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Web posted
The village corporation owns 72,000 acres of land on the north shore of Lake Iliamna stretching to the border of Lake Clark National Park. A proposed road from the Pebble gold-copper mineral deposit to the ocean would cross through land owned by Iliamna Native Ltd., crossing the Newhalen River along the north shore of Iliamna through Pedro Bay to Williams Port.
Lisa Reimers, a shareholder and board member of the village corporation, and grant writer for the Iliamna Village Council, has been named as general manager of the company. Reimers said the village corporation was thinking of forming the development entity even before the Pebble prospect came up. The move came in response of the downturn of commercial fishing profits, a major component of the Bristol Bay economy.
The village corporation became concerned when public announcements were made indicating that the mining company and state of Alaska wanted to place a road across Iliamna lands to a port on Cook Inlet, Reimers said. To date, no officials from the state or Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. have contacted them, Reimers said.
"Nobody has come forward so far to discuss it with us," Reimers said.
Board members of the Iliamna Development Corp. include Iliamna businesswoman Myrtle Anelon; village corporation board member Hans Roehl; village corporation and village council board member Harvey Anelon; Merrill Lynch financial advisor Gary Krosch; and business consultant executive John Rense. Rense was employed for many years with the regional Alaska Native corporation NANA. There Rense was chief operating officer and active in other roles, including 20 years involvement with NANA's Red Dog Mine interests.
Iliamna Natives Ltd. has 172 shareholders, many of which do not live in the area. Iliamna itself has a population of 120 people, but that population fluctuates in summer months, Reimers said.
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