bridges cover longer crossings.]]
{{Main|Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act}}
In 1902, the [[United States Department of Agriculture]] set aside {{convert|16000000|acre|km2|0}} of Southeast Alaska as the [[Tongass National Forest]].<ref>Mead, p. 134</ref> Tlingit natives who lived in the area protested that the land was theirs and had been unfairly taken. In 1935, Congress passed a law allowing the Tlingits to sue for recompense, and the resulting case dragged on until 1968, when a $7.5 million settlement was reached.<ref>Mead, pp. 134–135</ref> Following the Native lawsuit to halt work on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, this precedent was frequently mentioned in debate, causing pressure to resolve the situation more quickly than the 33 years it had taken for the Tlingits to be satisfied.<ref>Mead, p. 135</ref> Between 1968 and 1971, a succession of bills were introduced into the U.S. Congress to compensate statewide Native claims.<ref>Taylor, Susan. [http://www.alaskool.org/projects/ancsa/articles/tundra_times/TT21_Bill_Disappoints.htm "Claims Bill Disappointing: Strong General Note of Dissatisfaction on Latest Claims Bill"], ''[[Tundra Times]]''. May 20, 1970. Accessed June 18, 2009.</ref> The earliest bill offered $7 million, but this was flatly rejected.<ref name="Mead136">Mead, p. 136</ref>

The [[Alaska Federation of Natives]], which had been created in 1966, hired former [[United States Supreme Court]] justice [[Arthur Goldberg]], who suggested that a settlement should include {{convert|40|e6acre|km2}} of land and a payment of $500 million.<ref name="Mead136"/> The issue remained at a standstill until Alyeska began lobbying in favor of a Native claims act in Congress in order to lift the legal injunction against pipeline construction.<ref name="Mead136"/> In October 1971, President [[Richard Nixon]] signed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). Under the act, Native groups would renounce their land claims in exchange for $962.5 million and {{convert|148.5|e6acre|km2}} in federal land.<ref>Mead, p. 137</ref> The money and land were split up among village and regional corporations, which then distributed shares of stock to Natives in the region or village. The shares paid dividends based on both the settlement and corporation profits.<ref>Mead, pp. 137–139</ref> To pipeline developers, the most important aspect of ANCSA was the clause dictating that no Native allotments could be selected in the path of the pipeline.<ref name="Coates227">Coates, p. 227</ref>

Another objection of the natives was the potential for the pipeline to disrupt a traditional way of life. Many natives were worried that the disruption caused by the pipeline would scare away the whales and caribou that are relied upon for food.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/01/us/oil-means-comfort-to-alaska-natives-but-peril-to-their-culture.html?pagewanted=all.|title=Oil Means Comfort to Alaska Natives but Peril to Their Culture|last=Wald|first=Matthew|date=April 30, 1989|website=[[New York Times]]|access-date=November 30, 2017}}</ref>