Title 43 › Chapter 33— ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT › § 1611
Each named Village Corporation must pick the townships where any part of its village sits, plus enough nearby land so the total equals the acres it is entitled to. Those selections had to be made within three years from December 18, 1971, and must come from the lands set aside under section 1610(a). No Village Corporation may take more than 69,120 acres from the lands withdrawn by section 1610(a)(2), no more than 69,120 acres from the National Wildlife Refuge System, and no more than 69,120 acres in a National Forest. If a Village picks the surface of land inside a Wildlife Refuge or Naval Petroleum Reserve Numbered 4, the Regional Corporation in that region may pick an equal amount of the subsurface elsewhere from lands withdrawn under section 1610(a). Village selections must be contiguous and compact when possible, usually in whole sections and preferably in blocks of at least 1,280 acres. The Secretary can waive the whole-section rule in limited cases where pieces are split by water or unavailable lands, where the waiver won’t leave tiny isolated parcels, or where another Native corporation will get the rest of the section. After Village selections, the Secretary must allocate the remaining acres up to 22,000,000 among the eleven Regional Corporations (excluding southeastern Alaska) based on how many Natives are enrolled in each region. Each Regional Corporation had to reallocate its share among its villages by October 1, 2005, using factors like historic use, subsistence needs, and population; those allocation decisions cannot be reviewed by courts. The remaining difference between 38,000,000 and the 22,000,000 already allocated is divided among the same eleven regions by each region’s share of Alaska land area (excluding southeast), minus what villages already took. Regions that already took more than their share get no extra and their excess is reallocated to the others proportionally. Each Regional Corporation had to select its acres before the end of the fourth year after December 18, 1971, mostly from lands withdrawn under section 1610(a)(1) (with certain township parity rules) and then from 1610(a)(3) if needed. Special rules cover mineral-only parcels, in-lieu surface selections (including a 90-day choice window, a 12,000-acre limit for certain filings by Doyon, Limited, and minimum unit sizes except when less than 640 acres remain), and a ban on selecting minerals or in-lieu surface inside the National Petroleum Reserve—Alaska or Wildlife Refuges as they existed on December 18, 1971. Disputes about village selection rights or boundaries are decided by a panel of arbitrators chosen by the villages and one or two additional members to make an odd number. Finally, the Secretary may combine a village’s entitlement and any reallocation without changing totals or selection limits, and combined selections are to be handled and conveyed under the same rules; separate patents or surveys are not required except where a survey was contracted for December 10, 2004.
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Public Lands — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
43 U.S.C. § 1611
Title 43 — Public Lands
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60