During a roundtable discussion today with Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning announced that the Department will open approximately 27 million acres of federal lands to selection by eligible Alaska Native veterans.
“We have a sacred obligation to America’s veterans. I honor the sacrifices made by those who serve in our military, and I will not ignore land allotments owed to our Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans,” said Haaland. “I am grateful to the veterans we met with today for their patience as we have worked through the needed analyses, and to the BLM team that moved expeditiously to deliver on this promise.”
Earlier in the week, Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan spoke to the Alaska Legislature about the long-neglected Native Vietnam veteran allotments, and the repeated broken federal promises.
“Finally, the Secretary needs to take action on two matters that have been an affront by the federal government to our Alaska Native communities for decades,” Sullivan said, speaking of Haaland, who is visiting Alaska this week.
“The first is the life-saving King Cove Road, perhaps the most enduring symbol of an arrogant, uncaring federal government in Alaska. When Secretary Haaland travels to King Cove this week, she needs to tell the determined citizens of that community that she fully supports the construction of the 11-mile gravel road to Cold Bay that will undoubtedly save lives,” Sullivan said.
“And, she also needs to unequivocally voice her support for our heroic Alaska Native Vietnam veterans who are unable to select their Native land allotments because they were patriotically serving their country in a war that many Americans were avoiding serving.
“Last year, before all of you, I went into some detail about this issue. It’s an issue I’m very passionate about, and I worked hard to get my legislation signed into law to write this historic wrong. In fact, it was the number-one issue I raised with Secretary Haaland during her confirmation process. I told her, “You must rapidly implement this law, the public land order that is ready to go by your predecessor.”
“Unfortunately, she did not keep her commitments to me on this and has instead undertaken delay after delay, while Alaskan Native Vietnam veterans who are living—their numbers are unfortunately dwindling. This is truly an outrage,” Sullivan said to the Alaska Legislature.
The Alaska Native Vietnam Era Veterans Land Allotment Program was established by the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act of 2019 and was championed by the Alaska Congressional delegation. Through this program, the BLM can provide eligible individuals the opportunity to select an allotment of up to 160 acres from available federal lands in Alaska. Currently there are approximately 1.2 million acres of available federal lands open to allotment selection.
The BLM recently completed an environmental assessment and issued a finding of no significant impact on the effects of opening of federal lands within the Kobuk-Seward Peninsula, Ring of Fire, Bay, Bering Sea-Western Interior, and East Alaska planning areas to selection under the 2019 Alaska Native Vietnam-era Veterans Land Allotment program.
BLM will now complete the legal descriptions to open the lands to selection. Lands are available for selection through Dec. 29, 2025.
For more information on the Alaska Native Vietnam Era Veterans Land Allotment Program click on the BLM’s program page.
