Lee v. United States

OPINION

ANDEWELT, Judge.

This fifth amendment takings case involves lands located in Eagle River Valley outside of Anchorage, Alaska (the land). James W. Lee, Ralph A. Eklund, and Warren Carr sought to acquire title to the land from the United States based on their respective homesteading activities, which commenced in the late 1950s. In 1961, the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rejected each of their applications for title on the ground that the land was not open for entry to homesteading. In 1979, pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 43 U.S.C. §§…