Land on St. Lawrence Island has officially been transferred into the hands of two Alaska Native Corporations.
On Wednesday, Neil Kornze, the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, signed a patent to finalize the formal release of more than one million acres of land to Kukulget, Inc., of Savoonga and Sivuqaq, Inc., of Gambell.
In a BLM press release, Director Kornze stated, “The people of St. Lawrence Island have been seeking formal title to their lands for decades… it’s an honor to help bring this long journey to a positive end.”
This process has taken more than thirty years; the first step was an interim conveyance for the land being issued back in 1979 until a land survey of St. Lawrence Island could be completed. Because of BLM’s GPS capabilities, the field work for this land survey took two weeks, saving time and taxpayer money.
The completed land transfer totaled more than one million acres, which is nearly the entirety of St. Lawrence Island.
