Borough Entitlement Lands

The City and Borough of Wrangell was created May 20, 2008. As part of Borough formation, the new Borough was permitted to select 9,006 acres of  vacant and unappropriated State Land of certain land use designations as identified in the Central Southern Southeast Area Plan, November 2000.  

Beginning in 2009, the Borough began reviewing eligible lands and through a public process utilizing the Economic Development Committee for comments and recommendations to the Assembly, made its first land selection request to the Department of Natural Resources in 2011. After much review, discussion and negotiation between the DNR and the Borough,  Final Decision for 7638 acres  was issued  July 2013.

Several initial land selections were denied by DNR citing it was in the public's best interest for the State to retain those lands, thus there was an additional 1368 acres the still available for the Borough to select.   The final selection was approved by DNR February 2015. 

Below are copies of the two final decisions and maps of the selected areas.  Staff is still confirming boundaries in the Earl West Cove, Wrangell Island East and Thoms Place area and if necessary, will post new maps. 

Current Discussions:  Land use and Zoning

The City and Borough now needs to identify potential land uses for the newly acquired land and zone these lands appropriately.  The Borough currently has management authority, but until the lands are surveyed and a patent issued to the Borough, sale and development of the lands is restricted.

Beginning fall of 2019, the Economic Development Committee (EDC) and Planning and Zoning Commission (PZ) began very preliminary discussions about the various lands, identifying potential land uses that might be allowed to occur. Zoning of these areas as well as priorities for development opportunities will be discussed over the course of 2016. The matrix below is an initial look at uses that could be allowed through zoning, but public discussions are just beginning.

If you have any comments on these lands, if there are potential uses that you would like to see or not see in a particular area, ideas for development opportunities, resources available or any other matters pertaining specifically to these selected lands, please email Carol Rushmore at ecodev@wrangell.com or drop off your  comments at City Hall.   Please provide your name and address for the record as well as an email so that we can notify you of discussions or activities as discussions move forward.