Proposed Action

Based on the feedback received in public scoping, a proposed action was developed and released in May of 2016. This document describes how Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve proposes to manage designated wilderness and backcountry within the park and preserve boundaries. The document describes proposed management zones as well as indicators, standards, and management actions per zone. Management actions address issues such as visitor experience and visitor impacts, airstrip and cabin management, and management of motorized uses permitted under ANILCA.

The Proposed Action is a reflection of an extensive public scoping effort that included over 60 interviews with local residents, visitors, and users of the park. Public comment on the Proposed Action will be used to make changes and to develop alternatives that will be analyzed in an Environmental Assessment.

The Proposed Action document includes a cover letter explaining the document layout and how to submit comments. The public comment period for the proposed action was open at the end of May 2016 and due to public interest in this project, the comment deadline was extended to August 30, 2016.

Additionally, because of public opposition, the anticipated action to "require free registration for all private pilot use" on page 10 has been deleted. NPS will continue to work with the aviation community to explore non-restrictive options for gathering information on recreational pilot use in Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve.

Update as of Summer 2017: The planning team is working on a newsletter to describe what we heard during the proposed action comment period and how the NPS proposes to make changes based on public comments.

Document Content:

Cover Letter, signed July 27, 2016.pdf   (74.3 KB, PDF file) Proposed Action May 2016.pdf   (9.1 MB, PDF file) Summer 2017 Plan Update.pdf   (448.7 KB, PDF file) Disclaimer: Links within the above document(s) were valid as of the date published. Note: Some of the files may be in PDF format and can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. You may download a free copy of from Adobe Systems.