The Finnmark Act

The purpose of the Finnmark Act is to facilitate the management of land and natural resources in the county of Finnmark in a balanced and ecologically sustainable manner. This shall be carried out for the benefit of the residents of the county, particularly as a basis for Sámi culture, reindeer husbandry, use of uncultivated areas, commercial activity and social life.

Today, approximately 95 per cent of land in Finnmark is managed by the state-owned enterprise Statskog SF. This area, which consists of just over 45 000 km2, will be transferred to local ownership via Finnmarkseiendommen (Finnmarkkuopmodat).

Finnmarkseiendommen is a private landowner which has, in principle, the same relationship to public authorities as other landowners. Finnmarkseiendommen shall be governed by a board consisting of six persons: three board members appointed by the Sámi Parliament and three by Finnmark County Council.

The Finnmark Act provides that the Sámi people, through prolonged use of land and water, have acquired rights to land in Finnmark. Other residents of Finnmark may also have acquired such rights. A commission will be established to survey these rights. A special court will also be set up to decide disputes concerning such rights.

All residents of Finnmark will be given the right to exploit natural resources on Finnmarkseiendommen's land, including hunting, fishing and cloudberry picking. The extent of such rights is dependent on how closely one is associated with the resources. For example, one has a greater right to exploit natural resources in the municipality where one resides. Persons who reside outside the county shall also have access to hunt and trap small game, to fish and to pick cloudberries for their own domestic use.
The Finnmark Act is ethnically neutral in the sense that individual legal status is not dependent on whether one is a Sámi, Norwegian or Kven or belongs to another population group.

In matters concerning changed use of uncultivated land, both the public authorities and Finnmarkseiendommen shall assess the significance of the change for Sámi interests. The Sámi Parliament may issue guidelines to be followed in making this assessment, but these guidelines are not binding for the balance between Sámi interests and other considerations.

The Finnmark Act has no provisions concerning fishing in the sea. In June 2005, the Storting therefore requested the Government as soon as possible to review the rights of the Sámi people and others to fish in the sea outside Finnmark, and to submit a report on this to the Storting. The Government is in process of following up the Storting's request.


The Act consists of six chapters:

Chapter 1 provides general provisions of significance for interpretation and application of the whole Act. The Act applies to real property and watercourses in Finnmark. It applies as far out to sea as the private right of ownership extends, i.e. to an approximate depth of two metres.

Chapter 2 provides rules concerning the new body Finnmarkseiendommen, including the composition of the board and Control Committee and concerning procedures.

Chapter 3 contains provisions concerning the administration of renewable resources, including hunting, fishing and felling of trees for firewood on Finnmarkseiendommen's land.

Chapter 4 concerns fishing in the Tana and Neiden watercourses. The Finnmark Act will not interfere with existing rights to fish in these watercourses. The King may issue
regulations prescribing further rules concerning the administration and exercise of such fishing.

Chapter 5 concerns the two new bodies, the Finnmark Commission and the Uncultivated Land Tribunal for Finnmark. The Finnmark Commission shall examine the whole area transferred to Finnmarkseiendommen from Statskog and investigate what rights of use and ownership exist there. Disputes concerning rights in the areas investigated by the Finnmark Commission may be brought before the Uncultivated Land Tribunal for Finnmark.

Chapter 6 contains provisions concerning the entry into force of the Act, the transfer of the land from Statskog to Finnmarkseiendommen and provisions concerning amendments to other Acts.

Source courtesy of: www.jd.dep.no