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- By Tribal Business News Staff
- Real Estate
Ahtna, Inc., the Copper River Valley’s regional Alaska Native Corporation, has completed the transfer of 4,228 acres from the United States Air Force, adding to its 1.77-million-acre land base in the state.
The acquisition, first announced last fall, was completed earlier this month. Ahtna President Michelle Anderson said the corporation plans to manage conservation efforts on the reacquired lands and explore ways it can support shareholder activities, education, and subsistence.
“This transfer is a testament to what can be achieved through respectful dialogue and shared commitment to land stewardship,” Anderson told Alaska Native News. “It is more than just a land transaction — it is a return of ancestral homelands that we will honor with due respect and care.”
In a statement, Ahtna called the purchase the “culmination of nearly four decades” of work to recover land that was originally sold under duress. The property in question was more than 5,400 acres eyed by the US government in 1986 for a radar site north of the Alaskan census-designated place of Gakona. While Ahtna and the Gakona Tribe objected to the federal government’s initial offer, U.S. officials threatened to use eminent domain, prompting the sale to the Air Force.
While plans for a radar facility never materialized, about 1,150 acres were used for the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) facility, an atmospheric research site managed by the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Attempts to later recover the land languished until a 2016 amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, signed by President Barack Obama, authorized the Air Force to sell the land back to Ahtna.
Ahtna first repurchased the lands on which HAARP was constructed, while developed infrastructure was transferred to the University of Alaska Fairbanks. By October 2024, the ANC reached an agreement to purchase the remaining acreage around HAARP for $1.2 million. The transfer was completed in mid-May.
“The land’s traditional and cultural significance to the Gakona Tribe and shareholders cannot be overstated, and its return opens doors for future stewardship that aligns with Ahtna’s values and vision for the region,” the ANC wrote in its press release. “The reacquisition of the HAARP land is a victory not only for Ahtna, Inc. but for all shareholders who cherish the traditional lands and heritage of the Ahtna region.”
