Close up of Alaska land transfer map showing pins, stickers, and colored in areas of status

Alaska Land Transfer Program

In Alaska, the Bureau of Land Management has been tasked with the largest land transfer effort ever taken in the United States. For more than 30 years, the BLM has been involved with the survey and conveyance of lands in Alaska under three statutes: the Native Allotment Act of 1906; the Alaska Statehood Act, and the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). The work being done to implement these laws is collectively called the Alaska Land Transfer Program. The Alaska Land Transfer Program has three distinct phases: preliminary adjudication and application approval; cadastral survey; and conveyance of lands and entitlements.

Visit our Alaska Native Vietnam era veterans land allotment page for the latest Alaska efforts under (Sect. 1119) of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act (Public Law 116-9).

When Alaska became the 49th state in 1959, nearly all of its 365 million acres were under federal ownership. Since then, Alaskans have witnessed dramatic changes in land ownership. As the Secretary of the Interior’s designated survey and land transfer agent, the BLM surveys and conveys land to individual Alaskan Natives, Alaska Native corporations, and the State of Alaska.

Land Transfer Entitlements

  • The total entitlement to the State of Alaska is 104.5 million acres, roughly the size of California.
  • The remaining state entitlement is 5.2 million acres, roughly the size of New Jersey.
  • The total ANCSA entitlement is 45.7 million acres, roughly the size of the state of Washington.
  • The remaining ANCSA settlement is 1.8 million acres, roughly the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined.

Map of the U.S. with Alaska superimposed over the top to scale spanning coast to coast with Washington, California, New Jersey. Delaware, and Rhode Island highlighted.

Remaining Conveyance and Survey Work

Alaska Land Transfer Remaining Work Map April 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the work is completed, over 150 million acres, approximately 42% of the land area in Alaska, will have been transferred from federal to state and private ownership.