What does the term “Public and Charitable” mean?
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources, known as DNR, has a statute that allows land to be transferred from the State of Alaska without a competitive bidding process if it serves a public use and is in the public interest. It’s called the Public and Charitable Use of land.
DNR has applied this statute at least eleven times in the last ten years. Through it, state land has been leased, sold, or conveyed at no cost for public and charitable use.
Most parcels are less than 15 acres. They include a community space in North Pole, a public park in Delta Junction, and a fire hall in Tolsona. 600 acres were conveyed this year for a trailhead in the Butte. Land may be conveyed to cities or boroughs to fulfill municipal entitlements. 320 acres were transferred to the City and Borough of Wrangell.
Political subdivisions of the state are allowed to apply. This is how boroughs and cities qualify. As a public corporation of the State, AIDEA also qualifies.
AIDEA is the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. It has applied for a DNR Public and Charitable Use land transfer for almost twenty thousand acres in the Mat- Su. Over seven thousand of those acres are wetlands. AIDEA would then sell or lease the land for commercial ventures.
AIDEA seeks to establish an industrial district in Houston. It would, quote “catalyze private investment” unquote by building warehouses, gravel pits, and utility corridors. It could be a site for microgrids, energy storage, and data centers.
DNR needs to determine whether the intended use of the land would be for public benefit. Does a commercial industrial park qualify under the Public and Charitable Use statute?
DNR must decide whether this conveyance to AIDEA qualifies as a Public and Charitable use of land.
DNR’s initial answer is yes. They justify it through the argument that the terms Public Interest and Public Purpose are mentioned in both DNR’s Public and Charitable Use statute and the language that created AIDEA. DNR also states there is a public benefit of construction jobs and the diversification of the economy.
The final decision matters because the answer may set precedent.
The project is commercial in nature. It is different from previous projects approved through the DNR Public and Charitable land use conveyance.
The size of the land conveyance is an order of magnitude greater than any previously conveyed.
AIDEA is clearly different from “political subdivisions” such as boroughs and towns. It is run by a Board of Directors, not publicly elected officials. In 2025 it reported over one billion dollars in assets and over $250 million in unrestricted cash.
AIDEA was created in 1967 and has financed or facilitated financing for dozens of multi-million dollar projects. It does not appear to have received land through the Public and Charitable Use process, although it did apply over ten years ago for a lease of fifteen acres of land on the North Slope to build a liquefied natural gas plant. The project was abandoned before the lease was approved.
Should an Alaskan statute meant to ease the cost of land to be utilized for parks, community halls, and public utilities be used to transfer land at no cost for a commercial venture?
What precedent is being set? Where may it lead in the future?
DNR is accepting comments on the proposed land transfer until August 19. You can send comments to dmlwprogramsupport@alaska.gov.
See bigcabbageradio.org for the email link, the DNR Preliminary Decision, and the AIDEA application
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Kendra Zamzow reported this Page Two article and yours truly, Lee Henrikson produced it. If you have an idea for a Page 2 topic, please email us at page2@radiofreepalmer.org.
That’s it for today and the news on Page Two on Tues. July 28, 2026.
Photo is from a 2024 presentation by the Land Conveyance Section of the Division of Mining, Land, and Water of DNR.