HB 498: "An Act requiring the sale or trade of state land."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 498 01 "An Act requiring the sale or trade of state land." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 04 to read: 05 LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The legislature finds that 06 (1) as a general policy, the state benefits from the private ownership and 07 development of property; 08 (2) less than one percent of land in the state is privately owned, and less than 09 ten percent is owned by Alaska Native Corporations; 10 (3) with changing populations and economics, it is sometimes in the best 11 interest of the state to acquire private lands for specific public benefits; and 12 (4) conflicting state interests can be resolved by requiring that equal and 13 comparable lands be sold into private ownership every time private lands are acquired by the 14 state. 15 * Sec. 2. AS 38.05.050 is amended to read:
01 Sec. 38.05.050. Disposal of land for private ownership. The commissioner 02 shall determine the land to be disposed of for private use. The commissioner shall 03 determine the time and place of disposal. An auction sale, a lottery sale, or a disposal 04 of land for homesites may be held in a community that is near the land to be sold or 05 disposed of. The commissioner shall, during each fiscal year, sell for private use 06 an amount of land equal to or greater than the total acreage acquired by the state 07 from private landowners during the previous fiscal year. The land sold shall be 08 reasonably proximate in location to the land acquired, shall be of equal or 09 greater value, and shall demonstrate similar economic development potential. 10 The sale of land under this section shall be close in time to the acquisition by the 11 state from a private landowner, but is not required to be simultaneous. If a 12 single parcel is not available, multiple parcels of land may be combined to meet 13 the requirements of this section. The commissioner may trade land to satisfy the 14 requirements of this section. This section applies to land acquired through 15 purchase, foreclosure, court action, or eminent domain. 16 * Sec. 3. AS 38.05.300(a) is amended to read: 17 (a) The commissioner shall classify for surface use land in areas considered 18 necessary and proper. This section does not prevent reclassification of land where the 19 public interest warrants reclassification, nor does it preclude multiple purpose use of 20 land whenever different uses are compatible. If the area involved contains more than 21 640 contiguous acres, state land, water, or land and water area may not, except by act 22 of the state legislature, (1) be closed to multiple purpose use, or (2) be otherwise 23 classified by the commissioner so that mining, mineral entry or location, mineral 24 prospecting, or mineral leasing is precluded or is designated an incompatible use, 25 except when the classification is necessary for a land disposal or exchange or is for the 26 development of utility or transportation corridors or projects or similar projects or 27 infrastructure, or except as allowed under (c) of this section. If an area involved 28 contains 640 contiguous acres or less being closed to multiple purpose use, the 29 commissioner shall sell an equal number of acres for private use under this 30 chapter.