Requesting Input on a Proposed Relinquishment of Selected State Entitlement Lands- Medicine Lake University Selection

The comment field is ONLY for commenting on the proposed action. The agency will consider all posted comments, but it will not respond to them. By posting a comment, you are not providing the agency or the State of Alaska any kind of notice; nor is posting a comment a means of meeting any responsibility or making any request, such as a request for records under the Alaska Public Records Act.

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Requesting Input and Comment on a Proposed

Relinquishment of State Entitlement Lands

Comment Period Ends 3:00 PM, April 20, 2026

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is proposing to relinquish the State of Alaska's (State) entitlement land selection for fee estate (all surface and subsurface interests) on approximately 2,417.50 acres, located in Township 8 North, Range 16 East, Fairbanks Meridian. The lands are located near Central, Alaska. They are along the shore and surrounding Medicine Lake. Trail access to Medicine Lake has been carved out and the lands for the trails are anticipated to be conveyed to the State of Alaska. A location map is attached to this notice. The lands are not currently owned by the State, they are under Federal management and ownership. The purpose of relinquishment is to facilitate conveyance of the lands to the University of Alaska.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (CAA) (Pub. L. 117-328) created a mechanism for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to convey Alaska Statehood Act lands to the University of Alaska (University). The CAA enabled the University to select up to 500,000 acres of State selected lands for possible acquisition, with a final conveyance of up to 360,000 acres. The State must concur with the final list of selected lands and submit conditional selection relinquishment letters to BLM. The program terminates on December 29, 2026.

More information about the CAA and University selections can be found here: https://www.alaska.edu/ualand/about/land-grant/

Information about hunting on University lands can be found here: https://www.alaska.edu/ualand/permits/hunting-revised.php

Information about the State's role in the CAA program can be found here: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/e796f8301c0047c4ab828b2036229c6f

The DNR is proposing to relinquish the State's entitlement land selection of surface and subsurface estates for the lands listed below. A location map is available on page 3 of this notice. The map shows the University's selection area in blue outline.

Lands to be relinquished within Fairbanks Meridian, Alaska:
Township 8 North, Range 16 East, Fairbanks Meridian;
Sec. 19, Lots 1 through 6
Sec. 20, Lots 1 and 2
Sec. 29, All excluding Medicine Lake
Sec. 30, NW1/4, N1/2SW1/4, SW1/4SW1/4, N1/2SE1/4SW1/4, SW1/4SE1/4SW1/4, N1/2SE1/4, E1/2SE1/4SE1/4, SW1/4SE1/4SE1/4, N1/2NW1/4SW1/4SE1/4, excluding Medicine Lake Sec. 31, NE1/4, S1/2NW1/4, S1/2NE1/4NW1/4, NW1/4NW1/4NW1/4, S1/2;
Sec. 32, all

Excluding Medicine Lake, all navigable and meanderable waters, and U.S. Survey Nos. 1416, 3636 and 9891. Including the oil, gas, and other mineral rights but not surface rights in U.S. Survey No. 4246 in section 30. Containing approximately 2,417.50 acres.

Alaska Statute (AS) 38.05.035 allows for disposals of interests in state lands, and AS 38.05.945 provides procedures for notice of those disposals.

This notice and any future decisions on this proposed action are available on the State of Alaska online public notice portal: http://aws.state.ak.us/OnlinePublicNotices/.

For assistance in obtaining documents by an alternative method, to request auxiliary aids, services, or special accommodations, contact DNR's Public Information Centers on State work days, Monday through Friday, between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. in Anchorage at (907) 269-8400, Fairbanks at (907) 451-2705, Southeast Land Office in Juneau at (907) 465-3400, TTY: 711 for Alaska Relay or 1-800-770-8973, or go to http://dnr.alaska.gov/commis/pic/ for additional contact information. Individuals who require special assistance must request assistance from the Public Information Center in Anchorage no later than 3:00 p.m., April 13, 2026.

The public is invited to submit comments. If commenting on more than one proposed action, separate comments should be submitted for each. The deadline for public comment is 3:00 PM April 20, 2026. Only persons from whom the Department of Natural Resources receives timely, written comment during the identified comment period will be eligible to request reconsideration of the decision. Written comments may be received by email or postal mail. To submit comments or for direct inquiries, contact Aleria Knudson at [email protected] or 907-334-2683.

After public input is considered, the decision will be issued without further notice. A copy of the decision will be sent to any persons who provided input, and a copy will be posted on the States online public notice portal http://aws.state.ak.us/OnlinePublicNotices/. To subscribe to the State's online public notice portal, visit the link and set up an email or RSS subscription using available criteria.

DNR reserves the right to waive technical defects in this notice.

Attachments

• make-comments-count.pdf
• Medicine Lake interested party letter.pdf
• Medicine Lake Public Notice.pdf
• Medicine Lake-Circle Hot Spings UA Lands Background.pdf
• Medicine Lake_UA_Map.pdf
• Medicine Lake_UA_Map_zoomed.pdf

Revision History