Another consecutive state land sale with two-hundred parcels up for bid is taking place this summer. For the first time that includes land located along the Kupreanof Strait on the northwest side of Kodiak Island.
The state Department of Natural Resources has held an annual state land auction since at least 2018, along with hundreds of other land sales separate from these auctions going back decades. This year’s auction features just over 200 parcels of a mix of remote and road-accessible state land from across Alaska. Justin Wholey is one of the DNR employees that puts together the auction, he is the land conveyance section team lead for the department.
“It’s all land that’s owned by the State of Alaska and it may be near land that has different ownership, but," Wholey said, "the state has title to the land that we’re selling."
The department and Gov. Mike Dunleavy say the goal of these land sales is to get more state-owned land into Alaskans’ hands. In a press release the Governor said, “As someone who loves the outdoors myself, I encourage all Alaskans to consider bidding on these fantastic recreational lots.”
Wholey said on average about 90% of the parcels are sold to Alaska residents and it seems like the land sales are getting more popular. But typically not every parcel is sold during the auction.
“What we do is we have some that we offer in over the counter," Wholey said. "And that over the counter process, those are open to purchase by non-residents.”
Aside from offering up state land in over the counter sales, Wholey said other leftover parcels that aren’t sold during the auction are retained by the state and sold during another auction later on.
Now for the first time in since 1988, the state is offering land for sale on Kupreanof Peninsula on the northwest side of Kodiak Island. One lot, parcel 1123, was previously offered as a homestead parcel, and then again at a later land auction. Wholey said that parcel was an established Kupreanof Peninsula Homestead from the 1980s.
“And as far as the history of why exactly this area was selected, and stuff, I’m not completely familiar with," he said. "But I do know that there’s, from what I’ve heard, there has been some demand and some folks asking about areas around Kodiak.”
Despite some peoples’ interest in buying state land on Kodiak Island, the rest of the Kupreanof Shores Subdivision parcels have not been previously offered for sale. All of these sites are located at least 20 miles from Port Lions and roughly 35 miles west of Kodiak. They can only be accessed by float plane or boat.
Individual commenters, who were not named in the state’s summary of the public comments in 2019, expressed concern over potential archaeological artifacts or cultural sites that might be present in the Kupreanof Peninsula area. One commenter also said that the land project, “creates potential disruptions to traditional commercial set net fisheries, because of ownership and the development of upland property.”
According to DNR’s final decision in 2018 on including land around Kupreanof for the state land sale, 6% of the land on the Kupreanof Peninsula is currently privately owned. The department estimates that if all of the 28 lots, which account for hundreds of acres, are all bought during the auction, then approximately 12% of the lands in that area would be privately owned. That leaves a remaining 7,000 acres of state land on the Kupreanof Peninsula that the department says will remain public and open to public use.
Bids are currently open until Oct. 1 for all 204 parcels, including those along the shores of Kupreanof Strait and Viekoda Bay. The state will announce auction results on October 22.
Wholey said the money generated from the land sales go into the state’s land disposal income fund which allows the department to continue selling land in the future.
