Title 43, Public LandsRelease 119-110
§1629g–1 Alaska Native Vietnam Era Veterans Land Allotment
Title 43 › CHAPTER 33 — ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT › § 1629g–1
Summary
Allows eligible Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans to pick one parcel of federal land in Alaska between 2.5 and 160 acres. An eligible person is a Native veteran who served in the Armed Forces from August 5, 1964, to December 31, 1971, and who has not already gotten a land allotment under certain earlier laws, or the personal representative of a deceased eligible veteran acting for the heirs. The Secretary will get a list of service members from the Secretary of Defense within 180 days after March 12, 2019, will help people apply, and must write rules within 18 months after that date. People may apply during the 10-year period that starts when those final rules take effect. If more than one person applies for the same parcel, the earliest application wins and others can pick another parcel. The Secretary must identify Bureau of Land Management parcels in Alaska as available within 1 year after March 12, 2019, certify they are not known to be contaminated, survey and map them, and publish maps. Any land given will stay subject to existing rights and the United States will keep mineral rights. The goal is to issue a certificate of allotment within 1 year after a correct application. The Secretary must also study and report within 1 year after March 12, 2019, whether lands inside National Wildlife Refuge units can be made available, and must exclude many sensitive or protected areas (for example pipeline corridors, military lands, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, National Forests, parks, congressionally designated wilderness, and similar protections). No Refuge unit land can be made available unless Congress approves a law after March 12, 2019, and the land was listed in the Secretary’s report.
Full Legal Text
Title 43, §1629g–1
Public Lands, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Definitions
In this section: (1) Available Federal land (2) Eligible individual
(3)Native; Regional Corporation; Village Corporation
The terms “Native”, “Regional Corporation”, and “Village Corporation” have the meanings given those terms in section 1602 of this title.
(4)State
The term “State” means the State of Alaska.
(5)Veteran
The term “veteran” has the meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38.
(b)Allotments for eligible individuals
(1)Information to determine eligibility
(A)In general
Not later than 180 days after March 12, 2019, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall provide to the Secretary a list of all members of the Armed Forces who served during the period between August 5, 1964, and December 31, 1971.
(B)Use
The Secretary shall use the information provided under subparagraph (A) to determine whether an individual meets the military service requirements under subsection (a)(2)(A)(i).
(C)Outreach and assistance
The Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall conduct outreach, and provide assistance in applying for allotments, to eligible individuals.
(2)Regulations
Not later than 18 months after March 12, 2019, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations to carry out this subsection.
(3)Selection by eligible individuals
(A)In general
An eligible individual—
(i)may select 1 parcel of not less than 2.5 acres and not more than 160 acres of available Federal land; and
(ii)on making a selection pursuant to clause (i), shall submit to the Secretary an allotment selection application for the applicable parcel of available Federal land.
(B)Selection period
An eligible individual may apply for an allotment during the 10-year period beginning on the effective date of the final regulations issued under paragraph (2).
(4)Conflicting selections
If 2 or more eligible individuals submit to the Secretary an allotment selection application under paragraph (3)(A)(ii) for the same parcel of available Federal land, the Secretary shall—
(A)give preference to the selection application received on the earliest date; and
(B)provide to each eligible individual the selection application of whom is rejected under subparagraph (A) an opportunity to select a substitute parcel of available Federal land.
(5)Identification of available Federal land administered by the Bureau of Land Management
(A)In general
Not later than 1 year after March 12, 2019, the Secretary, in consultation with the State, Regional Corporations, and Village Corporations, shall identify Federal land administered by the Bureau of Land Management as available Federal land for allotment selection in the State by eligible individuals.
(B)Certification; survey
The Secretary shall—
(i)certify that the available Federal land identified under subparagraph (A) is free of known contamination; and
(ii)survey the available Federal land identified under subparagraph (A) into aliquot parts and lots, segregating all navigable and meanderable waters and land not available for allotment selection.
(C)Maps
As soon as practicable after the date on which available Federal land is identified under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall submit to Congress, and publish in the Federal Register, 1 or more maps depicting the identified available Federal land.
(D)Conveyances
Any available Federal land conveyed to an eligible individual under this paragraph shall be subject to—
(i)valid existing rights; and
(ii)the reservation of minerals to the United States.
(E)Intent of Congress
It is the intent of Congress that not later than 1 year after the date on which an eligible individual submits an allotment selection application for available Federal land that meets the requirements of this section, as determined by the Secretary, the Secretary shall issue to the eligible individual a certificate of allotment with respect to the available Federal land covered by the allotment selection application, subject to the requirements of subparagraph (D).
(c)Identification of available Federal land in units of the National Wildlife Refuge System
(1)Report
Not later than 1 year after March 12, 2019, the Secretary shall—
(A)conduct a study to determine whether any additional Federal lands within units of the National Wildlife Refuge System in the State should be made available for allotment selection; and
(B)report the findings and conclusions of the study to Congress.
(2)Content of the report
The Secretary shall include in the report required under paragraph (1)—
(A)the Secretary’s determination whether Federal lands within units of the National Wildlife Refuge System in the State should be made available for allotment selection by eligible individuals; and
(B)identification of the specific areas (including maps) within units of the National Wildlife Refuge System in the State that the Secretary determines should be made available, consistent with the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System and the specific purposes for which the unit was established, and this subsection.
(3)Factors to be considered
In determining whether Federal lands within units of the National Wildlife Refuge System in the State should be made available under paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary shall take into account—
(A)the proximity of the Federal land made available for allotment selection under subsection (b)(5) to eligible individuals;
(B)the proximity of the units of the National Wildlife Refuge System in the State to eligible individuals; and
(C)the amount of additional Federal land within units of the National Wildlife Refuge System in the State that the Secretary estimates would be necessary to make allotments available for selection by eligible individuals.
(4)Identifying Federal land in units of the National Wildlife Refuge System
In identifying whether Federal lands within units of the National Wildlife Refuge System in the State should be made available for allotment under paragraph (2)(B), the Secretary shall not identify any Federal land in a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System—
(A)the conveyance of which, independently or as part of a group of allotments—
(i)could significantly interfere with biological, physical, cultural, scenic, recreational, natural quiet, or subsistence values of the unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System;
(ii)could obstruct access by the public or the Fish and Wildlife Service to the resource values of the unit;
(iii)could trigger development or future uses in an area that would adversely affect resource values of the surrounding National Wildlife Refuge System land;
(iv)could open an area of a unit to new access and uses that adversely affect resources values of the unit; or
(v)could interfere with the management plan of the unit;
(B)that is located within 300 feet from the shore of a navigable water body;
(C)that is not consistent with the purposes for which the unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System was established;
(D)that is designated as wilderness by Congress; or
(E)that is within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
(d)Limitation
No Federal land may be identified for selection or made available for allotment within a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System unless it has been authorized by an Act of Congress subsequent to March 12, 2019. Further, any proposed conveyance of land within a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System must have been identified by the Secretary in accordance with subsection (c)(4) in the report to Congress required by subsection (c) and include patent provisions that the land remains subject to the laws and regulations governing the use and development of the Refuge.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
Act of
May 17, 1906, as in effect on
December 17, 1971, referred to in subsec. (a)(2)(A)(ii)(I), means act
May 17, 1906, ch. 2469, 34 Stat. 197, which was classified to sections 270–1 to 270–3 of this title prior to its repeal by Pub. L. 92–203, § 18(a), Dec. 18, 1971, 85 Stat. 710. Codification Section was enacted as part of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, and not as part of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act which comprises this chapter.
Amendments
2025—Subsec. (b)(3)(B). Pub. L. 119–63 substituted “10-year period” for “5-year period”.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Definition of “Secretary” “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Interior, see section 2 of Pub. L. 116–9, set out as a note under section 1 of Title 16, Conservation.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
43 U.S.C. § 1629g–1
Title 43, Public Lands
Last Updated
Sep 23, 2026
Release point: 119-110