BLM says Alaska's last 3.8 million statehood acres are the hardest

Alaska's outstanding statehood land entitlement fell to about 3.8 million acres after Interior transferred about 1.4 million acres along the Dalton Utility Corridor to the state on May 6, the Bureau of Land Management said July 23.

BLM has patented 71,114,368 acres and tentatively approved 29,598,004 acres of Alaska's 105 million-acre entitlement under the 1959 Statehood Act.

The state still has roughly 12.6 million acres in active selections. That is far more than the 3.8 million acres it can ultimately receive, because the state is allowed to select more land than its entitlement covers.

BLM says many of those selected lands are "top-filed" on currently unavailable lands, an option provided to the state under ANILCA. Those lands may be unavailable because of a withdrawal, because they are selected but not yet conveyed under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act or the Native Allotment Act, or because of some other land status that could change.

"In short, the remaining entitlement is the hardest, most complex work left to do under this land transfer authority," BLM said.

The agency says it is working with the State of Alaska on prioritizing that work and unraveling the complex top-filed selections that remain.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy and the state argue federal land orders unlawfully block land Alaska is owed.

Bridget Psarianos of Trustees for Alaska said the Interior secretary broke the law in removing federal protections from more than 2 million acres of public lands in February without hearings in local communities, without a public comment period and without addressing that decision's impacts on land, water and subsistence users.

Alaska Native communities and subsistence users say changes in land status can open areas to development and reduce protections that support hunting, fishing and local livelihoods. Tribes and local communities in affected regions have objected to decisions made without hearings or public comment.