Port Graham Corp.
Tucked in a mountainous fjord on the southern tip of the Kenai peninsula, the tiny Alaska Native village of Port Graham sits on the ancestral homeland of the Alutiiq people who once populated the entire coast of Southcentral Alaska. In 1971, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act put much of the land around Port Graham into the stewardship of the Port Graham Corporation.
Included in the 1971 settlement were over 100,000 acres of land, including Windy and Rocky Bays, next to the Kachemak Bay Wildlife Preserve. Over 40,000 of the original 100,000 acres are now within the boundaries of the Kenai Fjords National Park, and corporation staff works closely with park employees to manage Port Graham lands inside those borders.
A five member board of directors is elected annually by shareholders.
Corporation-owned businesses provide services to the community, including a general store, purchase and distribution of fuel, and management of the corporation’s lands. Port Graham Corp creates and develops businesses which empower and advance local native communities.
In January 2010, the citizens’ council board officially seated Port Graham Corp. as a member entity. The corporation had been a part of the council’s sister organization, the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council, since that organization’s inception, but was not previously represented on Prince William Sound’s council. Diane Selanoff represents Port Graham Corporation on the council.“The oceans are our life, tying us to our culture, our children’s culture, and our future. It is important to keep the waters pristine,” Selanoff says.