Bristol Bay Area Plan (2013)

Adopted April 2005
Revised September 2013

The Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has adopted the 2013 Plan Amendment to the 2005 Bristol Bay Area Plan (BBAP), which consists of the January 2013 Public Review Draft Determination of Reclassification (Determination) and Plan Amendment, as modified by the List of Approved Revisions adopted September, 2013 (these documents can be viewed at:  http://dnr.alaska.gov/mlw/planning/areaplans/bristol/amend/).  A Land Classification Order (SC-04-002A02), which accompanied the Plan Amendment, was also adopted.  It affects over 6.4 million acres of state uplands distributed throughout the 12.7 million acre planning area of the Bristol Bay Area Plan.  A Determination of Reclassification, which determined if changes in land classification were appropriate, preceded and provided much of the basis of the Plan Amendment and was also adopted as a final decision.  This action by the Commissioner has resulted in significantly more land in the planning region being classified Wildlife Habitat and Public Recreation as well as other important changes to the 2005 BBAP.  Many of these changes resulted from the public review of the proposed Plan Amendment that was issued in January 2013.

DNR undertook to revise the 2005 BBAP in response to an agreement with the plaintiffs in Nondalton Tribal Council et al. v. State of Alaska, which dismissed the litigation in exchange for DNR's agreement to address the issues raised in the lawsuit through the existing administrative process for amending area land use plans and reclassifying state land.  The Stipulation for Remand, which identifies the scope of the plan amendment process, is available on this website.

DNR staff has recently revised the text of the 2005 BBAP to incorporate all of the changes that were approved by the Commissioner.  The revised BBAP is contained in the below links.  The maps from the 2005 BBAP have not been revised, however, since, with the exception of the relatively few management units that were affected (about 40) by the 2013 Plan Amendment, the depiction of the unaffected units on these maps remains accurate.  To see how the plan maps were changed as a result of the Plan Amendment, go to Map 3-A below.  This is the same map that was included in the final 2013 Plan Amendment.  DNR will revise the current maps in the 2005 BBAP to reflect the modifications in the List of Approved Changes, but since this is a lengthy process we choose to make the results of the Commissioner's adoption action available to the public in this on-line version of the plan now.  When these maps are revised, the 2005 BBAP will have been entirely revised to reflect the results of the 2013 Plan Amendment process.

When available, copies of the final plan will be available for reference at local libraries and printed copies of the final plan can be purchased from the DNR Public Information Center at 550 West 7th Avenue, Suite 1260, Anchorage, AK 99501.  If you would like a CD of the revised plan to be mailed to you, or for questions, please contact ruth.booth@alaska.gov

All of the below files can be viewed in Adobe Reader 9 and above.

Each chapter's table of contents contains links to sections within those chapters.

Complete Plan (7 MB)

Note:  Maps have not been included in this document since they are oversized.  See the links at the bottom of this page to view the maps.

Chapter 1 - Introduction (750 KB)

  • Includes:  Introduction and Background / Summary of Purpose of the Plan / Description of the Planning Area / Submerged Lands, Tidelands, Uplands and Shorelands as Described in This Plan / Planning Area / How the Plan is Organized / Why This Plan was Developed and Why the Plan was Revised / The Mandate / 2013 Plan Amendment and Determination of Classification / What the Plan Will Do / How This Plan is Used / Public Participation as Related to the Planning Process / Process of Plan Preparation / Who Developed the Plan? / Uses and Resources Within the Planning Area / What the Plan Won’t Do / Planning Period / Summary of Plan Actions / Management Intent / Land Use Designations / Management Guidelines / Classifications / Summary of Plan Implementation and Modification

Chapter 2 - Goals, Management Intent, and Guidelines (2.8 MB)
Chapter 3 - Land Use Designations and Management Policies for Planning Regions and Management Units (2.4 MB)

Chapter 4 - Implementation and Recommendations (120 KB)

    Includes:  Introduction / State Land Classification / Relationship of Land Use Designations in the Plan to State Land Classifications / Public Trust Doctrine / Surface Leasing / Classification Order / Special Use Designations / Applicability of Plan Designations/Classifications to State Lands not Identified in the Plan Text or Plan Maps / Survivor Designations and Classifications / Alaska Coastal Management Program / Municipal Entitlement / State Land Selections, ANILCA Topfiled Lands, and Public Land Orders / State Land Selections / ANILCA Topfiled Lands / Public Land Orders / Coordination with Federal Land Management / Mineral and Leasehold Location Orders / Proposed Additions to the State Park System / Coordination with Nushagak & Mulchatna Rivers Recreation Management Plan / Types of Plan Changes

    Appendices (270 KB)

  • Includes:  Glossary / Land Classification Order No. SC-04-002A02 / Land Classification Order No. SC-04-002 / Municipal Selections in the Planning Area / Index

Oversized Maps

Modified Plan Map 2013 Final Amendment Map 3A (1.5 MB)

  • Planning Region Maps (2005 BBAP) There are five oversized planning region maps.  The first four (O-1 through O-4) show general land status and ownership and display the management units and their corresponding land use designations. Map O-5 is a map of the entire planning area with color-coded land use designations.

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