Requirements of the Homestead Act Land titles could also be purchased from the government for $1.25 per acre following six months of proven residency. Additional requirements included five years of continuous residence on the land, building a home on it, farming the land and making improvements.
The State of Alaska no longer offers the homestead and homesite programs of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s that allowed people to “claim” land. As an alternative to these programs, DNR offers the Remote Recreational Cabin Sites Staking Program to Alaska residents. Homesteading on federal land is no longer available.
The Homestead Act was finally repealed in 1976, but a provision of the repeal allowed for homesteading to continue in Alaska until 1986. The last Homestead to be awarded under the provisions of the Homestead Act was in 1988.
No. Homesteading ended on all federal lands on October 21, 1986. The State of Alaska currently has no homesteading program for its lands.
Homesteading has not been legal on federally managed lands in Alaska since Oct. 21, 1986, although it was legal for 88 years before that. Congress passed the original homestead law in 1862 to provide small farms to anyone over age 21, the head of a family, or to immigrants willing to become citizens.