Alaska not immune: USDA reveals foreign entities own 270,000 acres in the Last Frontier

Nearly 46 million acres of US forest and farmland — an area larger than the state of Washington — are now under foreign ownership, according to newly released data from the US Department of Agriculture. The report, published Thursday as part of the new National Farm Security Action Plan, raises alarms about the growing presence of foreign-controlled land, especially by countries considered hostile to American interests.

View the USDA data at this official link.

In Alaska, foreign entities currently own 270,401 acres, or approximately 422.5 square miles, representing 0.07% of the state’s total land area. Most of that is held by Canadian interests, with 11 parcels totaling 270,131 acres. Other countries with small land holdings in Alaska include France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Nationwide, however, the scope of foreign ownership is far broader. As of Dec. 31, 2023, foreign persons and entities own 45.8 million acres—roughly 71,562 square miles—of US land. While investors from friendly nations like Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, and the United Kingdom account for more than 60% of that total, significant portions are controlled by entities tied to countries the US deems adversarial.

“Gone are the days of foreign adversaries taking advantage of our farmland, farmers, and programs paid for by American taxpayers,” said USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins on Thursday. “Our work is far from done. We will continue to restore farm security and expose the extent to which our adversaries have targeted American agriculture.”

The report and a new Foreign Farm Land Purchases map were unveiled as part of USDA’s broader push to shine a spotlight on foreign ownership amid bipartisan concern about national security, food supply chain vulnerabilities, and rural land access.

Among the most troubling findings: Chinese investors and companies, with some linked directly to the Chinese Communist Party, now hold more than 277,335 acres of US agricultural land across 30 states. Texas leads the nation with 123,707 acres of Chinese-owned land. North Carolina and Missouri each have over 42,000 acres, while Utah has more than 33,000 acres under Chinese control.

Other adversarial nations have also quietly acquired US land:

• Venezuela: Over 90,000 acres across 17 states
• Iran: More than 3,000 acres in 10 states
• Pakistan: 2,100 acres in three states

Adding to concerns is the fact that more than 3.08 million acres are listed as owned by foreign entities of unknown origin. This includes 1.38 million acres where no foreign investor is listed, and 1.69 million acres without a predominant country code, which may be a red flag.

Despite the scale of foreign ownership, federal oversight remains minimal. The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) of 1978 is the sole federal mechanism for tracking foreign land purchases. But AFIDA depends on voluntary self-reporting, and enforcement is rare.

This regulatory gap means the actual level of foreign ownership may be far higher than reported.

Many states, like Alaska, also have no restrictions on foreign ownership of farmland, though lawmakers in more than 20 states have introduced or passed legislation in recent years to cap, monitor, or ban such purchases. States like North Carolina, New Hampshire, Missouri, and Texas are leading the charge in tightening land access laws.

While Secretary Rollins emphasized the USDA’s commitment to “defend the homeland,” she did not outline any specific policy changes or enforcement mechanisms to curtail future foreign land purchases.

The Not One More Inch or Acre Act has been introduced in two different sessions of Congress by Sen Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who first introduced it in 2023, and then again in 2025.