Petersburg Pilot -

"Landless" legislation passed a new milestone on December 14 after winning approval of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee.

The bill still has a long way to go to become law. But if it does, it would return land to the original occupants of five Alaska Native communities in Southeast Alaska. Those communities were left out of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971.

Senator Lisa Murkowski, who sponsored the bill, said in a statement that the omission was "hampering their ability to support development and opportunity while protecting their traditional ways of life. Alaska...