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![handle is hein.journals/ailj3 and id is 1 raw text is: AMERICAN INDIAN LAW JOURNAL
HOW THE ESA CAN SWALLOW ALASKAN TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY: THE STORY OF
THE ILIAMNA LAKE SEALS
BY CHARISSE ARCE
Those involved in Native issues wrestle with the huge challenge of how to help lift the economic boats
of Alaska's Native peoples while simultaneously protecting the cultures, lands, and waters of our
peoples.
- Paul Ongtooguk'
INTRODUCTION
Tucked away in the southwest part of Alaska lies Lake Iliamna, stretching 77 miles long and 22
miles wide. It is the largest and deepest body of fresh water in Alaska, and the seventh largest fresh
water lake in the United States.2 Iliamna Lake is home to the Iliamna Lake freshwater seal, one of just
five different populations of freshwater seals found in the northern hemisphere.3 The land in this region
is vast and sparsely populated, but Alaskan Natives have resided here for centuries; now there are a
handful of permanent communities around the lake. This paper examines the conflict between federal
conservation efforts of the seals in Lake Iliamna, how it threatens the economic vitality and tribal
sovereignty of the villages in southwest Alaska, and offers a solution that will preserve both interests.
On May 17, 2013, the Center for Biological Diversity submitted a petition to the Secretary of
Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), through the National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), to list the Iliamna Lake seal as a threatened or endangered species
* Charisse M. Arce graduated with her J.D. from Seattle University School of Law in May 2014, and she is an enrolled
member of the Iliamna Village Council. The author was born and raised in Iliamna, Alaska on the shores of Lake Iliamna.
The author would like to thank Professor Catherine O'Neill and Professor Eric Eberhard for their encouragement and
support of this piece as well as the laudable efforts of the AILJ staff.
1 LIBBY RODERICK, ALASKA NATIVE CULTURES AND ISSUES: RESPONSES TO FREQUENTLY RESPONSES TO FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS, 41 (2010).
2 About the Lake and Peninsula Borough, http://www.lakeandpen.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={E4E1AF70-
DAB9-4462-942A-C4B21 F8A2D31 (last visited Oct 3, 2014) [hereafter Lake & Pen Borough]; Petition to List /liamna Lake
Seal, Distinct Population Segment of Pacific Harbor Seal (Phoca Vitulina Richardsi) Under the Endangered Species Act.
Center for Biological Diversity (2012),
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/mammals/Iliamna_Lake_seal/pdfs/Iliamna_Lake_Seal_Petition_11-19-12.pdf
hereafter Petition1.
Van Lanen, /liamna Lake Seals Local and Scientific Understanding, ALASKA FISH & WILDLIFE NEWS, May 2012,
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=553 (last visited Oct. 4, 2014). (The four
other freshwater seal populations found in the northern hemisphere are: (1) Lake Baikal, Russia; (2) Lake Lagoda, Russia;
(3) Lake Saimaa, Finland; and (4) Lac de Loups, Canada.)
1](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/ailj3&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)