Almost since the inception of Van Ness Feldman three decades ago, the firm has provided legal counsel to the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC), the Alaska Native-owned regional corporation headquartered in Barrow on Alaska's North Slope. Owned by its 11,000 Inupiat Eskimo shareholders, ASRC received over 5.5 million acres of land on the North Slope under the terms of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. ASRC has worked hard to develop the natural resources on its lands in an environmentally sound manner, while also engaging in the preservation and advancement of the culture and heritage of the Inupiat people.  The firm has counseled ASRC on a wide range of matters, including resource development, public lands issues, several important land exchanges with the federal government, tax policy, and a series of important amendments to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.