Arctic Slope Regional Corporation

Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, or ASRC, is one of thirteen Alaska Native Regional Corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) in settlement of aboriginal land claims. Arctic Slope Regional Corporation was incorporated in Alaska on June 22, 1972.[1] Headquartered in Utqiagvik, Alaska, with administrative offices in Anchorage,[2] Arctic Slope Regional Corporation is a for-profit corporation with nearly 11,000 Alaska Native shareholders primarily of Inupiat Eskimo descent.[3]

ASRC offices in midtown Anchorage

ASRC is a private for-profit corporation whose initial shareholders were the 13,000 Iñupial Eskimos listed in the 1970 US census. It has 4,000 employees in Alaska and three other US states. Its gross revenue in 2015 was $2.5 billion. Since inception, it has delivered over $915 million as dividends to shareholders. Since 2000, it has distributed $90 million to support socioeconomic opportunities in the area. This includes scholarships and training programs to qualified Iñupiat.[4]

ASRC is one of the largest private landowners in Alaska, with ownership in fee simple of 5 million acres of land. Its lands have high potential for development. Following creation of the ASRC by the U.S. Congress in 1971, the corporation received a share of the $963 million provided by the Alaska Land Claims Settlement Act, plus a number of acres of land in proportion to the size of villages in its region. It was able to define and obtain title to parcels of land without restriction to any former title or land claim. It engaged experts to identify land with significant potential for petroleum, timber, fish, game, and tourist development. Its lands include half of the 429 million-barrel Alpine Oil Field which started production in 2001.[5]

In 2016, the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation was ranked as the fourth best of 92 oil, gas, and mining companies on indigenous rights in the Arctic.[6]