Collapse to view only § 2627.2 - Grant for University of Alaska.

§ 2627.1 - Grant for community purposes.

(a) Authority. The Act of July 7, 1958 (72 Stat. 339, 340), grants to the State of Alaska the right to select, within 25 years after January 3, 1959, not to exceed 400,000 acres of national forest lands in Alaska which are vacant and unappropriated at the time of their selection and not to exceed 400,000 acres of other public lands in Alaska which are vacant, unappropriated, and unreserved at the time of their selection. The act provides that the selected lands must be adjacent to the established communities or suitable for prospective community centers and recreational areas. The act further provides that such lands shall be selected with the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture as to national forest lands and with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior as to other lands, and that no selection shall be made north and west of the line described in section 10 of the act without approval of the President or his designated representative.

(b) Applicable regulations. Unless otherwise indicated therein, the regulations in § 2627.3 (a) to (d) apply to the grant and selection of lands for community purposes. In addition to the requirements of § 2627.3(c), where the selected lands are national forest, the application for selection must be accompanied by a statement of the Secretary of Agriculture or his delegate showing that he approves the selection.

(c) Approval of selections outside of national forests. Selection of lands outside of national forests will be approved by the authorized officer of the Bureau of Land Management if, all else being regular, he finds that approval of a selection of lands adjacent to an established community will further expansion of an established community, or if the lands are suitable for prospective community centers and recreational areas.

§ 2627.2 - Grant for University of Alaska.

(a) Statutory authority. The Act of January 21, 1929 (45 Stat. 1091), as supplemented July 7, 1958 (72 Stat. 339, 343; 43 U.S.C. 852 note), grants to the State of Alaska, for the exclusive use and benefit of the University of Alaska, the unsatisfied portion of 100,000 acres of vacant, surveyed, unreserved public lands in said State, to be selected by the State, under the direction and subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, and subject to the conditions and limitations expressed in the act.

(b) Applications for selection. (1) Applications to select lands under the grant made to Alaska by the Act of January 21, 1929, will be made by the proper selecting agent of the State and will be filed in the proper office of the district in which such selected lands are situated. Such selections must be made in accordance with the law and with the applicable regulations governing selection of lands by States as set forth in part 2620.

(2) Notice of selection and publication is required as provided by § 2627.5 (b) and (c).

(3) Each list of selections must contain a reference to the act under which the selections are made and must be accompanied by a certificate of the selecting agent showing the selections are made under and pursuant to the laws of the State of Alaska.

(4) The selections in any one list must not exceed 6,400 acres.

(5) Each list must be accompanied by a certification of the selecting agent stating that the acreage selected together with the cumulative acreage total of all prior sales for lists pending and finally approved for clear-listing or patenting does not exceed 100,000 acres.

(c) Statement with application. Every application for selection under the Act of January 21, 1929, must be accompanied by a duly corroborated statement making the following showing as to the lands sought to be selected.

(1) That no portion of the land is occupied for any purpose by the United States and that to the best of his knowledge and belief the land is unoccupied, unimproved, and unappropriated by any person claiming the same other than the applicant; and that at the date of the application no part of the land was claimed under the mining laws.

(2) That the land applied for does not extend more than 160 rods along the shore of any navigable water or that such restriction has been or should be waived. (See § 2094.2 of this chapter.)

(3) All facts relative to medicinal or hot springs or other waters upon the lands must be stated.

§ 2627.3 - Grant for general purposes.

(a) Statutory authority. (1) The Act of July 7, 1958 (72 Stat. 339-343), referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d) of this section as the act, grants to the State of Alaska the right to select, within 25 years from January 3, 1959, not to exceed 102,550,000 acres from the public lands in Alaska which are vacant, unappropriated and unreserved at the time of selection. The Act of September 14, 1960 (74 Stat. 1024), defines vacant unappropriated, unreserved public lands in Alaska to include the retained or reserved interest of the United States in lands which have been disposed of with a reservation to the United States of all minerals or any specified mineral or minerals.

(2) The Act further provides that no selection shall be made in the area north and west of the line described in section 10 thereof (72 Stat. 345) without the approval of the President or his designated representative.

(b) Lands subject to selection; patents; minerals. (1) The Act as amended August 18, 1959 (73 Stat. 395), provides that any lease, permit, license, or contract issued under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (41 Stat. 437; 30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), as amended, or under the Alaska Coal Leasing Act of 1914 (38 Stat. 741; 30 U.S.C. 432 et seq.), as amended, referred to in this section as the mineral leasing acts, shall have the effect of withdrawing the lands subject thereto from selection by the State.

(2) Under the Act, the State may select any vacant, unappropriated, and unreserved public lands in Alaska, whether or not they are surveyed and whether or not they contain mineral deposits. For the purposes of selection, leases, permits, licenses, and contracts issued under the Mineral Leasing Acts of 1914 and 1920 will be considered an appropriation of lands. Where the preference provisions of § 2627.4(a) do not apply, selections by the State of lands covered by an application filed prior to the State selection will be rejected to the extent of the conflict when and if such application is allowed. Conflicting applications and offers for mineral leases and permits, except for preference right applicants, filed pursuant to the Mineral Leasing Act, whether filed prior to, simultaneously with, or after the filing of a selection under this part will be rejected when and if the selection is tentatively approved by the authorized officer of the Bureau of Land Management in accordance with paragraph (d) of this section.

(3) Patents will be issued for all selections approved under the act by the authorized officer of the Bureau of Land Management but such patents will not issue unless or until the exterior boundaries of the selected area are officially surveyed.

(4) (i) Where the State selects all the lands in a mineral lease, permit, license, or contract, issued under the Mineral Leasing Acts of 1914 and 1920, the patent issued under the act will convey to the State all mineral deposits in the selected lands. Any such patent shall vest in the State all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to any such lease, permit, license, or contract that remains outstanding on the effective date of the patent, including the right to all rentals, royalties, and other payments accruing after that date under such lease, permit, license, or contract, and including any authority that may have been retained by the United States to modify the terms and conditions of such lease, permit, license, or contract. Issuance of patent will not affect the continued validity of any such lease, permit, license, or contract or any rights arising thereunder.

(ii) Where the State selects a portion of the lands subject to a mineral lease, permit, license, or contract issued under the Mineral Leasing Acts of 1914 and 1920, the patent issued under the act shall reserve to the United States the mineral or minerals subject to that lease, permit, license, or contract, together with such further rights as may be necessary to the full and complete enjoyment of all rights, privileges, and benefits under or with respect to that lease, permit, license, or contracts. Upon the termination of the lease, permit, license, or contract, title to minerals so reserved to the United States shall pass to the State.

(c) Applications for selection. (1) Applications for selection of lands under the act will be made by the proper selecting agent of the State and will be filed, in duplicate, in the proper office of the district in which such selected lands are situated. No special form is required but it must be typewritten and must contain the following information:

(i) A reference to the Act of July 7, 1958 (70 Stat. 709), as supplemented, and a statement that the selection, together with other selections under the act pending or approved, does not exceed 102,550,000 acres (400,000 acres where one of the grants for community purposes is involved).

(ii) A certificate by the selecting agent showing:

(a) That the selection is made under and pursuant to the laws of the State.

(b) The acreage selected and the cumulative acreage of all prior selection lists pending and finally approved for clear-listing or patenting.

(c) His official title and his authority to make the selection on behalf of the State.

(d) That no portion of the selected land is occupied for any purpose by the United States and that to the best of his knowledge and belief the land is unoccupied, unimproved, and unappropriated by any person claiming the land other than the applicant, and that at the date of the application no part of the land claimed or occupied under the mining laws.

(e) That the selected land does not extend more than 160 rods along the shore of any navigable water or that such restriction has been waived or should be waived. (§ 2094.2 of this chapter.)

(f) All the facts relative to medicinal or hot springs or other waters upon the selected lands.

(iii) If the selected lands are surveyed, the legal description of the lands in accordance with official plats of survey.

(iv) If the selected lands are unsurveyed and are described by approved protraction diagrams of the rectangular system of surveys, such description is required.

(v) If the selected lands are unsurveyed and are not described by approved protraction diagrams, a description of the lands and a map or maps, in duplicate, sufficient to permit ready identification of the location, boundaries, and area of the lands.

(2) Selections must be accompanied by a filing fee of $10 for 5,760 acres or fraction thereof in the selection which fee is not returnable.

(3) All selections shall be made in reasonably compact tracts, taking into account the situation and potential uses of the lands involved. A tract will not be considered compact if it excludes other public lands available for selection within its exterior boundary. Each tract selected shall contain at least 5,760 acres unless isolated from other tracts open to selection.

(4) If the selected lands are in the area north and west of the line described in section 10 of the Act, all selection made or confirmed by the act must be accompanied by a statement of the President or his designated representative showing that he approves the selection.

(5) Section 2627.3(a)(1) and (c)(1)(ii) do not apply to the extent that an application embraces a reserved or retained interest.

(d) Effect of approval of selections. Following the selection of lands by the State and the tentative approval of such selection by the authorized officer of the Bureau of Land Management, the State is authorized to execute conditional leases and to make conditional sales of such selected lands pending survey of the exterior boundaries of the selected area, if necessary, and issuance of patent. Said officer will notify the appropriate State official in writing of his tentative approval of a selection after determining that there is no bar to passing legal title to the lands to the State other than the need for the survey of the lands or for the issuance of patent or both.

§ 2627.4 - All grants.

(a) State preference right of selection: waivers. (1) The Act of July 7, 1958 (see § 2627.3(a)), provide that upon the revocation of any order of withdrawal in Alaska, the order of revocation shall provide for a period of not less than 90 days before the date on which it otherwise becomes effective during which period the State of Alaska shall have a preferred right of selection under the acts of 1956 and 1958, except as against prior existing valid rights, equitable claims subject to allowance and confirmation and other preferred rights of application conferred by law.

(2) Where the proper selecting agent of the State files in writing in the proper office a waiver of the preference provisions of paragraph (a) of this section in connection with the proposed revocation of an order of withdrawal, the order affecting such revocation will not provide for such preference.

(b) Segregative effect of applications. Lands desired by the State under the regulations of this part will be segregated from all appropriations based upon application or settlement and location, including locations under the mining laws, when the state files its application for selection in the proper office properly describing the lands as provided in § 2627.3(c)(1) (iii), (iv), and (v). Such segregation will automatically terminate unless the State publishes first notice as provided by paragraph (c) of this section within 60 days of service of such notice by the appropriate officer of the Bureau of Land Management.

(c) Publications and protests. (1) The State will be required to publish once a week for five consecutive weeks in accordance with § 1824.4 of this chapter, at its own expense, in a designated newspaper, and in a designated form, a notice allowing all persons claiming the land adversely to file in the appropriate office their objections to the issuance of patent or certification for lands selected under the regulations of this part. A protestant must serve on the State a copy of the objections and furnish evidence of service to the proper office.

(2) The State must file a statement of the publisher, accompanied by a copy of the notice published, showing that publication has been had for the required time.