MLT Overview

The Municipal Land Trustee Program was created to carry out the requirements of Section 14(c )(3) of ANCSA that provided that every village corporation must reconvey title to "the remaining improved land on which the Native village is located, and as much additional land as is necessary for community expansion, and appropriate rights-of-way for public use, and land for other foreseeable community needs." These lands were to be transferred to the appropriate municipal corporation (a first or second class city) where one exists, or otherwise the "State in trust for any municipal corporation established in the Native village in the future." The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of December 18, 1971 organized Alaska Natives into twelve regional corporations, loosely designed along ethnic and geographical lines, plus one corporation for Alaska Natives living outside the state; and village corporations for each "Native village" with a Native population of at least 25. Over 200 Native villages eventually organized ANCSA corporations under the state business corporation code, as did a number of urban Native groups. The regional and village corporations received the right to over 44 million acres of land, and they and their members received nearly $1 billion in monetary payments. Generally, the pattern of lands conveyed commenced from where the villages were permanently located and traveled outward in several directions for a maximum distance of about 15 miles. The total acreage entitlement of each village (except in Southeast) ranged from 69,120 to 161,280 acres, with most entitlements being either 69,120 or 92,160 acres (108 or 144 square miles, respectively).