BLM recommends lifting restrictions on millions of acres

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The federal Bureau of Land Management is recommending that Congress lift development restrictions on millions of acres of federal land in the state.


In a report to Congress this month, BLM officials suggested lifting prohibitions on mining, oil and gas leasing, and other development on some large tracts.

The restrictions were put in place in 1970s when the Interior Department secretary withdrew lands under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Native corporations were selecting 44 million acres granted by that 1971 law. Also, state officials were choosing land Alaska received under the Statehood Act of 1958. Congress froze huge swaths of Alaska until that process was completed.

Three decades later, Native corporations are still making selections, as are state officials.

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