Previously, the state owned 96 per cent of the land in Finnmark. On the basis of the rights of the Sami people, all this land will now be transferred to the people of Finnmark, who will own the land jointly through the so-called "Finnmark Estate". The Finnmark Estate will become the new big private landowner in Finnmark, the biggest in the country in fact.

When the Act enters into force in July 2006, around twenty employees will be transferred from the Norwegian State Forest and Land Corporation (Statskog) Finnmark to the new Finnmark Estate. Forty-five thousand square kilometres of land will be transferred to the Estate from the same date, which it will own on behalf of Finnmark's inhabitants.

The intention behind the Act has always been to ensure that those who live in Finnmark have a bigger say in how land in Finnmark is utilised. The objective is to ensure that the land and natural resources in Finnmark are managed in the best interests of the inhabitants of the county and as the basis for the Sami culture and the Sami economy. A brochure was produced earlier that describes the Finnmark Act in more detail. You can read it here.

How will the people in Finnmark notice the new Act - and what will be the difference between the present situation and that of tomorrow?

No one is likely to notice great overnight changes when the Act enters into force. Flexible transitional arrangements are planned and the public will be kept informed about the situation during the transitional period. The first change most people will notice will be the change of the landowner's name on the leasehold for their cabin or house from Statskog to the Finnmark Estate. People will pick berries as before, and they will hunt and fish as before. The Act does not just confirm that it is possible to harvest the fruits of Nature, it stipulates that we have a right to do so as inhabitants of the county.

The difference between the present situation and that of tomorrow?

What will be the difference, then, between today's situation and that of tomorrow? The Finnmark Estate will have a bigger say in the use of the land at its disposal. Firstly, the Finnmark Estate will be authorised to make decisions that were previously made elsewhere, and it will retain any profits resulting from its activities. Secondly, the Finnmark Estate will have a bigger say in the management of hunting and fishing. While public authorities will still decide such issues as what can be hunted and when, the Finnmark Estate will decide who is allowed to hunt, on what conditions and what price they will have to pay. Thirdly, the Finnmark Estate will have greater freedom to engage in economic development on its own land in Finnmark.

Subject to other legislation
However, it is important to know that it is not the Finnmark Estate alone that will decide everything in connection with land in Finnmark. As a private landowner, the Finnmark Estate will have to comply with a number of laws and regulations that govern the management of natural resources. It will still be the Road Traffic Act, for example, that governs the driving of snowmobiles in the county, and it will still be the Planning and Building Act that governs how many cabins can be built in the county.

What we don't know
There are also certain aspects of the Finnmark Act we as yet know little about for certain. A board has been elected for the Finnmark Estate, and we do not yet know what path its six members will choose to follow or what choices they will make. Nor do we know the result of the survey work to be carried out by the Finnmark Commission. The Act states that over time groups of inhabitants may have acquired a special right to use or to own a particular area. By 1 January 2007, a special commission shall be appointed to look into such rights, and if there is disagreement, the matter will be referred to the Uncultivated Land Tribunal. This means that it may be several years until we know the final outcome of these endeavours.