Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy introduced legislation on Wednesday creating another approach that offers Alaskans the ability to purchase or lease state land for recreational cabin sites, advancing his priority to “put Alaska land into Alaska hands.”
“The ability to own land is a core American value, which this plan supports by helping fulfil so many Alaskans’ dreams of owning a piece of the Last Frontier,” Dunleavy said. “Alaska has vast amounts of land, but only three percent it is in private hands, less than in any other state. This bill is an important tool for removing burdensome obstacles and putting Alaska land into Alaska hands.”
The governor’s legislation House Bill 195 and Senate Bill 133 allow eligible Alaskans to nominate up to 10 acres from the millions of acres of vacant, unappropriated, or unreserved state lands for the Department of Natural Resources to offer for sale or lease as a remote recreational site.
Applicants would be required to make a 5 percent down payment, cover survey and appraisal costs, and pay fair market value for the land. Land leases could be extended or converted to sales contracts using long-term state-managed financing.
“We support the governor’s efforts to broaden the base of private land ownership, and are excited to help him continue unlocking Alaska,” said DNR Commissioner Corri Feige. “While the state’s economy benefits from commercial resource development, this new legislation benefits individual Alaskans by expanding their opportunities to better enjoy our great outdoors by owning private recreational parcels.”
The legislation supplements existing state land sales programs, which include twice-annual land auctions, over-the-counter sales, subdivision sales, and sale of agricultural land. It expedites recreational site sales by removing the burdensome requirement for formal best-interest findings, while protecting the state’s right to repossess land and make it available to others should the applicant not meet lease or sale terms.
SB 133 has been scheduled for its first hearing, in Senate Resources Committee on April 28.
How’s about a road somewhere!!!!
Dillingham would be awesome.
For those with a sense of adventure and willing to invest some sweat equity into staking their own parcel of land in Alaska, the Remote Recreational Cabin Staking Program is a great opportunity to stake, purchase, and develop your own piece of the Great Land! It looks like these bills are intended to streamline the permitting process to offer more land staking opportunities for Alaskans with less regulatory burden.
Now the Gov. can say that, along with being open for business, the truly state is for sale.
Very important! I hope it gets passed. We need this land in the private sector. Young people need it to help build the state! Just what we need!!!!!
Don’t expect help from our congressional delegation, they all voted for the BLM secretary, who turned around and screwed the Alaska Native Vietnam veterans.
No-brainer.
The left opposes property ownership, of any kind. The individual must be marginalized and assimilated into the larger group identity and made to submit to the will of the collective.
Whenever you doubt or forget who they are, remember: up until about 30 years ago, they were still shooting people in the back, as they climbed over a wall meant to KEEP THEM IN..because they dared to try to LEAVE, their great leftist Utopias..
Same old over priced and too remote properties on auction and over the counter sales. No thanks.
For anyone excited to “own” their own remote piece of Alaskan paradise…read HB 195. Some interesting things in there but this caught my eye:
“ party of the first part, Alaska, hereby expressly saves, excepts and reserves out of the grant hereby made, unto itself, its lessees, successors, and assigns forever, all oils, gases, coal, ores, minerals, fissionable materials, geothermal resources, and fossils of every name, kind or description, and which may be in or upon said land above described, or any part thereof, and the right to explore the same for such oils, gases, coal, ores, minerals, fissionable materials, geothermal resources, and fossils, and it also hereby expressly saves and reserves out of the grant hereby made, unto itself, its lessees, successors, and assigns forever, the right to enter by itself, its or their agents, attorneys, and servants upon said land, or any part or parts thereof, at any and all times for the purpose of opening, developing, drilling, and working mines or wells on these or other land and taking out and removing therefrom all such oils, gases, coal, ores, minerals, fissionable materials, geothermal resources, and fossils, and to that end it further expressly reserves out of the grant hereby made, unto itself, its lessees, successors, and assigns forever, the right by its or their agents, servants and attorneys at any and all times to erect, construct, maintain, and use all such buildings, machinery, roads, pipelines, powerlines, and railroads, sink such shafts, drill such wells, remove such soil, and to remain on said land or any part thereof for the foregoing purposes and to occupy as much of said land as may be necessary or convenient for such purposes hereby expressly reserving to itself, its lessees, successors, and assigns, as aforesaid, generally all rights and power in, to, and over said land, whether herein expressed or not, reasonably necessary or convenient to render beneficial and efficient the complete enjoyment of the property and rights hereby expressly reserved.”
Translated that means you buy the land and any time the state wants to they can trespass, build roads, power lines, pipelines, etc. on or across your property, they can lease the rights for a private entity to do oil or mineral exploration, they can mine it or drill it…pretty much anything they want anytime they want.
You better hope “your” property doesn’t have anything of value on or under it and it better not be on the best road, pipeline or power line route to somewhere else.
The concept and understanding of private property has really changed since the Founders wrote the constitution.
The last true Homestead Act was 1991; meaning that you stake your 10 acres, build a 12×16 habitable structure within 5 years, get your survey done and then apply for your patent. Not this silly idea where you have to pay the “fair market value” of said acreage.
Be careful what you wish for. The last land giveaway Alaska did cost the state a fortune in having to build roads, provide power, and later a school. Many folks that went for cheap or free land were not skilled or educated enough to take care of themselves. The amount of social services via welfare and other payments were huge as there was no jobs available in that area.
Nation building is hard. We tbought we’d git er done in thd ’50 ‘s and be livin the dream by now. Generations before, in this land, came up and never went south again. They stayed through volcanic ash and everything else was abundant but government and cash. Now we have more government and have more government limitations abundantly instead. Thank God the recently arrived are so amazingly intelligent and such freedom limiting commandants. BTW, if you come here as an expression of your US Constitutional right to travel you will be entrapped here forever, legally pinioned by those lying in wait for your soul refusing to show who they are Satan’s dumb kiddo’s. A real merry-go-round.
Oh, in order for Alaska to save that grand list unto its cold, barren bosom, it must have been at some point in time actually within the chain of recorded title. Alaska is still occasionally whining haltingly that it only has two percent even in private title and most went from federal to private title without the state having any interest at all. However, all Alaska land managers are too mentally limited to understand that or the validity of US Constitution concepts ergo Alaska’s vulgar and incomprehensable attempts at “land policies.” Governor Dunleavy is really a breath of fresh air. Better keep him in office as long as you can.
These bills retroactively penalize those who have obtained a remote lot within the past ten years, by declaring them ineligible to participate, (SB 133, page 12, lines 26 thru 29). Otherwise I would be in favor of the bills, but will instead have to ask my legislators to oppose the bills for that reason. Had I known that a previous purchase would jepardize my future chance at a lot that I really wanted, I would not have made that previous purchase.
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