Sponsor Statement for SB 281

Yakutat Municipal Land Grant

SB 281 is introduced to complete the formation of the Yakutat Borough and the land entitlements that the state grants to support local government. Initially, the petition of the people of Yakutat to incorporate as a borough in 1992 was considerably reduced in size by the Local Boundary Commission. The land entitlement for the new borough by the formula of 10 % of "vacant, unappropriated, and unreserved" (vuu) state lands was a mere 138 acres.

The City and Borough of Yakutat subsequently petitioned the Local Boundary Commission to reclaim much of the area on its Northern boarder. In a reversal of its earlier decision, the Local Boundary Commission approved the annexation which contains a substantial amount of state "vuu" lands. It is estimated that if the annexed area had been included for the original borough formation, the municipal land entitlement would amount to 33,000 acres.

It has been a long established policy for the state to assist the formation and operation of local governments with generous grants of state land. SB 281 corrects the defects in the borough formation process that resulted in such a small land entitlement for the City and Borough of Yakutat by increasing its entitlement to 21,500 acres. The bill also gives additional authority to the Director of the Division of Lands in the Department of Natural Resources to condition and restrict any of the municipality’s selections made under this increased grant.