Lisa Murkowski: “the Native Allotment Subdivision Act is the only answer to resolving the question of whether Native landowners have the…”

“the Native Allotment Subdivision Act is the only answer to resolving the question of whether Native landowners have the authority to subdivide their own property. Individual Alaska Native landowners cannot subdivide their land to transfer it either by gift or by sale. There is no current authority that allows them to dedicate rights-of-way across their land for public access or for utility purposes. The lack of explicit statutory authorization calls into question the legal validity of lands that have been subdivided and lands that likely could be subdivided in the future. This legislation will provide the necessary authorization to the Department of the Interior and Native landowners to dedicate their land for public purposes as they see fit. No other legislation or policy exists that addresses such a unique problem. Essentially this bill allows Alaska Natives to own lands with the same obligations and privileges of other private landowners in Alaska. However, the bill creates no obligation of Alaska Natives to do anything with their allotments unless they elect to sell or dispose of their lands.”