Ahtna, Inc. v. State, Department of Transportation & Public Facilities

OPINION

STOWERS, Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

In September 1961, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a right-of-way grant to the Alaska Department of Pub-lie Works (now the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities) conveying a "road building material site" along the Denali Highway with no expiration date and no rental fee. The right-of-way grant was issued pursuant to federal statutes and subject to relevant federal highway regulations.

After the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was enacted in 1971, 1 the United States conveyed the surface and subsurface estates…