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Requesting Input on a Proposed Relinquishment of Selected State Entitlement Lands: Kauk River and Selawik Hills University Of Alaska Selections

Requesting Input on a proposed Relinquishment of State Entitlement Lands

Comment Period Ends 4:00 PM, April 3, 2026

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is proposing to relinquish the State of Alaska's (State) entitlement land selection for fee estate (all surface and subsurface interests) on approximately 50,711 acres.

The Selawik Hills area selection is located approximately 15 miles northeast of Buckland, Alaska. The lands are located in the Kateel River Meridian, Township 7 North, Range 9 West, Sections 1, 5 through 7, 18, 19, and 30 and Township 8 North, Range 9 West, Sections 1 through 18, 21 through 29, and 31 through 36.
The Kauk River area selection is located approximately 32 miles northeast of Buckland, Alaska. The lands are located in the Kateel River Meridian, Township 10 North, Range 8 West, Sections 1 through 5 and 7 through 16, excluding lakes, and Township 11 North, Range 8 West, Sections 8, 11 through 30, and 33 through 36. Location maps are attached to this notice.

The lands are not currently owned by the State, they are under Federal management and ownership. The purpose of relinquishment is to facilitate conveyance of the lands to the University of Alaska. DNR is noticing both University selections concurrently, but the final determination for the selections will be addressed by separate decisions.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (CAA) (Pub. L. 117-328) created a mechanism for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to convey Alaska Statehood Act lands to the University of Alaska (University). The CAA enabled the University to select up to 500,000 acres of State lands for possible acquisition, with a final conveyance of up to 360,000 acres. The State must concur with the final list of selected lands and submit conditional selection relinquishment letters to BLM. The program terminates on December 29, 2026.

More information about the CAA and University selections can be found here: https://www.alaska.edu/ualand/about/land-grant/

Information about hunting on University lands can be found here: https://www.alaska.edu/ualand/permits/hunting-revised.php

Information about the State’s role in the CAA program can be found here:
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/e796f8301c0047c4ab828b2036229c6f

Alaska Statute (AS) 38.05.035 allows for disposals of interests in state lands, and AS 38.05.945 provides procedures for notice of those disposals. This notice and any future decisions on this proposed action are available on the State of Alaska online public notice portal: http://aws.state.ak.us/OnlinePublicNotices/. For assistance in obtaining documents by an alternative method, to request auxiliary aids, services, or special accommodations, contact DNR’s Public Information Centers on State work days, Monday through Friday, between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. in Anchorage at (907) 269-8400, Fairbanks at (907) 451-2705, Southeast Land Office in Juneau at (907) 465-3400, TTY: 711 for Alaska Relay or 1-800-770-8973, or go to http://dnr.alaska.gov/commis/pic/ for additional contact information. Individuals who require special assistance must request assistance from the Public Information Center in Anchorage no later than 4:00 p.m., March 27, 2026.

The public is invited to submit comments addressing the proposed action: is it in the public and
State’s best interests to relinquish the land selection so the lands can be conveyed to the
University of Alaska. Comments should be limited to the proposed action. If commenting on
more than one proposed action, separate comments should be submitted for each action.

The deadline for public comment is 4:00 PM, Friday, April 3, 2026. Only persons from whom
the Department of Natural Resources receives timely, written comment during the identified
comment period will be eligible to file an appeal of the decision. Written comments may be
received by email or postal mail. To submit comments or for direct inquiries, contact Carrie
Hallinan at carrie.hallinan@alaska.gov or (907) 334-2550.

After public input is considered, the decisions will be issued without further notice. A copy of the
decision will be sent to any persons who provided input, and a copy will be posted on the States
online public notice portal http://aws.state.ak.us/OnlinePublicNotices/. To subscribe to the
State’s online public notice portal, visit the link and set up an email or RSS subscription using
available criteria. DNR reserves the right to waive technical defects in this notice.

Attachments, History, Details

Revision History

Created 2/18/2026 4:01:21 PM by cjhallinan

Details

Department: Natural Resources
Category: Public Notices
Sub-Category:
Location(s): Statewide
Project/Regulation #:
 
Publish Date: 2/19/2026
Archive Date: 4/4/2026
 
Events/Deadlines: