Alaskan Land Laws
Said Not So Bad
, i " ■ • 1 .V i
A review of land laws placed
Into effect during the past few
years reveals that recurring state
ments that land laws in Alaska
date back to the Civil War days
deserve a critical analysis, a Bu
reau of Land Management offlAal
in Anchorage said recently. Ad
mittedly. changes for the better
always can be made and some
streamlining is advisable, but gen
erally most of the older statutes
have been modernized or usable
substitutes have been enacted, he
said. The principal thing to be
sale, for the land laws in operation
in Alaska is that stress Is made
on development—doing something
with the land, it was pointed out.
Congress in 1954 raised the area
that may be held by one oil and
gas leasee in Alaska from 15,360
acres to 100,000 acres. The rental
per acre is 25 cents in Alaska com
pared with 50 cents in the Conti
nental United States. Another new
law provides that the leasing of
land for oil and gas development
does not prevent the staking of
mining claims on the same land,
if it is available otherwise. Nation
al Forests and Wild Life reserva
tions are subject to oil and gas
leases under certain circumstances.
Provision was made by Congress
this past year for non-profit cor
porations such as churches and
Boy Scouts of America, to buy
land for recreational and public
purposes. This same act allows
the Territory, municipalities and
other political subdivisions to buy
land for those purposes, too. An
applicant is limited to the pur
chase of 640 acres each year. The
land must be used for the purpose
indicated, or it reverts to the
United States.
The land acquisition law which
is most active in Alaska, the Small
Tract Act, was given a beneficial
change by Congress last■ year.
Heretofore, homesltes. cabin sites
and business sites were restricted
to surveyed land under this Act
and as much less than one per
cent of Alaska has been surveyed,
the law was restrictive. The new
law permits unsurveyed land to be
leased as small tracts and sold to
the lessee after survey.
A careful reading of ttye last two
mentioned laws shows that land in
some withdrawals can be appropri
ated for recreational and public
purposes as well as for small tracts.
One big change In the homestead
law was made. Korean veterans
are eligible for all veteran bene
fits but Congress decreed that ex
servicemen of World War II and
Korea must cultivate 1/8 of the
land as must all other homestead
ers. Again, this puts more empha
sis on actual farming, which was
the original purpose of the law. |
Reviewing a few laws in use in
Alaska — if a person wants to
farm, he applies under the Home
stead Law which, of course, is an
oldtime statute being extended to
Alaska in 189S. It's been amended
numerous times but it still requires
a farmer to farm and live on the
land. It does not provide for
someone else to do the work or
put up the money. A weakness in \
the law, the BLM official said, is
that is doesn’t protect the inex
perienced individual from home
steading worthless soil. Perhaps
an amendment permitting home
steading only on agricultural land
is in order.
If a person wants to go into
business, he has several acts to
use. The newest one is the Public
Sale Act enacted in 1949 and per
mits purchase of up to 160 acres
at public auction. The Small Tract1
Act permits lease and then purch
ase of one tract of five acres or
less at an appraised price. This
Act was pasised in 1938 and extend
ed to Alaska several years later.
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ALASKA METAL BUILDINGS
The Headquarters Site Act passed
In 1934 gives the right of occupying
any non-mineral, unreserved pub
lic domain as a headquarters or
business and permits the patent
ing of an area of five acres or less
while the Trade and Manufacturing
Act, passed in 1898, is similar and
permits up to 80 acres. The pur
chase price Is $2.50 per acre.
Some are old and some are new,
but there are a variety of laws
under which a business site may
be obtained.
If a person merely wants a
place to live, there are two laws
under which he can get a home
site — the Small Tract Act which
was amraended in 1954 to permit
classification of unsurveyed lands,
and the Homesite Act of 1934.
Under the Small Tract Act, a per
son leases a tract of five acres
for a period of two or three years
and then pays an appraised pur
chase price set at the time he
leases the land. He can buy the
land at the end of the first year
if he has complied with the lease
terms. No stated period of occu
pancy is required. The Homesite
Act of 1934 allows a qualified per
son to move onto an unoccupied,
unreserved portion of the public
domain, live there five months per
year for three years, pay $2.50
per acre and become eligible for
patent.
At times, the Bureau of Land
Management receives complaints
because veterans get priorities in
filing and credit service. Whether
or not this is a weakness in the
law is (or Congress to determine, i
a spokesman (or BLM said.
The grazing law (or Alaska was
passed in 1927, seven years l>e(ore
the Taylor Grazing Act which is
used in the Continental United
States. The Alaska grazing statute
has no acreage limitation and is
so flexible, BLM officlls said, that
terms o( the various leases can be
altered to meet almost any situa
tion.
A point to be Observed is that
some withdrawn land can be ob
tained under the Public Sale Act, -
Small Tract law and under the
grazing regulations. Records show
that with one or two exceptions, >
all o( the land sold under the Pub
lic Sale Act and most of the graz
ing leases involved lands which
are inside some type of reserva,
tion. This, together with Secretary
of the Intreior McKay’s policy of
reducing reservations to a min
imum, indicates a definite trend
toward easing the problems land
withdrawals have caused in Alaska,
it was pointed out.
The disposal of timber and a
wide variety of resources of the
land was authorized by a 1947 lew.
A special amendment was passed
in 1950 to permit BLM in Alaska
to dispose of materials located be
low mean high water mark in nav
igable waters. Before that time
no Federal agency or individual
could legally obtain gravel from
streams or off coast areas. Dispos
ition of timber under the Act of
Way 14, 1898 is authorized. Hun
ireds of small gales and free use ;
permits have been made and la
med under this Act. The 1947 law
luthorlzes, among other things,
he sale of clay. A brick manu
'acturtng Industry is developing at
\nchorage using material obtained
inder this law.
The Coal Leasing Act dates back
o 1914 and follows the standard
sattern of tonnage requirements,
ionds and royalties.
There are other lane laws In ef
'ect in Alaska—some new, some
>Id—'but these are the main ones
n operation in the Territory. No
and laws operate smoothly when
:onflicts of interests appear and as <
Maska grows and land acquisition
jecomes more and more important,
hese conflicts become important
'actors in the adjustment of appli
cations, a Land Office official ob
served.
Harbor Homemakers
The Harbor Homemakers Club
vill meet at the home of Mrs.
Chester Steear, 608 Fifth St. on
Wednesday, January 19th at 1:30
j.m. for a textile painting work
shop directed by Mrs. Dangler.
An interesting feature of this
neeting will also be an informa
;ive talk by Miss Lura Peck on
;he aims, programs and progress
)f the 4-H Club work. 4-H Clubs
n Seward are sponsored by this
Homemakers group.
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