Doyon Ltd.

• Author: Stricker, Julie
• Position: Largest private landowner in North America

In the 30 years since its incorporation, Doyon Ltd. has built a strong foundation.

That strength has been sorely tested in the last two years with the unexpected deaths of two of its leaders: Morris Thompson and Rosemarie Maher. Thompson, who was president and CEO from 1985 to 1999, was killed in the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 88 in January 2000, while Maher, who took the reins from Thompson, died of a heart attack this past summer.

Despite the blows, Doyon, the Alaska Native regional corporation for Interior Alaska, is quietly growing and prospering.

Mike Irwin, chairman of the board, and James Mery, senior vice president of lands and natural resources, are running Doyon's day-to-day operations while the corporation seeks a new president and chief executive officer.

Irwin says Doyon's strength comes from its shareholders.

"Our shareholders stand behind the institution through thick and thin," Irwin says. "They've always been the backbone of our corporation. That support of the institution itself is what makes us a strong corporation."

Maher and Thompson were both talented people, who built respect and stability for Doyon, Irwin says.

"The corporation is bigger than any one person," he says. "For most of the time (Morris) was president, Rosemarie was chairwoman. The two of them were quite a team. They built what is one of the strongest management teams I've ever known.

"(Their deaths have) taken its toll on us, but we keep moving forward, which is what they would want us to do."

Under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Doyon received $54 million and 12.5 million acres of land. With its shareholders comprised mostly of traditionally nomadic Athabascan Indians who traveled constantly to eke out a living from the sparse region, Doyon's land entitlement stretches from the Canadian border west nearly to Norton Sound, north to the Brooks Range and south to the Alaska range. Doyon is the largest private landowner in North America.

Few roads cross the huge area, and although gold, silver and other mineral deposits have been discovered on Doyon lands, most are too remote or in quantities too small to be economically feasible. Recently, Doyon has been working to identify potential oil and gas prospects on its land that could benefit from a proposed natural gas pipeline that could traverse the Interior. Those projects are still in exploratory stages, however.

Nevertheless, Doyon has been profitable for the past 16 years, bringing in...