Land usage conflict in Alaska: the case of mental health lands

Abstract

In 1956 the United States government allowed the Territory (now State) of Alaska to select 404,695 hectares of land to provide specifically for mental health services for Alaskans. State legislatures have since tried to place this land into private ownership because of the ‘highest and best use principle’ of land management. ‘Strict usage principle’ opponents have countered with legal action, the result of which is to place the land in a status where it serves neither proponent groups. The question raised by this piece of land history is whether, in a federalism such as the United States, it is possible to use land to serve dedicated social needs.