BLM opens comment window on Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans land allotment data collection

The Bureau of Land Management is seeking public comment by August 17 on renewing federal approval to collect application data, without which it cannot process Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans' land allotment claims.

The program lets Alaska Native veterans who served between August 5, 1964, and December 31, 1971, and never received a Native allotment, apply for up to 160 acres of federal land in Alaska. Heirs of deceased eligible veterans may also apply. Congress extended the application deadline to December 29, 2030, and opened roughly 812,957 acres for eligible selections starting September 2022.

The comment window is part of a 30-day Office of Management and Budget review under the Paperwork Reduction Act. Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski warned in a January 2023 joint statement that expiration would "potentially leave well over a thousand eligible Alaska Native Vietnam veterans and their heirs without their rightful land allotments." About 270 records remained pending VA eligibility determination as of the most recent VA figures.

Comments are due August 17 at www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.