Winning the Land Lottery

Every year, the state of Alaska does a land lottery. It’s almost like homesteading, if you win the lottery, you can go out an stake land within pre-determined boundaries. Then, after a certain amount of time, it is yours for the assessed value.
 
This year, the state lottery includes a bunch of land around Kahkohnak Lake. We get to fly prospective remote land-owners out to survey and stake their claims. Kahkohnak Lake is in the remote wilderness of the Alaska Peninsula and a scenic flight across Cook Inlet and past Augustine Volcano is just part of the excitement. People come from all over Alaska for the land lottery and these parcels are accessible by floatplane only. Hauling survey gear and excited lottery winners, the pilots are the first to find out which parcels were staked and who camped on which beaches to be ready before the staking time begins. It’s all very Wild West and a great part of being an Alaskan bush pilot—helping people get their dream parcel in remote Alaska.