In this episode, I am joined by Wanda Culp and Joshua Wright to discuss their new film, Land Less, and the “Landless Bill” (S.2554 / H.R.41), that would transfer 115,000 acres of Southeast Alaska public lands on the Tongass National Forest—about 60,000 currently protected by the Roadless Rule—to new Native corporations created under ANCSA. They describe ANCSA’s corporate model and contend past Tongass transfers, including the 2014 Sealaska Bill and the Alaska Mental Health Trust exchange, have repeatedly led to large-scale old-growth clearcut logging. They criticize major environmental groups like The Nature Conservancy and The Wilderness Society for supporting the bill, warning it functions as a workaround to NEPA and federal oversight, and discuss Sealaska’s cease-and-desist letter over a filmed boardroom scene.
www.LandLessFilm.com
00:56 Episode Preview Landless Bill
02:12 Alaska Land Transfers Context
04:04 Meet Wanda and Joshua
04:24 Why Make Landless?
06:47 Wanda’s Story
09:22 Past Tongass Transfer Deals
11:41 Why Landless Enables Logging
14:41 Big Greens Backlash
18:43 Sealaska Cease and Desist
28:32 Tribal Governance and Youth
34:07 No Public Process After Transfer
38:44 Climate Crisis and Extraction
41:30 How to Take Action
