Alaskans, stake your claim!

MAT-SU -- For the first time in about 15 years, thanks to the Department of Natural Resources' remote recreational cabin sites program, Alaskans can once again stake remote land for purchase in several regions of the state.

The 2004 program includes parcels in five areas of the Southcentral region: Appel II (near McGrath), Cannery Creek (across the Inlet from Kenai), Crosswind Lake (near Lake Louise), Porcupine Butte West (near Skwentna) and Snake River (near Dillingham). In the Northern region, property is available for staking in Dugan Hills (near Manley Hot Springs), Far Mountain (north of Chena Hot Springs Road) and Teklanika (between Healy and Nenana).

Basically, the program works like this: Interested Alaska residents research the state-owned land in the designated staking areas, and apply for a staking authorization for the area in which they are interested. If more applicants apply than parcels are available, the names are entered into a lottery. If the applicant is drawn in the lottery, that person receives authorization to stake a parcel sometime during the four-month staking period.

Within 14 days of staking a parcel, parties submit a lease application describing the area they have staked. After the staking period ends, these lease applications are reviewed and three-year leases are issued.

During the term of the lease, parties make quarterly payments to cover the lease, survey and appraisal costs of the staked parcel. The payments made for survey and appraisal costs are then credited toward the purchase price of the parcel.

After the survey and appraisal are complete, parties pay the remaining balance or enter into a contract with the state to complete the purchase of their parcel.

The 2004 staking application period is open through July 16, with a lottery drawing scheduled for July 30.

According to Kathy Means, the DNR natural resource manager who oversees the program, the number of applicants varies widely depending on the sites made available any given year. Last year, Means said the program had more than 300 applicants, and the 2001 offering drew around 700 applicants.

"It really depends on the popularity of the area," Means said. "We try to offer land in areas that the public has expressed an interest in."

This year, DNR is allowing people to apply online for the first time, which will make the process easier.

"So we are anticipating a higher number of applicants," Means said.

Means stressed the importance of individuals becoming fully familiar with the program before deciding whether staking is the right way for them to purchase recreational land.

"We try to inform people of the true costs of staking a parcel," Means said. "It's not all that easy, and it costs money to do it. What we do not want is to have people fail. We want those who get the authorizations to succeed, because there are others who are not selected in the lottery who would have really liked to have the opportunity."

Means said most parcels staked are typically 10 to 20 acres, with the average being about 13 acres. Most people stake remote property to have their own little piece of Alaska.

"The big draw is really for the people that want to be pioneers, to go way out in the wilderness," Means said, adding that often stakers are people who know the area and already use it for recreation, and just want to have a cabin there.

"Nowhere else in the country is there this amount of land to offer," Means said. "It's a truly Alaskan experience."

As for the staking process, Means said they work hard to be sure it is done in an orderly fashion, usually sending field staff to the sites when a staking period begins, just to keep things running smoothly. Means said the staking period opens on a Friday, and the staking application period opens the following Monday.

"We give them three days to stake, a full weekend, before we even take their application, to be sure they have time to do a good job, and do it right," Means said.

DNR assists the stakers in various ways, including providing coordinates of known monuments in the areas and offering workshops for the authorized stakers.

"We have plenty of resources available for people interested in staking parcels," Means said. "It's not the easiest thing. The ideal way is to have a surveyor go out and stake the land for you, which is allowed, but people tend to do it themselves.

"We even have a survey assistant available to help people while they are out there staking, so they can call on their cell phones and we can try to help them. We try to give them enough expertise to be successful in their efforts," Means said. "Still, some people find it's more than they thought it was going to be."

Once the staking is complete and the leases are issued, DNR contracts out to a single contractor the surveying for all the parcels in any one area.

"The individuals pay a survey deposit, and DNR gets them all surveyed at the same time," Means said. "This helps everyone. It helps the stakers because all the little issues can be resolved during this process, and it helps us, too. And the boroughs really like it, because they are working with one survey set instead of a lot of small ones. And they can talk to knowledgeable people at DNR if they have questions, instead of having to contact the many individual stakers."

Payments are made quarterly by those who lease the land, and the money is used for the survey and appraisal of the properties. All money paid for these services is then deducted from the purchase price of the parcel.

The program is only in year two of its first lease, but Means said they have lost very few of the original applicants.

"Of those who actually stake," Means said, "we probably have 90 percent still in the program."

No development of staked parcels can begin before a lease is issued, and the land can only be used for recreation while it is being leased. However, there are no post-conveyance restrictions for use of the property.

The DNR Web site explains best the push behind providing these lands to Alaskans. It states that the Alaska Constitution, state laws and the Alaska Legislature all direct the Department of Natural Resources to sell state land for settlement and private ownership. Also, Article VIII of the Alaska Constitution states, "It is the policy of the State to encourage the settlement of its land and development of its resources by making them available for maximum use consistent with the public interest."

According to Means, part of the goal behind state land sales is to provide income to the state.

"The subdivision sales meet that mandate, but remote recreational sites were never intended to bring in revenue. They are not a big money maker, but they do allow people to have ownership of some of the more remote areas that we couldn't offer any other way. It's simply another way of getting more state land into private ownership," Means said, "but it does generate some tax revenue for the different boroughs as well."

Means has plenty of valuable advice to offer anyone considering staking a parcel of remote land in Alaska through the DNR program.

"In the staking meetings, I tell people to do their homework, to get familiar with the area. Make sure they can get out there, find out exactly where the access is, and to hone their abilities to find themselves in the woods," she said. Means also suggests they become very familiar with staking equipment, especially a GPS, and learn how to use a map and a compass.

"There are state records on the Web site where they can research land status," she said. "I tell them to use pictures whenever they are available, and I tell them to go to the staking workshops."

"I suggest that they pick out a smaller area that they want to stake in, and not to think they can just wander out there and find a parcel. I suggest they narrow the area down to a size they can stake and have a good alternative in case someone else gets to the preferred parcel before they do," Means said.

"Don't just go out and wander around," Means said. "Come in and talk to us about it. We often get information from other stakers that we can pass along."

Means said they have some of their best staff working on this project.

"We have taken this seriously," she said, "because we want people to succeed. We have worked to improve the program and eliminate problems that people have experienced in past programs. We are really excited to be able to offer this again."

For more information on the remote-site staking program, contact the Anchorage DNR Public Information Center at 269-8400, or visit its Web site at dnr.state.ak.us/landsale for a very detailed look at the program.