Nenana-Totchaket Agricultural Project

The Nenana-Totchaket (NenTot) region has been identified for agricultural development since the late 1970's. The Alaska Agricultural Action Council (AAAC) in 1982 reported "Nenana-Totchaket will play a particularly important role in the future of Alaskan agriculture" noting its access to the Parks Highway & Alaska Railroad; lower elevation than Delta; and not conflicting with other resource development.

The Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources approved the Yukon Tanana Area Plan in 2014. This plan places 148,502 acres in the Kantishna Region, unit K-32, and Classifies/Designates them for Agricultural development.

A series of events and collaborative work with the City of Nenana and Nenana Native association has provided infrastructure that has propelled the development and made possible the phase 1a land offerings for 2022. The City of Nenana acquired an easement across the NenTot project and worked with oil exploration companies to leave infrastructure in-place, this includes 11 miles of gravel road & 3 bridges. The Nenana Native Association received a Federal grant in 2018 and completed a bridge across the Nenana River allowing access to the project area. It is this collaborative effort between different agencies that has made this possible.

Bridge construction was completed in spring 2020, and road access to the NenTot project area was open in July 2020. Following this, public hearings and area development plans were developed with the use of LiDAR, Imagery, & Infrared data collected in 2020. A corporative agreement with USDA-NRCS was established to collect soil and ecological site information for the initial planned development areas. Soil data collection began in 2020 and continued through the summer of 2021. This data is anticipated to be available for review in the spring of 2022 to support landowners in developing their State Farm Conservation plans. Survey of the phase 1a township was completed in 2021 and brushing of the lot lines will be completed early winter 2022. Land appraisals are anticipated to be completed and land sales for phase 1a will follow when these are complete.

The Division of Agriculture in cooperation with the City of Nenana is planning another Agricultural Education Day near the Totchaket Bridge crossing the Nenana River in June 2022. This will be an open house event to showcase the Phase 1a parcels and provide educational and outreach opportunities for our partners to share their agricultural knowledge and research with the public.