Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
The so-called land "freeze" of 1969 continued until December 18, 1971, when Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), which provided for conveyance of 40 million acres to Alaska Natives according to the formula shown in Figure 209. ANCSA satisfied Native claims to lands and also imposed constraints on the uses and disposition of all remaining federally owned land in the state to insure that planning precedes any actions taken to classify or release the lands.
| Figure 209 | |||||||||
| Total Distribution of Land Under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act | |||||||||
| Enrollment Totals2 | Percent of Total Enrollment | Land Surface Area | Percent of Total Area | Acreage Entitled to Receive by Formula Calculation | Village Eligibility Based on Population acres/(townships) | Allocation of Remainder of 22 million acres | Net Acreage Remaining for Regional Entitlement Selection4 | ||
| REGION |
(Excluding SE)
|
(acres) | (Excluding SE) | (Area%x37,769,600 acres)3 | |||||
| AHTNA | 1,057 | 1.76 | 18,487,988 | 5.3 | 2,001,788 | 714,240 | (31) | 44,549 | 958,030 |
| ALEUT | 2,678 | 4.46 | 7,130,339 | 2.1 | 793,162 | 1,152,000 | (50) | 112,891 | -- |
| ARCTIC SLOPE | 3,741 | 6.24 | 54,105,162 | 15.6 | 5,892,058 | 829,440 | (36) | 157,947 | 4,073,511 |
| BERING STRAITS | 6,965 | 11.61 | 14,810,232 | 4.3 | 1,624,093 | 2,096,640 | (91) | 293,872 | -- |
| BRISTOL BAY | 5,135 | 8.56 | 26,021,012 | 7.5 | 2,832,720 | 2,695,680 | (117) | 216,671 | -- |
| CALISTA | 13,562 | 22.60 | 35,832,891 | 10.4 | 3,928,038 | 5,460,480 | (237) | 572,051 | -- |
| COOK INLET | 8,453 | 14.09 | 24,040,862 | 6.9 | 2,606,102 | 529,920 | (23) | 356,646 | 1,351,451 |
| CHUGACH | 1,837 | 3.06 | 9,549,133 | 2.8 | 1,057,549 | 368,640 | (16) | 77,455 | 465,011 |
| DOYON | 8,853 | 14.76 | 128,225,207 | 37.1 | 14,012,522 | 3,525,120 | (153) | 373,605 | 8,142,760 |
| KONIAG | 3,033 | 5.06 | 4,669,446 | 1.3 | 491,005 | 898,560 | (39) | 128,079 | -- |
| N.A.NA.A | 4,681 | 7.80 | 23,102,243 | 6.7 | 2,530,563 | 1,198,080 | (52) | 197,434 | 778,837 |
| (totals) | 59,995 | 100.00 | 345,974,515 | 100.0 | 37,769,600 | 19,468,800 | (845) | 2,531,200 | 15,769,600 |
| 1 Calculations as of June 8, 1973, Bureau of Land Management. | |||||||||
| 2 Enrollment count as of May 16, 1973, Bureau of Indian Affairs. | |||||||||
| 3 SEALASKA will receive 230,400 acres of the total 38 million acres. Calculations are based on remaining acreage. | |||||||||
| 4 As some regions contain a large number of villages, the total village eligibility (column 6 and column 7) is greater than the total acreage the region is entitled to receive (column 5). These regions will not receive any regional land (column 8). So that all villages receive their full entitlement, regions which have land in excess of full village entitlement will have their regional entitlement reduced. | |||||||||
| Source: AHTNA, Inc. and Arctic Environmental Information and Data Center, University of Alaska, 1973. The AHTNA Region: Background for Regional and Community Planning. | |||||||||
Two subsections of ANCSA contain significant provisions affecting land status. Section 17(d)(1) calls for a review of all unreserved public lands in Alaska "to insure that the public interest in these lands is properly protected." Actually, the (d)(1) classification is comparable to the Multiple Use and Classification Law which expired in 1970 and left Alaska without a federal classification law. The Taylor Grazing Act, which governs land management programs in other public land states, was never extended to Alaska. In March 1974 the Secretary of Interior extended the (d)(1) category to include all unreserved and unappropriated public lands in Alaska. All federal lands in Alaska are in a withdrawal status. Section 17(d)(2) authorizes the Secretary to recommend to Congress the designation of up to 80 million acres of Alaska land for use as national parks, forests, and refuges and for inclusion of some of Alaska's rivers in the Wild and Scenic Rivers System (Figure 210).
ANCSA revoked existing Native reserves and will return these unselected lands to the public domain unless reserve residents elect to take ownership in lieu of ANCSA benefits. The Native Allotment Act was also revoked with a commitment to honor applications which predated ANCSA.
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Figure 210. Explanation of Land Classification Categories |
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Major withdrawals prior to Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) (Dec. 18, 1971) |
Lands set aside by the Federal Government for particular purposes such as parks, military installations, forests, and wildlife refuges |
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State selections—patented |
Lands conveyed and deeded to the State of Alaska |
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State selections—tentatively approved |
Lands selected by the State of Alaska which have been approved by the Department of the Interior for transfer to the State |
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State selections—pending |
Lands selected by the State of Alaska which have not been acted upon by the Department of the Interior |
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Utility corridor |
Lands withdrawn for right-of-way for proposed transportation and utility purposes |
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Withdrawals for Native villages |
The 25 townships around a Native village from which village selections may be made |
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Village deficiency withdrawals |
Lands withdrawn for villages which cannot meet their selection entitlement from the Native village withdrawal |
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Regional deficiency withdrawals |
Lands withdrawn for Native regional corporations which cannot meet their selection entitlement from the withdrawals in their region |
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Native allotments |
Homesteads of a maximum 160 acres of nonmineral land granted to Eskimos and Indians under law in 1906. Aleuts included in 1956 |
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Former Indian Reserves (elected to be acquired under Sec. 19, ANCSA) |
Lands set aside before ANCSA for the use of certain Native groups. These reserves were revoked by ANCSA, but the people living on them had the option to acquire title to these lands rather than to participate in the Settlement Act |
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Withdrawals for classification and public interest [(d)(1)] |
Land withdrawn for classification by the Department of the Interior under Section 17(d)(1) of ANCSA |
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Withdrawals for possible inclusion in the four national systems [(d)(2)] |
Lands withdrawn under Section 17(d)(2) of ANCSA for study and recommendation as possible additions to national forests, parks, wildlife refuges, or wild and scenic rivers systems |
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Dual withdrawals for (d)(2) and Native regional deficiency (Sec. 17(d)(2)(E), ANCSA) |
Lands withdrawn for Native regional selection which if not selected will remain in (d)(2) category |
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Withdrawals for possible addition to national wildlife refuge system |
Lands withdrawn as replacements to refuges from which lands have been removed by Native selections |