Client:

Cook Inlet Region Inc.

Issue:

Cook Inlet Region Inc. (CIRI) is an Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) corporation based in Anchorage.  Perkins Coie has represented CIRI in a variety of environmental, natural resource and land selection issues for decades. 

Our work includes negotiating and implementing the complex Cook Inlet Land Exchange to obtain lands for CIRI.  We currently advise CIRI on environmental laws to help make beneficial use of its corporate lands, including compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), for the development of CIRI lands and for oil and gas development on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.  In addition, we advise CIRI on mergers and acquisitions as well as potential mergers and acquisitions. 

In this matter, CIRI wanted to make beneficial use of its corporate lands for oil and gas development and other forms of development.

Challenge:

Our client needed to cut through a thicket of potentially relevant regulations, including the ESA, MMPA and other laws. 

Solution:

Perkins Coie negotiated and implemented the complex Cook Inlet land exchange to obtain lands that enabled CIRI to carry out its plans, advising CIRI along the way about acquiring government contracting firms and ensuring compliance with applicable state and federal laws.  As part of our counsel, we helped CIRI address the Small Business Administration regulations applying to Alaska Native Corporations, which played a key role in these deals.