The Interior Department has effectively given the state of Alaska more say over thousands of individual Native allotments by replacing a Biden administration legal opinion.
In a move with potential implications for gaming and other ventures, Interior Deputy Secretary Katharine MacGregor issued a brief memo dated Thursday that formally withdrew a 2024 legal opinion issued by Interior’s then-solicitor Robert Anderson.
Alaska state officials welcomed the move.
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“We are encouraged that Interior has returned to a position grounded in Alaska’s unique history,” Alaska Attorney General Stephen Cox said in a statement, adding that Interior’s decision “restores the jurisdictional balance Congress intended and courts have repeatedly affirmed.”
