June 15, 2021
MEDIA ADVISORY
June 15, 2021
UA Interim President Pat Pitney to testify during Energy & Natural Resources Subcommittee hearing on legislation to resolve the University of Alaska’s unfulfilled land grant
WHO: Interim University of Alaska President Pat Pitney will provide invited testimony as part of a panel presentation to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, & Mining.
WHAT: The Subcommittee will hear testimony from two panels on several bills including S. 1128, a bill to provide for the conveyance to the University of Alaska of certain public land in the State of Alaska. This legislation would allow the University of Alaska to receive its full allotment of land promised years ago by the federal government.
WHEN: Wednesday, June 16, 2021, the hearing will begin at 3:00 p.m. EST [11:00 a.m. AKDT].
WHERE: The hearing will be held in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC and
will be televised at https://www.energy.senate.gov/
The list of presenters can be found at: https://www.energy.senate.gov/
Background: The University of Alaska (UA) currently has one of the smallest land endowments —just 110,000 acres— of any land grant institution. This legislation would finally bring an end to UA’s status as a land grant university without the land. This legislation would resolve the University of Alaska’s (UA’s) unfulfilled land grant by allowing UA and the State of Alaska to jointly identify up to 500,000 acres for potential conveyance, which the Department of the Interior (DOI) will survey. The State and UA will then work with DOI to transfer up to 360,000 acres in total to UA. Any land ultimately transferred to UA would be deducted from Alaska’s outstanding statehood lands entitlement, which totals several million acres.
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For more information, contact Roberta Graham, associate vice president of public affairs at 907-360-2416 (cell).