Regulations last checked for updates: Nov 22, 2024

Title 43 - Public Lands: Interior last revised: Sep 06, 2024
§ 2563.0-2 - Purpose.

(a) Act of March 3, 1927. The purpose of this statute is to enable fishermen, trappers, traders, manufacturers, or others engaged in productive industry in Alaska to purchase small tracts of unreserved land in the State, not exceeding 5 acres, as homesteads or headquarters.

(b) [Reserved]

§ 2563.0-3 - Authority.

(a) The Act of March 3, 1927 (44 Stat. 1364; 43 U.S.C. 687a), as amended, authorizes the sale as a homestead or headquarters of not to exceed five acres of unreserved public lands in Alaska at the rate of $2.50 per acre, to any citizen of the United States 21 years of age employed by citizens of the United States, association of such citizens, or by corporations organized under the laws of the United States, or of any State or Territory, whose employer is engaged in trade, manufacture, or other productive industry in Alaska, and to any such person who is himself engaged in trade, manufacture or other productive industry in Alaska. The lands must be nonmineral in character except that lands that may be valuable for coal, oil, or gas deposits are subject to disposition under the provisions of the Act of March 8, 1922 (42 Stat. 415, 43 U.S.C. 270-11,270,as.

(b) The Act of May 26, 1934 (48 Stat. 809; 43 U.S.C. 687a) amended section 10 of the Act of May 14, 1898 (30 Stat. 413), as amended by the Act of March 3, 1927 (44 Stat. 1364), so as to provide that any citizen, after occupying land of the character described in said section of a homestead or headquarters, in a habitable house not less than 5 months each year for 3 years, may purchase such tract, not exceeding 5 acres, in a reasonably compact form, without a showing as to his employment or business, upon the payment of $2.50 per acre, the minimum payment for any one tract to be $10.

§ 2563.0-7 - Cross references.

See the following parts in this subchapter: for Indian and Eskimo allotments, part 2530; for mining claims, subpart 3826; for school indemnity selections, subpart 2627; for shore space, subpart 2094 for trade and manufacturing sites, subpart 2562.

§ 2563.1 - Purchase of tracts not exceeding 5 acres, on showing as to employment or business (Act of March 3, 1927).

(a) Notice of initiation of claim. A notice of the initiation of a claim under the Act of March 3, 1927, must designate the kind of trade, manufacture, or other productive industry in connection with which the claim is maintained or desired, and identify its ownership. The procedure as to notices will be governed in other respects by the provisions of § 2563.2-1(a) to (d).

(b) [Reserved]

§ 2563.1-1 - Application.

(a) Form and contents of applications. Applications under the Act of March 3, 1927, must be filed in duplicate in the proper office for the district in which the land is situated, and the claim must be in reasonably compact form. An application need not be under oath but must be signed by the applicant and corroborated by the statements of two persons and must show the following facts:

(1) The age and citizenship of applicant.

(2) The actual use and occupancy of the land for which application is made for a homestead or headquarters.

(3) The date when the land was first occupied as a homestead or headquarters.

(4) The nature of the trade, business, or productive industry in which applicant or his employer, whether a citizen, an association of citizens, or a corporation is engaged.

(5) The location of the tract applied for with respect to the place of business and other facts demonstrating its adaptability to the purpose of a homestead or headquarters.

(6) That no portion of the tract applied for is occupied or reserved for any purpose by the United States, or occupied or claimed by any natives of Alaska, or occupied as a town site or missionary station or reserved from sale, and that the tract does not include improvements made by or in possession of another person, association, or corporation.

(7) That the land is not included within an area which is reserved because of springs thereon. All facts as to medicinal or other springs must be stated, in accordance with § 2311.2(a).

(8) That no part of the land is valuable for mineral deposits other than coal, oil or gas, and that at the date of location no part of the land was claimed under the mining laws.

(9) If the land desired for purchase is surveyed, the application must include a description of the tract by aliquot parts of legal subdivisions, not exceeding 5 acres. If the tract is situated in the fractional portion of a sectional lotting, the lot may be subdivided; where such subdivision, however, would result in narrow strips or other areas containing less than 2 1/2 acres, not suitable for disposal as separate units, such adjoining excess areas, in the discretion of the authorized officer and with the consent of the applicant, may be included with the tract applied for, without subdividing and the application will be amended accordingly. Where a supplemental plat is required, to provide a proper description, it will be prepared at the time of approval of the application.

(10) If the land is unsurveyed, the application must be accompanied by a petition for survey, describing the tract applied for with as much certainty as possible, without actual survey, not exceeding 5 acres, and giving the approximate latitude and longitude of one corner of the claim.

(b) Filing fee. All applications must be accompanied by an application service fee of $10 which will not be returnable.

(c) Time for filing application. Application to purchase a claim, along with the required proof or showing, must be filed within 5 years after the filing of notice of the claim.

§ 2563.1-2 - Approval.

Care will be taken in all cases before patent issues to see that the lands applied for are used for the purposes contemplated by the said Act of March 3, 1927, and that they are not used for any purpose inconsistent therewith.

§ 2563.2 - Purchase of tracts not exceeding 5 acres, without showing as to employment or business (Act of May 26, 1934).
§ 2563.2-1 - Procedures for initiating claim.

(a) Who must file. Any qualified person initiating a claim under the Act of May 26, 1934, must file notice of the claim for recordation in the proper office for the district in which the land is situated, within 90 days after such initiation.

(b) Form of notice. The notice must be filed on a form approved by the Director in triplicate if the land is unsurveyed, or in duplicate if surveyed, and shall contain: (1) The name and address of the claimant, (2) age and citizenship, (3) date of settlement and occupancy, and (4) the description of the land by legal subdivisions, section, township and range, if surveyed, or, if unsurveyed, by metes and bounds with reference to some natural object or permanent monument, giving, if desired, the approximate latitude and longitude.

(c) Failure to file notice. Unless a notice of the claim is filed within the time prescribed in paragraph (a) of this section no credit shall be given for occupancy of the site prior to filing of notice in the proper office, or application to purchase, whichever is earlier.

(d) Recording fee. The notice of the claim must be accompanied by a remittance of $10.00, which will be applied as a service charge for recording the notice, and will not be returnable, except in cases where the notice is not acceptable to the proper office for recording because the land is not subject to the form of disposition specified in the notice.

(e) Form and contents of application. Applications under the Act of May 26, 1934, must be filed in duplicate, if for surveyed land, and in triplicate, if for unsurveyed land, in the proper office for the district within which the land is situated.

An application need not be under oath but must be signed by the applicant and corroborated by the statements of two persons and must show the following facts:

(1) Full name, post office address and age of applicant.

(2) Whether the applicant is a native-born or naturalized citizen of the United States, and if naturalized, evidence of such naturalization must be furnished.

(3) A description of the habitable house on the land, the date when it was placed on the land, and the dates each year from which and to which the applicant has resided in such house.

(4) That no portion of the tract applied for is occupied or reserved for any purpose by the United States, or occupied or claimed by any native of Alaska, or occupied as a townsite, or missionary station, or reserved from sale, and that the tract does not include improvements made by or in the possession of any other person, association, or corporation.

(5) That the land is not included within an area which is reserved because of hot, medicinal or other springs, as explained in § 2311.2(a) of this chapter. If there be any such springs upon or adjacent to the land, on account of which the land is reserved, the facts relative thereto must be set forth in full.

(6) That no part of the land is valuable for mineral deposits other than coal, oil or gas, and that at the date of location no part of the land was claimed under the mining laws.

(7) That the applicant has not theretofore applied for land under said act, or if he has previously purchased a tract he should make a full showing as to the former purchase and the necessity for the second application.

(8) An application for surveyed land must describe the land by aliquot parts of legal subdivisions, not exceeding 5 acres. If the tract is situated in the fractional portion of a sectional lotting, the lot may be subdivided; where such subdivision, however, would result in narrow strips or other areas containing less than 2 1/2 acres, not suitable for disposal as separate units, such adjoining excess areas, in the discretion of the authorized officer and with the consent of the applicant, may be included with the tract applied for, without subdividing, and the application will be amended accordingly. Where a supplemental plat is required to provide a proper description, it will be prepared at the time of approval of the application.

(9) All applications for unsurveyed land must be accompanied by a petition for survey, describing the land applied for with as much certainty as possible, without actual survey, not exceeding 5 acres, and giving the approximate latitude and longitude of one corner of the claim.

(f) Filing fee. All applications must be accompanied by an application service fee of $10 which will not be returnable.

(Sec. 10, 30 Stat. 413, as amended; 48 U.S.C. 461)
authority: 43 U.S.C. 1629g(e)
cite as: 43 CFR 2563.1