News from the Senate Majority
Alaska State Legislature

Wendy Lindskoog, Senate Majority Press Secretary
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
Phone: 907/465-4582
http://www.akrepublicans.org
Broadcast Actualities: 800/478-6540

Yakutat Borough Gains 1,000’s of Acres under Mackie’s Legislation

For Immediate Release: April 22, 1998 Contact: Senator Jerry Mackie at (907) 465-4925.

Juneau – In keeping with the state’s established policy to assist the formation and operation of local governments with generous grants of state land, the Senate Wednesday unanimously voted to increase the Yakutat Borough’s land grant entitlement to 8,500 acres.

"Adding 8,500 acres of state land to the Yakutat borough will empower the borough to provide the kinds of services that municipalities are expected to provide," said Senator Jerry Mackie (D-Craig), sponsor of Senate Bill 281. "This additional acreage will go a long way in helping this community."

When the Yakutat borough was formed in 1992, it was granted only 138 acres. This was based on a formula that calculates the land entitlement by taking 10% of vacant, unappropriated, and unreserved (VUU) state lands calculated as a part of the borough’s boundary.

Last year, the Local Boundary Commission approved an annexation to the new borough which contains a substantial amount of state "VUU" lands. Had the annexed area been included in the original borough formation, the municipal land entitlement would amount to 33,000 acres.

"This bill corrects an obvious inequity in the land entitlement to the Yakutat borough," said Mackie.

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= Jerry Mackie, 23 K