03.06.25

Sullivan, Murkowski Seek to Extend Alaska Native Vietnam-Era Veterans Allotment Program

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski (both R-Alaska) have re-introduced legislation to extend the Alaska Native Vietnam-Era Veterans Land Allotment Program for five additional years. Without such an extension, the program will expire in December 2025 and potentially leave well over a thousand eligible Alaska Native Vietnam veterans and their heirs without their rightful land allotments.

“While serving their country during the Vietnam War era, many Alaska Native veterans missed the deadline to apply for their legally entitled land allotment—an injustice that we are still working to fix nearly 70 years later,” said Senator Sullivan. “I’ve been working on this issue since I came into office. In 2019, President Trump signed into law a major lands package led by Senator Murkowski that included an allotment program I authored with a five-year window to apply. Unfortunately, throughout the implementation of this program, the Biden administration callously threw up endless regulatory hurdles and delays, dramatically limited the lands available for selection, and ended up delivering allotments to about 40 Alaskans out of more than 2,000 eligible veterans. We are reintroducing this legislation to extend this program and finally secure these land allotments for our courageous veterans who sacrificed greatly on behalf of our country. I look forward to working with the Trump administration to see this legislation signed into law and successfully implemented to fix this historic injustice and honor our Vietnam veterans’ heroic service.”

“As thousands of Alaska Natives served our nation during the Vietnam War, they missed their opportunity to select the land allotments they are rightfully owed,” Senator Murkowski said. “With roughly 150 veterans remaining to be notified, and the pace of allotment certifications slower than we hoped it would be, an extension has become necessary—especially as we push to open additional lands closer to where many of these veterans and their families actually live.”

The Alaska Native Vietnam-Era Veterans Land Allotment Program was established through a Sullivan-Murkowski provision in Murkowski’s 2019 lands package. The program has enabled thousands of Alaska Native veterans to apply for their congressionally-pledged land allotments, which can range from 2.5 to 160 acres, on certain Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in Alaska.

As of February 13, 2025, BLM Alaska reported that it has received 453 applications for allotments and completed certifications for 41 of them. Hundreds of eligible veterans and their heirs—especially those who live in southeast, western, and northern Alaska—have not submitted applications because no lands are available within hundreds of miles of their place of residence or ancestral homelands.   

Timeline:

  • In 1906, Congress passed a law allowing Alaska Native individuals to acquire 160-acre parcels of land.
  • In 1971, at a time when many Alaska Native men were serving in the military during the Vietnam War, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) extinguished the 1906 allotment rights.
  • In 1998, the Alaska congressional delegation secured legislation to partially fix the injustice of Alaska Native veterans who missed the chance to apply for an allotment. However, due to certain restrictions, only about 500 veterans ultimately applied out more than 3,000 who were eligible.
  • On February 12, 2019, the Senate passed Sen. Murkowski’s S.47, the National Resources Management Act, including a Sen. Sullivan provision to establish the Alaska Native Vietnam Veteran Land Allotment Program. The late Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska) shepherded the legislation through the House.
  • On March 12, 2019, President Donald Trump signed S.47, and the Trump administration began working on its implementation.
  • In January 2021, then-Interior Secretary David Bernhardt signed the revocation of 11 outdated public land orders (PLOs) issued in 1972 and 1973 that were put in place to allow Alaska Native Corporations to select lands promised to them by Congress 50 years ago. This important step allowed for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to revoke the PLOs.
  • In 2021, Senator Sullivan met twice with Secretary Haaland prior to her confirmation vote to be the Secretary of Interior. In both meetings, she committed to rapidly implement the Alaska Native Vietnam Veteran Land Allotment Program. She subsequently refused to follow through on this commitment.
  • In February 2021, members of the Alaska congressional delegation condemned the Biden administration Department of the Interior’s (DOI) action to postpone the revocation of PLOs signed by former Interior Secretary Bernhardt.
  • In April 2021, in a unilateral and unnecessary action, the BLM postponed the PLO revocations, requiring further environmental analysis on five public land orders with a two-year stay on the implementation of the PLO revocations.
  • On May 7, 2021, Sen. Sullivan and Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-Alaska) penned an op-ed in the Juneau Empire outlining the State of Alaska’s legislative effort to make state lands available to eligible Alaska Native veterans.
  • In June 2021, Sens. Sullivan and Murkowski introduced legislation to amend the Alaska Native Vietnam Veteran Land Allotment Program and make an additional 3.7 million acres of federal land in the National Wildlife Refuge System available for selection.
  • On April 18, 2022, Sens. Sullivan and Murkowski sent a letter to Secretary Haaland urging her to lift the PLOs that would make over 28 million acres of federal land available for selection by eligible veterans or their heirs.
  • On April 21, 2022, Sen. Sullivan disputed Secretary Haaland’s claim that she is “[moving] expeditiously to deliver on [her] promise” to Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans as she accepted a “Finding of No Significant Impact” (FONSI) from the acting Alaska BLM director on the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Alaska Native Vietnam Veteran Land Allotment Program.
  • In February 2023, Sens. Sullivan and Murkowski reintroduced S.175, legislation to codify the revocation of the five PLOs signed during the Trump administration and undoing the Biden administration’s efforts to unfairly halt access to federal public lands in Alaska.
  • In April 2023, Sen. Sullivan condemned Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s decision to order a new full environmental impact statement (EIS), which delays the implementation of the allotment program even further.
  • On August 10, 2023, Sen. Sullivan criticized Secretary Haaland’s announcement of a PLO to open about 812,000 additional acres of public lands managed by BLM Alaska for selection, noting that the “new” land has already been spoken for by the state, and the decision will result in more delays and legal hurdles for eligible veterans.
  • In February 2024, Sens. Sullivan and Murkowski introduced S.3790, which would extend the program for another five years before its expiration in December 2025. The bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent on the final day of the 118th Congress, but did not clear the House of Representatives.

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