Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA)
The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), enacted on December 2, 1980, was a significant piece of legislation aimed at addressing land ownership conflicts in Alaska, particularly among Native Alaskans, the federal government, and the state government. This act resulted in the protection of over 42 million hectares (104 million acres) of land as conservation units, including 23 million hectares (57 million acres) designated as wilderness areas, effectively tripling the amount of federally protected wilderness in the United States. The legislation emerged from a complex backdrop of earlier laws, including the Alaska Statehood Act and the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which sought to resolve conflicting land claims and promote development through the discovery of oil fields.
Despite its extensive conservation efforts, ANILCA did not fully resolve land use disputes, as the state of Alaska contested certain land withdrawals, and the act permitted construction of infrastructure like pipelines within conservation units. The allocation of management responsibilities among various federal agencies created competition over land use, with differing priorities for conservation versus resource development. Notably, ANILCA lacks specific protections for migratory animal habitats and allows for potential future exploitation of natural resources, reflecting ongoing tensions between environmental conservation and economic interests. This act remains a critical reference point in discussions about land use policy and Indigenous rights in Alaska.
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Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA)
THE LAW: US law intended to resolve conflicts regarding landownership in Alaska among Native Alaskans and the federal and state governments
DATE: Enacted on December 2, 1980
The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act more than tripled the amount of land protected as wilderness in the United States, but it did not lead to the resolution of all conflicts over Alaska land use.
The 1959 Alaska Statehood Act allowed the state government to choose 41.5 million hectares (102.5 million acres) of federal land from that part of the public domain not reserved for parks or other designated use. The land-selection process proceeded slowly, complicated by such issues as Native Alaskan claims, which were not clarified in the statehood bill. The discovery of oil fields in northern Alaska prompted passage of the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), which extinguished Native Alaskan land claims and allowed for construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. To secure support for the ANCSA from conservation groups, the US Congress included a provision in the bill that allowed the secretary of the interior to withdraw up to 32.4 million hectares (80 million acres) from the public domain for the establishment of conservation units, including national parks and wilderness areas. Congress would make the final determination regarding the final disposition of withdrawn lands. In order to provide a forum for cooperative planning on the issue, Congress created the Joint Federal-State Land Use Planning Commission.
An intense political battle ensued. Federal agencies, including the Forest Service and the National Park Service, competed for the authority to manage the withdrawn lands. Environmentalists favored agencies that would limit development, while Alaska state officials threw their support behind agencies that might prove willing to allow multiple use and the exploitation of natural resources for economic gain. After years of contentious debate, in 1979 the House of Representatives passed a bill establishing 51.4 million hectares (127 million acres) of conservation units, 26.3 million hectares (65 million acres) of which were designated wilderness areas. The Senate version of the bill significantly reduced the amount of land, and the legislation did not become law. The following year, the election of Ronald Reagan to the U.S. presidency and a Republican majority to the Senate convinced House members that they had no alternative but to accept the Senate version of the bill, which passed in 1980 and became known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA).
ANILCA set aside 42.1 million hectares (104 million acres) of land as conservation units, with 23 million hectares (57 million acres) of wilderness. The National Park Service received 17.8 million hectares (44 million acres), the Fish and Wildlife Service 20.2 million hectares (50 million acres), and the Forest Service 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres). The Bureau of Land Management, the federal agency most amenable to development, received a patchwork of marginal lands that no other agency desired.
The act more than tripled the amount of land protected as wilderness in the United States, and its provisions placed 75 percent of national park land in Alaska. It did not solve the conflicts over Alaska land use, however. The state contested some land withdrawals. The act allowed for the construction of pipelines and roadways through conservation units. Moreover, ANILCA contained no measures that protected the habitats of migratory animals. Finally, the bill included provisions that allowed for the future exploitation of resources, including oil, should both the Congress and the president deem it necessary.
Bibliography
"Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act." US National Park Service, 13 Dec. 2023, www.nps.gov/locations/alaska/anilca.htm. Accessed 12 July 2024.
Haycox, Stephen W. Frigid Embrace: Politics, Economics, and Environment in Alaska. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 2002.
Nelson, Daniel. Northern Landscapes: The Struggle for Wilderness Alaska. Washington, D.C.: Resources for the Future, 2004.
Ross, Ken. Pioneering Conservation in Alaska. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2006.