U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, right, laughs with Nelson Angapak Sr., Thursday, April 21, 2022, in Anchorage, Alaska. Angapak appeared at a news conference with Haaland, who was on a visit to Alaska. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, right, laughs with Nelson Angapak Sr., Thursday, April 21, 2022, in Anchorage, Alaska. Angapak appeared at a news conference with Haaland, who was on a visit to Alaska. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Agency proposes more land options for Alaska Native veterans

Haaland visited with veterans this week during her ongoing trip to Alaska, her first to the state as secretary

By Becky Bohrer

Associated Press

JUNEAU — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has proposed an expansion of lands available for selection by Alaska Native Vietnam War-era veterans who are entitled to allotments.

Tom Heinlein, acting state director for the land agency in Alaska, on Thursday recommended opening about 27 million acres of land for allotment selections by eligible veterans. Currently, about 1.2 million acres are available. Concerns have been raised that some of the currently available lands are difficult to access or outside veterans’ cultural homelands.

Heinlein said the next step is to provide detailed land descriptions to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. It would be up to Haaland to sign and issue an opening order for land selections, he said.

The plan is to get her that information in the coming weeks, Heinlein said. He called the matter a “super high priority” for Haaland.

Haaland visited with veterans this week during her ongoing trip to Alaska, her first to the state as secretary. “We have a sacred obligation to America’s veterans,” she said in a statement, adding that she “will not ignore land allotments owed to our Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans.”

Under the 1906 Alaska Native Allotment Act, Alaska Natives were allowed to apply for up to 160 acres of land. Many Alaska Natives were unaware of this program, in large part due to communication hurdles, such as language barriers, according to the land management agency.

There were efforts to urge Alaska Natives to apply for lands if they hadn’t already done so before a 1971 law took effect; that period overlapped with the Vietnam War. A 1998 federal law allowed veterans to apply for land, but the program was seen by some as restrictive.

A 2019 law lifted use and occupancy restrictions, the land agency has said. The application period extends to late 2025.

There are roughly 2,000 eligible individuals but several hundred for whom the agency is looking for heirs or addresses, said Lesli Ellis-Wouters, an agency spokesperson in Alaska. Of those eligible, 162 have made selections and eight have had land conveyed to them, she said.

Nelson Angapak Sr., who appeared at a news conference with Haaland in Anchorage on Thursday, said Friday that he hadn’t seen the documents or maps yet. But he said if the land base from which veterans may apply is expanded, he sees it as a “step in the right direction.”

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, an Alaska Republican, has expressed concern with the pace of the process so far and with the federal government’s approach.

Chad Padgett, a former state director for the Bureau of Land Management, is currently the state director for Sullivan’s office. Padgett, in a statement Friday, said that by “changing the process and attempting to open the lands just for veteran allotments (and excluding the state of Alaska and Native Corporations who also are allotted land under federal law), the Department of the Interior is promising land that they legally cannot.”

The plan would likely be challenged in court, he said.

The land management agency falls under the Interior Department.

More in News

The Kenai Peninsula College main entrance on Aug. 18, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Chiappone and Dunstan to speak at the KPC Showcase

Kenai Peninsula College continues its showcase with two new speakers this week and next

U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, talks about issues of concern regarding the proposed merger of supermarket chains Kroger and Albertsons during a floor speech in the House chamber on Wednesday. (Screenshot from official U.S. House of Representatives video feed)
Begich leads in early results, but Alaska’s U.S. House race won’t be immediately decided

About 245,000 ballots had been counted by 11:32 p.m., and Peltola trailed by about 5 percentage points

The Alaska governor’s mansion on Wednesday. Gov. Mike Dunleavy is considered a contender for a post in Donald Trump’s second presidential administration. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Election summary: Trump wins, GOP takes over U.S. Senate, Alaska may get new governor

Begich and repeal of ranked choice voting narrowly lead; GOP may lose control of state House.

Nesbett Courthouse in downtown Anchorage on Oct. 7, 2024. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Voters line up at the polling site at Anchorage City Hall on Nov. 4, 2024. City Hall was one of the designated early voting sites in Alaska’s largest city. It is not a designated site for Election Day voting. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska Republicans lose two seats in state House, increasing odds of leadership switch

Rural Alaska precincts had reported few results by 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night.

Donald Trump won or was leading as of Wednesday morning in all seven swing states in the 2024 presidential election. (Doug Mills / The New York Times)
Donald Trump returns to power, ushering in new era of uncertainty

He played on fears of immigrants and economic worries to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris.

A voter is handed as ballot at Woodworth School in Dearborn, Mich., on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. One of the most consequential presidential elections in the nation’s modern history is well underway, as voters flocked to churches, schools and community centers to shape the future of American democracy. (Nick Hagen/The New York Times)
Trump verges on victory, picking up Pennsylvania

Donald Trump has captured Pennsylvania, the biggest prize of the seven battleground… Continue reading

Signs and supporters line the Kenai Spur Highway in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Update: Unofficial results for the 2024 general election

Preliminary, unofficial election results as of 9:55 p.m.

Poll worker Carol Louthan helps voters submit ballots at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Update: Bjorkman, Ruffridge, Elam and Vance lead in election night results

Several residents said that they came out to vote because they knew this election was “a big one.”

Most Read