For 50 years, about 2,000 Alaska Native military veterans have been without 160-acre land allotments that many other Alaska Natives obtained during the Vietnam War era.

Soon that could change. More than 300,000 acres of land in the upper Lynn Canal could become available this month to Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans through a federal program signed into law three years ago.

The Bureau of Land Management on Sept. 14 will open about 27 million acres of federal land across Alaska for selection by Alaska Native veterans who missed a chance to apply for allotments while they were in the military in the 1960s and early 1970s. While the vast majority of accessible land isn’t in Southeast Alaska, a number of parcels are likely to become available in the Chilkat Range and between Haines and Skagway. Currently only 1.2 million acres of land are available statewide through the program.

Three people with Haines addresses have already applied for allotments, although none selected land in Haines, Bureau of Land Management program lead Candy Grimes told the CVN. Only one selection has been made within the borough, by a Seward resident, according to BLM data. No one from Klukwan has made a selection, Grimes said. She declined to provide information about the three Haines residents, citing privacy concerns.

“We have just over 200 applications so far (statewide). We would love to have the full 2,000 applications,” Grimes said. “We’re doing some outreach to reach those who haven’t applied yet. We look forward to meeting with them one-on-one if possible.”

A 1906 federal law — the Alaska Native Allotment Act — promised Alaska Natives tracts of vacant land of up to 160 acres if they could prove “substantially continuous use and occupancy of that land for a period of five years.” More than 10,000 people filed for allotments before the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which was passed in 1971, repealed the 1906 law. Alaska Native veterans “did not have access to land allotments while serving during the Vietnam War,” according to a U.S. Department of Interior August press release.

“This announcement is a significant accomplishment in honoring our sacred obligation to America’s veterans,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in the press release.

The 2019 law is the third piece of federal legislation in 50 years offering federal lands for allotment selection by Alaska Native veterans. It widens eligibility, though, allowing “any Alaska Native Vietnam veteran who served during the period of Aug. 5, 1964, through Dec. 31, 1971 and did not previously receive a Native allotment to apply for up to 160 acres of federal land.”

Applications for allotments through the program must be submitted by Dec. 29, 2025.

More information can be found on BLM’s website or by calling (907) 271-5998 or emailing Grimes at CGrimes@blm.gov.