# Alaska Native Village Municipal Lands Restoration Act of 2025

This bill changes the rules about land that Alaska Native villages gave to the state decades ago. Back in the 1970s, when the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act was passed, village corporations were required to hand over land to the state of Alaska to hold "in trust" (meaning the state would hold it temporarily) for the eventual creation of municipal governments. This bill says villages no longer have to give up any additional land for this purpose, and it lets villages take back land they already gave away if no municipal government was ever actually created.

Here's what this means in practical terms: If a village corporation gave land to the state years ago expecting a city government would eventually be formed, but that never happened, the village can now ask to get that land back. The village would need to pass a formal resolution and get approval from the residents, and then the state would return the property. However, the village would have to respect any existing agreements or uses on that land—for example, if someone has a lease or easement (a right to cross the land), those arrangements would continue even after the land reverts back to the village.

The key change is that going forward, villages are no longer obligated to set aside land for future municipal governments. This gives Alaska Native villages more control over their own property and resources. It essentially says that if a village wants to establish a city government in the future, they can do so without being forced to give up their land to the state first. The bill also provides that the federal government can offer technical assistance to help villages navigate these changes, though the specific details of that assistance would be worked out later.

Alaska Native Village Municipal Lands Restoration Act of 2025

Begich, Nicholas J.

Alaska Native Village Municipal Lands Restoration Act of 2025This bill removes the requirement that Alaska Native village corporations must convey lands to Alaska to be held in trust for future municipal governments.&nbsp;The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) requires all Alaska Native village corporations that receive land under the ANCSA to convey certain lands to the existing municipality in the village or, if no municipality exists, to Alaska in trust for any municipality that may be established in the future. This bill removes the requirement for conveyance. Additionally, the bill allows village corporations to regain title to the lands held in trust by dissolving the trust through formal resolution by the village corporation and the residents of the Native village.