Trust Land Office backs Control Lake sale without competitive bidding

The Alaska Mental Health Trust Land Office decided Wednesday to sell Trust land near Control Lake on Prince of Wales Island through a negotiated sale, skipping the competitive bidding process the Trust normally uses.

The public notice, filed under state regulation 11 AAC 99.050 and numbered MHT 9101461, is truncated in the state's online search index before it reaches the full legal land description, so details on acreage and buyer's name are not available in that listing. The full notice page returned an error Wednesday reading, "The requested notice is not valid."

The office's land sales page says, "Trust land is sold through the competitive land sale program or negotiated land sales." Proceeds from Trust land sales go into the Mental Health Trust Fund, which pays for beneficiary programs statewide.

Cheryl Fecko, commenting separately on the state's 2025 five-year timber sale schedule, said negotiated sales can reduce transparency compared with competitive bidding. She opposed sales in the Control Lake area, citing recreation, wildlife habitat and scenic values.