Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the state agency that manages Alaska's public lands and natural resources. It oversees mining, oil and gas leasing, forestry, parks, agriculture and water rights across Alaska's state-owned lands.
Photo by BLM Alaska, via Flickr · Photo source · CC BY 2.0
dnr.alaska.gov ↗Alaska
Inside Alaska Department of Natural Resources
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Week of Aug 10
Smokejumpers contained the McCloud Fire at one acre, and found a lost person during the initial attack
Eight smokejumpers and two helicopters responded Wednesday to a half-acre fire burning 12.5 miles west of Fox, with no structures threatened.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Burn permits suspended in Fairbanks, Delta and Tok areas
Alaska banned burning across the Fairbanks, Tok and Delta areas as the Interior dries out and high winds approach, with the Tatlanika Fire smoking the region.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
The state plans to sell Granite Construction gravel near Chickaloon, without competitive bidding
The state plans to sell Granite Construction 40,000 cubic yards of gravel near Chickaloon with no competitive bidding, on a Glenn Highway stretch it's repaving.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A new gold claim would push mining into a creek the government has spent a decade repairing for fish
A two-person gold operation wants to mine farther down a Fortymile creek the BLM has spent a decade repairing for fish — a decision that's Alaska's to make, in a Wild and Scenic River corridor.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read
Week of Aug 3
The state will renew a Sitka hatchery's Deep Inlet lease for 10 years, not the 25 it wanted
The state will renew a Sitka hatchery's Deep Inlet net pen lease for 10 years, less than half the 25 it asked for, and the notice doesn't say why.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
A company is drilling near Cantwell for the source of half a million ounces of gold
A company wants to drill near Cantwell for the lost source of 500,000+ ounces of gold pulled from the Valdez Creek district's creeks.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Crews deploy to protect Native allotment near Tatlanika Fire
A remote Alaska fire left to burn has grown nearly 30-fold to 28,168 acres and now threatens a single Native allotment, drawing 14 firefighters to protect it.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Alaska would give up a land claim so three Native Vietnam veterans can finally get their allotments
Alaska would give up its claim to 480 acres on the Yukon so three Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans can finally get land allotments cut off when Congress ended the program in 1971.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
A fuel break cleared years ago helped keep the Grandview Fire out of Sterling
A fuel break cleared in 2019-20 helped keep the Grandview Fire out of Sterling — a case of wildfire prep paying off, with no injuries and no homes lost.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Four wildfires broke out on the North Slope within 17 minutes Thursday
Four wildfires broke out on Alaska's North Slope within 17 minutes Thursday, across 40 miles of tundra, the kind of lightning-driven cluster expected to grow as the Arctic warms.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A landslide cut rail service to Denali after record Talkeetna rain
A landslide from record July rain cut off Alaska Railroad service to Denali north of Talkeetna, in a corridor already under a flood-and-erosion emergency.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago1 min read
A new Nome dredge application enters the pipeline that just rejected a fiercely fought gold mine
A new suction-dredge application near Nome enters the same regulatory pipeline that just rejected IPOP's massive Bonanza Channel gold mine
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Alaska moves to hand four more land tracts to a housing agency, no bidding required
Alaska is proposing to transfer four more state land tracts to its housing agency without competitive bidding — part of an ongoing push to turn public land into housing development.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Gold-exploration filings cluster in a historic Interior district
Three gold-exploration applications landed within six days in the historic Valdez Creek district, a small rush in an area that's produced gold since 1903.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Alaska and Canadian crews fight a wildfire across the border
Alaska and Canadian crews are fighting a 20- to 30-acre wildfire 3 miles south of the Alcan Highway, with no evacuations or highway impacts expected.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
A cabin fire spread into a small wildfire north of Fairbanks
A cabin fire near the Chatanika River north of Fairbanks spread into a quarter-acre wildfire Sunday. Smokejumpers worked to contain it and watched it overnight.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Coming up
Alaska LNG ROW Lease Conversion Public Hearing (Virtual)
Virtual (Microsoft Teams)
Hearing
Alaska Department of Natural Resources Hearing on Alaska LNG Right-of-Way Conversion
Hearing
Alaska LNG ROW Lease Conversion Public Hearing (In Person)
Hearing
Alaska LNG Point Thomson Transmission Line & GTP-Mainline-LF ROW Conversion - In-Person Public Hearing
Hearing
Public Comment Deadline: State Underground Storage Rights Claim
Public notice
About Alaska Department of Natural Resources
Photo by BLM Alaska, via Flickr · Photo source · CC BY 2.0
dnr.alaska.gov ↗Alaska
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the State of Alaska agency that manages state lands and natural resources. Its divisions oversee oil and gas, mining, land and water, forestry, parks and agriculture.
DNR holds oil and gas lease sales, approves drilling and seismic surveys, permits mines and sells rock and gravel. It grants leases and easements, decides land transfers to the University of Alaska, the North Slope Borough and AIDEA, and plans timber harvests in state forests.
Its land decisions draw review from the Legislature, and disputes over leases reach the Alaska Supreme Court. DNR works alongside sister agencies such as the Department of Fish and Game and the Department of Transportation, which buys material from state pits.
More from Alaska Department of Natural Resources
Week of Jul 27
Alaska State Parks cabin booking faces a gap during 2026 system swap
Alaska State Parks' cabin booking system goes dark Dec. 31, and the replacement isn't due until fall 2026, right when you'd book an early-2027 winter cabin stay.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
31 acres near Ester may go to an unnamed applicant without an auction
The state may convey 31 acres near Ester to an applicant without an auction under a public-use provision — but the notice won't say who gets the land.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Alaska moves to return 40 acres it wrongly took from a Native allotment
Alaska is moving to return nearly 40 acres near Tok that it says was wrongly conveyed to the state, so the federal government can complete a Native allotment claim in Emma Northway's name.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
The state may give 20,000 acres near Houston to a development authority
The state may give a development authority nearly 20,000 acres north of Houston for data centers and industry. DNR sees jobs — but also reduced trail access.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A North Slope river keeps chewing toward the pipeline, and Alyeska keeps armoring it
For the second time this year, Alyeska wants to stack rock along the Sagavanirktok River to keep it from eroding toward the buried Trans-Alaska Pipeline.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Oil-company seismic data is going public — the price of a state tax credit
Oil-company seismic surveys from Cook Inlet and the North Slope are going public — the eventual price of the state tax credits that funded them — as companies hunt for new gas in a declining basin.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
A 20-acre parcel near Homer is headed to public hands — but for what?
Twenty acres near Homer could be sold to a public or charitable group with no auction — though the state's notice doesn't say who wants it or why. Comment by Aug. 31.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Week of Jul 20
Alaska is auctioning 18 Fairbanks-area timber sales
Alaska is auctioning 18 timber sales near Fairbanks next month — more than double last fall's round — and the cash-up-front rules favor established outfits.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
State maps five years of possible Fairbanks-Delta timber sales
The state has mapped where logging could be proposed near Fairbanks and Delta through 2030 — as cutting on the Tanana Valley State Forest holds a steady pace.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
State weighs 30-year lease for St. Michael barge dock
No roads reach St. Michael, so everything arrives by barge. The state is now weighing a 30-year lease for the dock it lands at.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
State plans a gravel sale on the Parks Highway near Denali
Alaska is set to sell gravel from a Parks Highway site near Denali — under a system an ombudsman faulted in 2019 and the state declined to change.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Nenana River erosion threatens Alaska Railroad mainline; DNR proposes 6-acre land sale near Healy
Alaska is selling 6 acres of state land to the Alaska Railroad so it can move its mainline tracks away from the eroding Nenana River near Healy. Comments due August 14.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readFrom 
State opens 30-day window on nearly 1,700 acres of Petersville mining leases
Alaska opened a 30-day window for objections to seven mining leases covering 1,680 acres near Petersville, with the deadline September 19.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min readDNR extends geoduck farm lease near Ketchikan; comment period open
Alaska extended Tom Carruth's geoduck farm lease near Ketchikan for two more years, opening a 30-day public comment period that started June 23.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Week of Jul 13
DNR opens comment on mining camp proposed near Farewell Airport
Alaska Earth Sciences seeks state permission for a temporary mining support camp near Farewell Airport, with public comments due July 30.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Alaska DNR moves to fix erroneous land conveyance near Tok; comment deadline August 18
Alaska DNR will return 39.50 acres near Tok to federal trust for an Alaska Native allotment holder Emma Northway, with public comments due August 18.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
DNR proposes lower easement fees for long utility corridors; comment deadline Aug. 17
DNR is cutting easement fees for long utility corridors on state land, dropping to 10 cents per linear foot after 100 miles. Comments due August 17.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Comment deadline looms on basecamp permit near Denali Highway milepost 86.5
Public comment deadline is July 27 on a five-year commercial basecamp permit for big game guiding and trapping near Denali Highway milepost 86.5.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
DNR moves to lease four acres near Valdez to adventure tourism operator Black Ops Valdez
DNR is leasing four acres near Valdez to Black Ops Valdez for heli-skiing and backcountry tours, but the deal faces a competitive bidding process if the public objects during the comment period.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
DNR proposes mandatory back-fees for unauthorized use of state land
DNR is making back-fees mandatory for unauthorized installations on state land, eliminating discretion to waive them and creating potential costs for utilities and pipeline operators.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
A fire no one is fighting has been fouling Fairbanks' air for weeks
Alaska's letting the Tatlanika Fire burn on purpose — too remote to be worth fighting — but its smoke has been parked over Fairbanks and Nenana for weeks anyway.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
A small gold permit, on a river fighting for its future
A routine gold-mining permit on a Susitna tributary is a small piece of a much bigger fight over a salmon river conservationists just named one of America's most endangered.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
A gravel permit for the pipeline, and a question about what Alyeska pays
A routine permit lets Alyeska pull gravel from the Sag floodplain for pipeline upkeep — but not what the private pipeline giant pays the public for it. A senator's been asking.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
A Brooks Range hunting guide wants a permanent camp in the wild
A guide who flies hunters into the Brooks Range by Super Cub wants to trade his move-every-two-weeks tent camp for a permanent cabin in some of Alaska's most remote country.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read