OPEN TO YOU
STATE LAND LEASE
by SEP 14
DECIDES · ALASKA DNR, COMMISSIONER JOHN CROWTHER
A DNR preliminary decision would transfer about 19,950 acres, roughly 31 square miles, of state land about two miles north of Houston in the Mat-Su to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority at no charge, a state subsidy meant to seed a multi-use industrial and energy district that AIDEA's own development plan describes as including scalable data centers, advanced manufacturing pads and a logistics hub on the Parks Highway and the Alaska Railroad, about 60 road miles north of Anchorage. Written public comment was to close August 19th and DNR extended it to September 14th.
The comment room is open and a second meeting is still ahead. DNR noticed public meetings on Zoom for August 27th, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. and September 2nd, 2026 at 11:30 a.m., both informational only, with no comment taken during the sessions. Written comment on ADL 234762 runs to 5 p.m. Monday, September 14th, 2026, and the division's notice ties appeal standing on the Final Finding and Decision to having filed timely written comment during the window. DNR says more than 2,000 written comments have arrived so far. Comments go to Dan Jenkins at the Division of Mining, Land and Water, 550 W. 7th Ave. Suite 1050, Anchorage. Houston's city council has asked AIDEA to a September meeting for which no date is set.
JUL 13Preliminary decision reported
AUG 13Houston City Council rejects a data-center ban 4 to 2 and passes two resolutions objecting to the transfer process
AUG 19Original public comment period ends
AUG 26AIDEA board meeting, 9:00 a.m., Anchorage
AUG 27Public meeting on the conveyance, 6:00 p.m., on Zoom
SEP 1AIDEA asked to attend a Houston City Council meeting in September, no date set
SEP 2Second public meeting on the conveyance, 11:30 a.m., on Zoom
TODAY
SEP 14Extended public comment period ends, 5:00 p.m.
2026-09-12 · Re-verified against both state notices today. The original notice, Alaska DNR Online Public Notices id 224431, still prints its own first deadline of 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, August 19th, 2026, and the extension notice, id 224879, published August 19th, 2026, carries the operative one in its own capitals, extended comment period ends 5:00 p.m. Monday, September 14th, 2026. Two documents carry two dates and the later one governs. Written comment on ADL 234762 closes at 5:00 p.m. Monday, September 14th, 2026, two days from today, and both notices archive the day after. Only persons from whom the division receives timely written comment during the period are eligible to file an appeal of the Final Finding and Decision, so a reader who misses the window also loses standing.