Calista owns land and mineral resources in the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Region, a vast and remote region named for the Yukon and Kuskokwim, two mighty rivers that wind through mountains, tundra and marsh on their way to the Bering Sea. Our land provides a subsistence-based economy that supports generations of our Central Yup’ik (Yup’ik, Cup’ik and Cup’ig) and Athabascan Shareholders. Our land also provides gravel for community needs and precious metals that offer well-paying jobs and economic growth for our People.
Did you know?
When people refer to the “Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta” they are not describing the entirety of our region, which includes uplands outside of the low-lying river deltas. For this reason, Calista refers to our region more frequently as the “Yukon-Kuskokwim Region” or the “Calista Region.”
Land Ownership
Calista Corporation owns and manages 6.5 million acres of land in the Y-K Region.
The majority of Calista’s land is split estate, where village corporations own the surface and Calista owns the subsurface, which includes gravel. Additionally, Calista holds 264,000 acres of fee-estate lands (both surface and subsurface rights are owned). Much of the fee-estate land is prospective for precious metal mineral resources.
Did you know?
Calista and the region’s village corporations received a fraction—less than 20 percent—of our Shareholders’ ancestral homelands through the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. Roughly 75 percent of the land in the Region is managed by the federal government and contained within the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge.
Native Allotments
Individuals own more than 5,600 Alaska Native allotments in the Calista Region. The allotments, up to 160 acres in size, are typically used for family fish camps, hunting and gathering. Allotments were issued to individuals by the federal government on the basis of their Tribal affiliation.
Calista directs Shareholders with questions about allotments to the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the Association of Village Council Presidents’ Realty Office.
Cultural Site Protection
Calista and other Alaska Native regional corporations were authorized under ANCSA Section 14(h)(1) to select and protect historical and cemetery sites in their regions. These lands were not included in the ANCSA Section 12 village land selections.
In the Calista Region, these sacred places were identified from oral and written accounts and through personal interviews with residents and Elders in the villages. They are not open to development, but many are susceptible to coastal and riverbank erosion or permafrost melt. To prevent exploitation, their locations are kept confidential. (See Calista Education and Culture’s Yup’ik Atlas for public information.)
The deadline to select lands under ANCSA Section 14(h)(1) was December 31, 1976. Calista currently holds title to approximately 4,000 acres of land under Section 14(h)(1). Village corporations have also received cultural sites through reconveyance.
Gravel Sales
Managing and developing local rock quarries and gravel pits is one of the ways that Calista’s Land and Natural Resources Department works with each community in the Y-K Region.
Gravel is necessary for projects involving minor repairs to access roads and house pads, as well as large, costly improvements to airports, roads and ports. Before excavating any material from Calista’s subsurface land, the developer needs to enter into a material sale agreement (MSA) with Calista.
To learn more about sand and gravel sales, or notify Calista about upcoming projects, contact Calista_land@calistacorp.com or call 907-275-2800.
Donlin Gold Project
Calista Corporation’s priority is supporting Shareholders by protecting our land, our traditional way of life and promoting economic opportunities that benefit our people. One of the ways we accomplish this is by sustainable development of our natural resources.
Calista owns the mineral resources at the proposed Donlin Gold Project in our Region.
We support responsibly developing the Donlin project because strict environmental oversight, good-paying jobs and affordable energy brought by the project will allow us to grow healthy communities.
Our top priority for the Donlin Gold Project is protecting fish and our subsistence way of life.
Modern Alaska mines operating today have a strong track record for protecting and in several cases even enhancing local fisheries.
Want to learn about the environmental impact of 25 years of Red Dog Mine operations? Read this article, Mining and Sustainable Communities. (Spring 2015), from the Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska Fairbanks./o
Calista owns the mineral resource at the Donlin Gold Project.
Through Calista’s direct oversight, we take an active role in project decisions. We will be actively involved in mine development, operations, reclamation, and closure.
Since 2004, Calista’s Shareholder Relations Committee has held more than 200 meetings in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Region to discuss Donlin and other topics important to Shareholders.
Since 2011, Donlin has hosted more than 300 meetings, not including public meetings related to public comment periods for its permits.
Input received from Calista Shareholders and Y-K communities resulted in Donlin revising its project design to significantly reduce barge traffic by adding a natural gas pipeline and address concerns about mine tailings.
Subsistence knowledge and participation from Shareholders are a required component of project monitoring and oversight. [i] We work with Donlin to ensure this requirement is being fulfilled.
[i] Donlin Final Environmental Impact Statement, Chapter 5, Table 5.2-1
Decades of safe and successful open-pit operations at Alaska’s Red Dog and Fort Knox mines have protected and enhanced local ecosystems.
Due to Red Dog’s modern water treatment, water quality improved and Dolly Varden trout moved upstream, colonizing a local stream immediately below the mine.
The Fort Knox gold mine, opened in 1996, created a wetland complex in an area that had been disturbed by historic mining and established self-sustaining healthy fish and wildlife populations immediately downstream of its operations. [i]
Donlin is required to discharge water that meets the strictest water quality standards to protect salmon and all other aquatic life.
Donlin has committed to restore 1.5 miles of stream impaired by historic placer mining in the upper Crooked Creek watershed, providing accessible habitat for resident fish and coho salmon.
The State of Alaska requires extensive aquatic monitoring for large mines, providing a continual checkup on high-value species and overall ecological indicators. Donlin began monitoring in 2020—many years before any mining begins. The findings will be published for public review annually.
[i] Red Dog and Fort Knox examples based on Alaska Department of Fish and Game monitoring data.
Alaska’s two large surface mines (Red Dog and Fort Knox) have highly regulated modern dams that demonstrate every day that we can prevent the serious failures that have occurred in less-regulated areas of the world.
Donlin is using the safest dam construction method (downstream design) built entirely on solid bedrock.
No significant accidents have occurred worldwide with the downstream type of tailings dam design selected for the Donlin Gold Project.
Donlin has also proposed an impermeable liner beneath the tails (not required by regulation) as a best practice for controlling any potential for unintended leakage from the facility.
Recent social media posts with alarming pictures of tailings accidents show dams that did not use the downstream design. Often, those projects used inherently unstable materials below the dam or as part of the dam foundation.
Before, during and after construction, Donlin must undergo rigorous dam safety reviews, continuous monitoring and inspections by the operator, the Engineer of Record and the State of Alaska Dam Safety team to verify safety, stability and compliance.
Donlin Gold is an opportunity to strengthen our communities—reducing unemployment and providing cash income necessary to continue our subsistence lifestyle.
The project requires building robust infrastructure (gas pipeline and broadband) that provide an opportunity to reduce the costs of energy, goods, and services in our communities.
Donlin Gold’s lease with Calista requires a hiring preference at the mine site for Shareholders and their families.
The project prioritizes hiring from the Y-K Region and has achieved an 80% local hire rate for Donlin work crews.
Donlin Gold offers many opportunities for living-wage jobs in our Region on a rotational basis, providing extended periods of time at home to carry out our subsistence lifestyle.
The estimated five years of construction and 27+ years of operation can provide employment for several generations of Shareholders and their families.
Donlin Gold funds scholarships, vocational training, and many other services to Shareholders in the Y-K Region. It currently pays “advance” royalties that also benefit Calista Shareholders and their families.
Royalties from future gold production will be shared with all Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs), including Village Corporations in our region and statewide. [i]
Donlin Gold is the next known opportunity to continue sharing a vital source of income—7(i) and 7(j) payments from Native-owned lands—among ANCs and their Shareholders.
Mining at NANA’s Red Dog Mine is expected to end by 2030.
Seven of every 10 dollars provided to Village Corporations through 7(j) payments between 2015 and 2018 came from revenues from Red Dog [ii]
More than half of Village Corporations surveyed are reliant on these payments [iii]. ANC’s and Village Corporations statewide need to be thinking about subsequent projects that could help replace this revenue when it ends.
[i] ANCSA Section 7(i) and (j)
[ii] ANCSA Regional Association reports
[iii] ANVCA annual member surveys
