Land selections by early Doyon leadership focused on potential job opportunity, subregional and regional economic opportunity, and Doyon and village corporation economic benefits in natural resource management and projects.
The land selections included potential for gravel, forestry, minerals, and oil and gas. It is the Lands and Natural Resource Department’s objective to enhance and protect lands.
Projects focus on the successful balance of continued local use and commercial use of resources.
Doyon’s Lands and Natural Resources Department operates programs in four key areas.
Sand, Gravel, and Rock
Doyon manages over 162 sources of sand, gravel and rock across villages within our region. From project conception to completion, Doyon is involved in material development and sales. Doyon material sites are not only available for large scale projects, but also for community projects and individual shareholder projects.
Precious and Base Metal Minerals
Doyon partners with mining companies large and small to explore the mineral potential of our land which is located in the well known Tintina Mineral Belt. The Tintina Mineral Belt hosts many operating projects including Fort Knox north of Fairbanks and Manh Choh at Tetlin. We manage a detailed database that serves as a vital resource for future work, along with guidelines for a variety of precious and base metal prospects. Doyon has partnered with mineral exploration companies since the early 1970s to pursue opportunities in the region which has provided local employment and opportunity for Doyon shareholders and communities.
We’re always seeking experienced, capable companies to conduct exploration within our lands. Doyon also maintains a library containing 45 years or work summary reports from all exploration projects on Doyon land and select core samples available for viewing. To learn more about Doyon mineral prospects and agreement terms, please contact the Lands & Natural Resources Department directly.
Oil and Gas
Sedimentary basins like those found within Doyon lands are closely linked with potential oil and gas deposits. Doyon manages under-explored basins that hold potential for major fields including the Minto-Nenana Basin and the Yukon Flats Basin.
To properly track and manage these important resources, we operate both an online data center and a data room in Anchorage. Here, a library of information, studies, and evaluations tied to recent and heritage seismic and drilling, geophysics, and surface geochemistry are stored—all owned or licensed by Doyon.
Along with maintaining our proprietary databases, we evaluate data to identify targets that warrant further investigation and monitor exploration activities throughout our land.
Community Planning
Staff regularly work with communities to identify importance resource needs for future generations. Doyon partners with village leadership and residents to maintain ongoing dialogues about projects, development, and reclamation plans, as well as training, contracting, and employment opportunities.
Yukon Flats
When Doyon was established, early leaders and village leaders focused on selecting lands for local and traditional uses, historical-cultural sites, and economic potential through natural resource development that could provide employment, training, and contracting for villages and Doyon.
Early leaders of Doyon, including Doyon’s first president John Sackett, in partnership with Fort Yukon, Stevens Village, and Beaver leaders focused on allocating an additional 300,000 plus acres within the Yukon Flats region for oil and gas potential that had been identified early in the 1970s. Learn more Doyon’s land management in the Yukon Flats region.