Eligible Alaska Native veterans may receive an allotment of one or two parcels of Federal land in Alaska totaling no more than 160 acres.

(a) The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq. (ANCSA), as amended.

(b) Section 432 of Public Law 105-276, the Appropriations Act for the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development for fiscal year 1999, 43 U.S.C. 1629g, which amended ANCSA by adding section 41.

(c) Section 301 of Public Law 106-559, the Indian Tribal Justice Technical and Legal Assistance Act of 2000, which amended section 41 of ANCSA.

(d) The Native Allotment Act of 1906, 34 Stat. 197, as amended, 42 Stat. 415 and 70 Stat. 954, 43 U.S.C. 270-1 through 270-3 (1970).

Yes. The regulations implementing the Native Allotment Act of 1906, 43 CFR Subpart 2561, also apply to Alaska Native Veteran Allotments to the extent they are not inconsistent with section 41 of ANCSA or other provisions in this Subpart.

Alaska Native is defined in the Native Allotment Act of 1906 as amended by the Act of August 2, 1956, 70 Stat. 954.

Allotment has the same meaning as in 43 CFR 2561.0-5(b).

Conservation System Unit has the same meaning as under Sec. 102(4) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of December 2, 1980, 16 U.S.C. 3102(4).

Consistent and inconsistent mean compatible and incompatible, respectively, in accordance with the guidelines in these regulations in §§ 2568.102 through 2568.106.

Veteran has the same meaning as in 38 U.S.C. 101, paragraph 2.

(a) Yes. The Office of Management and Budget has approved, under 44 U.S.C. 3507, the information collection requirements contained in Subpart 2568 and has assigned them clearance number 1004-0191 for Form AK-2561-10. BLM uses this information to determine if using the public lands is appropriate. You must respond to obtain a benefit.

(b) BLM estimates that the public reporting burden for this information is as follows: 28 hours per response to fill out form AK-2561-10. These estimates include the time for reviewing instruction, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed and completing the collection of information.

(c) Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection to the Information Collection Clearance Officer, Bureau of Land Management, 1849 C St. N.W., Mail Stop 401 LS, Washington, D.C. 20240.

To qualify for an allotment you must:

(a) Have been eligible for an allotment under the Native Allotment Act as it was in effect before December 18, 1971; and

(b) Establish that you used land in accordance with the regulation in effect before December 18, 1971, and that the land is still owned by the Federal government; and

(c) Be a veteran who served at least six months between January 1, 1969, and December 31, 1971, or enlisted or was drafted after June 2, 1971, but before December 3, 1971; and

(d) Not have already received conveyance or approval of an allotment. (However, if you are otherwise qualified to receive an allotment under the Alaska Native Veterans Allotment Act, you will still qualify even if you received another allotment interest by inheritance, devise, gift, or purchase); and

(e) Not have a Native allotment application pending on October 21, 1998; and

(f) Reside in the State of Alaska or, in the case of a deceased veteran, have been a resident of Alaska at the time of death.

Yes. The personal representative or special administrator, appointed in the appropriate Alaska State court proceeding, may apply for an allotment for the benefit of a deceased veteran's heirs if the deceased veteran served in South East Asia at any time during the period beginning August 5, 1964, and ending December 31, 1971, and during that period the deceased veteran:

(a) Was killed in action,

(b) Was wounded in action and later died as a direct consequence of that wound, as determined and certified by the Department of Veterans Affairs, or

(c) Died while a prisoner of war.

The person filing the application must present proof of a current appointment as personal representative of the estate of the deceased veteran by the proper court, or proof that this appointment process has begun.

BLM will accept an appointment of personal representative made any time after an eligible person dies, even if that appointment came before enactment of the Alaska Native Veterans Allotment Act.

If the appointment process is incomplete at the time of allotment application filing, the prospective personal representative must file the proof of appointment with BLM within 18 months after the application filing deadline or BLM will reject the application.

No, the estate of the deceased veteran eligible under § 2568.60 must meet the same requirements for a Native allotment as other living Alaska Native veterans. In addition, a deceased veteran must have been a resident of Alaska at the time of death.

If you are qualified, you can apply between July 31, 2000 and January 31, 2002.

You must file your application in person or by mail with the BLM Alaska State Office in Anchorage, Alaska.

BLM will consider applications to be filed too late if they are:

(a) Submitted in person after the deadline in section 2568.70, or

(b) Postmarked after the deadline in section 2568.70.

Yes. You must complete form no. AK-2561-10, “Alaska Native Veteran Allotment Application.”

You must also file:

(a) A Certificate of Indian Blood (CIB), which is a Bureau of Indian Affairs form,

(b) A DD Form 214 “Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty” or other documentation from the Department of Defense (DOD) to verify military service, as well as any information on cause of death supplied by the Department of Veterans Affairs,

(c) A map at a scale of 1:63,360 or larger, sufficient to locate on-the-ground the land for which you are applying, and

(d) A legal description of the land for which you are applying. If there is a discrepancy between the map and the legal description, the map will control. The map must be sufficient to allow BLM to locate the parcel on the ground. You must also estimate the number of acres in each parcel.

Yes.

(a) If the CIB or DOD verification of qualifying military service is missing when you file the application, BLM will ask you to provide the information within the time specified in a notice. BLM will not process the application until you file the necessary documents but will consider the application as having been filed on time.

(b) A personal representative filing on behalf of the estate of a deceased veteran must file the Department of Veterans Affairs verification of cause of death.

No. You do not need to pay a fee to file an application.

The filing of an application with a sufficient description to identify the lands will segregate those lands. “Segregation” has the same meaning as in 43 CFR 2091.0-5(b).

Yes. You may apply for one or two parcels, but if you apply for two parcels the two combined cannot total more than 160 acres. You may apply for less than 160 acres. Each parcel must be reasonably compact.

Yes. The land in your application must be surveyed before BLM can convey it to you. BLM will survey your allotment at no charge to you, or you may obtain a private survey. BLM must approve the survey if it is done by a private surveyor.

Yes. If you file your application during the 18-month filing period and BLM finds correctable errors, it will consider the application as having been filed on time once you correct them. BLM will send you a notice advising you of any correctable errors and give you at least 60 days to correct them. You must make corrections within the specified time or BLM will reject your application.

(a) BLM will not reject your application without giving you an opportunity for a hearing to establish the facts of your use.

(b) If BLM cannot determine from the information you submit that you met the use and occupancy requirements of the 1906 Act, it will send you a notice saying that you have not submitted enough evidence and will give you at least 60 days to file additional information.

(c) If you do not submit additional evidence by the end of the time BLM gives you or if you submit additional evidence but BLM still cannot determine that you meet the use and occupancy requirements, the following process will occur:

(1) BLM will issue a formal contest complaint telling you why it believes it should reject your application.

(2) If you answer the complaint and tell BLM you want a hearing, BLM will ask an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) of the Interior Department, Office of Hearings and Appeals, to preside over a hearing to establish the facts of your use and occupancy.

(3) The ALJ will evaluate all the written evidence and oral testimony and issue a decision.

(4) You can appeal this decision to the Interior Board of Land Appeals according to 43 CFR part 4.

You may receive title only to:

(a) Land that:

(1) Is currently owned by the Federal government,

(2) Was vacant, unappropriated, and unreserved when you first began to use and occupy it,

(3) Has not been continuously withdrawn since before your sixth birthday,

(4) You started using before December 14, 1968, the date when Public Land Order 4582 withdrew all unreserved public lands in Alaska from all forms of appropriation and disposition under the public land laws, and

(5) You prove by a preponderance of the evidence that you used and occupied in a substantially continuous and independent manner, at least potentially exclusive of others, for five or more years. This possession of the land must not be merely intermittent. “Preponderance of evidence” means evidence which is more convincing than the evidence offered in opposition to it; that is, evidence which as a whole shows that the fact you are trying to prove is more likely a fact than not.

(b) Substitute land explained in 43 CFR 2568.110.

You cannot receive an allotment containing any of the following:

(a) A regularly used and recognized campsite that is primarily used by someone other than yourself. The campsite area that you cannot receive is that which is actually used as a campsite.

(b) Land presently selected by, but not conveyed to, the State of Alaska. The State may relinquish up to 160 acres of its selection to allow an eligible Native veteran to receive an allotment;

(c) Land presently selected by, but not conveyed to, a Native corporation as defined in 43 U.S.C. 1602(m). A Native corporation may relinquish up to 160 acres of its selection to allow an eligible Native veteran to receive an allotment, as long as the remaining ANCSA selection comports with the appropriate selection rules in 43 CFR 2650. Any such relinquishment must not cause the corporation to become underselected. See 43 U.S.C. 1621(j)(2) for a definition of underselection;

(d) Land designated as wilderness by statute;

(e) Land acquired by the Federal government through gift, purchase, or exchange;

(f) Land containing any development owned or controlled by a unit of government, or a person other than yourself;

(g) Land withdrawn or reserved for national defense, other than the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska;

(h) National Forest land; or

(i) Land selected or claimed, but not yet conveyed, under a public land law, including but not limited to the following:

(1) Land within a recorded mining claim;

(2) Home sites;

(3) Trade and manufacturing sites;

(4) Reindeer sites and headquarters sites;

(5) Cemetery sites.

Yes, in some cases. You will normally be limited to a half-mile (referred to as 160 rods in the regulations at 43 CFR part 2094) along the shore of a navigable water body. If you apply for land that extends more than a half-mile, BLM will treat your application as a request to waive this limitation. As explained in 43 CFR 2094.2, BLM can waive the half-mile limitation if it determines the land is not needed for a harborage, wharf, or boat landing area, and that a waiver would not harm the public interest.

BLM can convey an allotment that is known to be or believed to be valuable for coal, oil, or gas, but the ownership of these minerals remains with the Federal government. BLM cannot convey to you land valuable for other kinds of minerals such as gold, silver, sand or gravel. If BLM conveys an allotment that is valuable for coal, oil, or gas, the allottee owns all minerals in the land except those expressly reserved to the United States in the conveyance.

No. The Alaska Native Veterans Allotment Act does not give BLM the authority to reacquire former Federal land in order to convey it to a Native veteran.

A CSU is an Alaska unit of the National Park System, National Wildlife Refuge System, National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, National Trails System, National Wilderness Preservation System, or a National Forest Monument.

You may receive title if you qualify for that allotment and the managing agency of the CSU agrees that conveyance of that allotment is not inconsistent with the purposes of the CSU.

No. This process is unique to this regulation. It should not be confused with any similar process under any other act, including the incompatibility process under the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997.

(a) BLM conducts a field exam, with you or your representative, to check the boundaries of the land for which you are applying and to look for signs of use and occupancy. The CSU manager or a designated representative may also attend the field exam.

(b) The CSU manager or representative assesses the resources to determine if the allotment would be consistent with CSU purposes at that location. You may submit any other information for the CSU manager to consider. You or your representative may also accompany the CSU representative on any field exam.

(c) The CSU manager submits a written decision and resource assessment to BLM within 18 months of the BLM field exam. The CSU manager will send you a copy of the decision and a copy of the resource assessment.

The CSU manager will decide this on a case-by-case basis by considering the law or withdrawal order which created the CSU. The law or withdrawal order explains the purposes for which the CSU was created. The manager would also consider the mission of the CSU managing agency as established in law and policy. The manager will also consider how the cumulative impacts of the various activities that could take place on the allotment might affect the CSU.

An allotment could generally be consistent with the purposes of the CSU if:

(a) The allotment for which you qualify is located near land that BLM has conveyed to a Native corporation under ANCSA, or,

(b) A Native corporation has selected the land under ANCSA and has said it would relinquish such selection, as long as the remaining ANCSA selection comports with the appropriate selection rules in 43 CFR 2650. Any relinquishment must not cause the corporation to become underselected. See 43 U.S.C. 1621(j)(2) for a definition of underselection.

An allotment could generally be inconsistent in situations including, but not limited to, the following:

(a) If, by itself or as part of a group of allotments, it could significantly interfere with biological, physical, cultural, scenic, recreational, natural quiet or subsistence values of the CSU.

(b) If, by itself or as part of a group of allotments, it obstructs access by the public or managing agency to the resource values of surrounding CSU lands.

(c) If, by itself or as part of a group of allotments, it could trigger development or future uses in an area that would adversely affect resource values of surrounding CSU lands.

(d) If it is isolated from existing private properties and opens an area of a CSU to new access and uses that adversely affect resource values of the surrounding CSU lands.

(e) If it interferes with the implementation of the CSU management plan.

Yes. If you qualify for land in one of the categories listed in section 2568.91 which BLM cannot convey, you may choose an alternative allotment from the following types of land within the same ANCSA Region as the land for which you originally qualified:

(a) Land within an original withdrawal under section 11(a)(1) of ANCSA for selection by a Village Corporation which was:

(1) Not selected,

(2) Selected and later relinquished, or

(3) Selected and later rejected by BLM;

(b) Land outside of, but touching a boundary of a Village withdrawal, not including land described in section 2568.91 or land within a National Park; or

(c) Vacant, unappropriated, and unreserved land. (For purposes of this section, the term “unreserved” includes land withdrawn solely under the authority of section 17(d)(1) of ANCSA.)

BLM will notify you in writing that you are eligible to choose an alternative allotment from lands described in section 2568.110.

You must file a request for an alternative allotment in the Alaska State Office as stated in section 2568.71 and follow all the requirements you did for your original allotment application.

No. If BLM cannot convey the allotment for which you originally apply, and you are eligible to choose an alternative allotment, you do not have to prove that you used and occupied the land in the alternative location.

You should contact the appropriate CSU manager as quickly as possible to discuss resource concerns, potential constraints, and impacts on existing management plans. After you do this you must file a request for an alternative allotment with the BLM Alaska State Office as stated in section 2568.71 and follow all the requirements of the original allotment application. If the alternative allotment land is also in the CSU, the CSU manager will evaluate it to determine if conveyance of an allotment there would be inconsistent with the CSU as well.

Your application for an alternative allotment must be filed:

(a) Within 12 months of when you receive a decision from a CSU manager that says your original allotment is inconsistent with the purposes of the CSU or,

(b) Within six months of when you receive a decision from the CSU manager on your request for reconsideration of the original decision affirming that your original allotment is inconsistent with the purposes of the CSU, or

(c) Within three months of the date an appellate decision from the appropriate Federal official becomes final. This official will be either:

(1) The Regional Director of the National Park Service (NPS),

(2) The Regional Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), or

(3) The BLM Alaska State Director

You may appeal all decisions, except for CSU inconsistency decisions or determinations by the Department of Veterans Affairs, to the Interior Board of Land Appeals under 43 CFR Part 4.

(a) You may request reconsideration of a CSU manager's decision by sending a signed request to that manager.

(b) The request for reconsideration must be submitted in person or correctly addressed and postmarked to the CSU manager no later than 90 calendar days of when you received the decision.

(c) The request for reconsideration must include:

(1) The BLM case file number of the application and parcel, and

(2) Your reason(s) for filing the reconsideration, and any new pertinent information.

(a) The CSU manager will reconsider the original inconsistency decision and send you a written decision within 45 calendar days after he or she receives your request. The 45 days may be extended for a good reason in which case you would be notified of the extension in writing. The reconsideration decision will give the CSU Manager's reasons for this new decision and it will summarize the evidence that the CSU manager used.

(b) The reconsideration decision will provide information on how to appeal if you disagree with it.

(a) Yes. If you or your legal representative disagree with the decision you may appeal to the appropriate Federal official designated in the appeal information you receive with the decision. That official will be either the NPS Regional Director, the USFWS Regional Director, or the BLM Alaska State Director, depending on the CSU where your proposed allotment is located.

(b) Your appeal must:

(1) Be in writing,

(2) Be submitted in person to the CSU manager or correctly addressed and postmarked no later than 45 calendar days of when you received the reconsidered decision.

(3) State any legal or factual reason(s) why you believe the decision is wrong. You may include any additional evidence or arguments to support your appeal.

(c) The CSU manager will send your appeal to the appropriate Federal official, which is either the NPS Regional Director, the USFWS Regional Director, or the BLM Alaska State Director.

(d) You may present oral testimony to the appropriate Federal official to clarify issues raised in the written record.

(e) The appropriate Federal official will send you his or her written decision within 45 calendar days of when he or she receives your appeal. The 45 days may be extended for good reason in which case you would be notified of the extension in writing.

(f) The decision of the appropriate Federal official is the final administrative decision of the Department of the Interior.