Notice of Upcoming Relinquishment of Alaska Statehood Act Land Selections

PUBLIC NOTICE

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Division of Mining, Land & Water (DMLW) is proposing to relinquish Alaska Statehood Act (Pub. L. 85-508) land entitlement selections in accordance with the provisions in the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) (Pub. L. 96-487) and the Alaska Land Transfer Acceleration Act (ALTAA) (Pub. L. 108-452).

The State of Alaska was granted 105 million acres of land under the Statehood Act. To date, the State has received title to approximately 102 million acres of land. The remaining entitlement is approximately 3.2 million acres. A visual representation of state owned lands and current selections can be found on Alaska Mapper at: https://mapper.dnr.alaska.gov/. Information about how to use Alaska Mapper can be found in the User Guide through the hyperlink on the application’s main webpage.

Section 906(f) of ANILCA granted the State the ability to select additional lands that exceed the total remaining entitlement by 125% (over selections). Section 906(f) also provided that the State can prioritize its remaining land selections and that over selections would be relinquished as entitlement lands were conveyed to the State. Section 404(4) of ALTAA requires the State to relinquish over selections that are greater than the 125% limit set under ANILCA.

The State’s current selections and ANILCA Section 906(e) top filings total over 19 million acres. DMLW will be relinquishing lower priority selections in accordance with ANILCA Section 906(f) and ALTAA Section 404(4). Alaska Statute (AS) 38.05.035 allows for disposal of interests in state lands and AS 38.05.945 provides procedures for notice of those disposals.

Relinquishment of entitlement land selections will be noticed as individual parcels or in larger groups. Public notice and decisions related to State entitlement land selection relinquishments will be available on the State of Alaska online public notice portal: https://aws.state.ak.us/OnlinePublicNotices/Login.aspx. Interested parties are encouraged to subscribe to the portal to ensure receipt of all notices.

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. 

DMLW has created a GIS StoryMap to help inform the public of areas being considered for relinquishment, parcels out for public notice or decisions, and general information about progress on the relinquishment efforts. StoryMap link: https://arcg.is/90nX92 or scan

DNR reserves the right to waive technical defects in this notice.