Chugach National Forest Land Management Plan Updates and Information

A collage of forest-related activities on the Chugach National Forest.

April 16, 2020, the Chugach National Forest released the Final Record of Decision for its 2020 Land Management Plan. The land management will guide all management decisions and activities such as the preservation of cultural and historic resources, recreation, subsistence use, and wildlife habitat management on the 5.4 million-acre Chugach National Forest.

The land management plan recognizes that resilient ecosystems benefit those whose lives, traditions and livelihoods rely on healthy, productive and sustainable forests. The plan maintains ecosystems necessary to sustain a diversity of vegetation, fish, and wildlife communities, including the continued persistence of native species. It also prioritizes getting more work done through partnerships, volunteers, and collaboration by expanding volunteer capacity, increasing youth engagement, and developing shared stewardship strategies working alongside tribes, the state, landowners, and other organizations.

Past Actions / Background

The USDA Forest Service began engaging the public about the plan revision process of the 2002 Land Management Plan in 2012. Thank you to all who have contributed during the revision process.

The 2020 Chugach National Forest Land Management Plan was developed by a team of natural resource specialists who coordinated with the public, stakeholders, other agencies, and local, state, and tribal government officials. Public engagement throughout the multi-year plan revision process included 18 public workshops, two public comment periods, nine public open houses, an objection period, and targeted outreach to various constituencies to gather input.

Past Documents for Final 2020 Chugach National Forest Land Management Plan

Individual meetings and consultation with representatives of the State of Alaska and participating Alaska Native Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations have been ongoing. Based on this engagement, the 2019 Chugach National Forest Land Management Plan, final environmental impact statement, draft Record of Decision and Regional Forester’s list of species of conservation concern was released in August 30, 2019.

The 60-day objection period for the Chugach Nation Forest Land Management Plan Revision  objection period ended on October 29, 2019. The Forest Service received approximately 46 eligible objections. Submitted objections may be viewed on the CARA Project Page.

The objection process provided individuals and entities who submitted substantive comments during public comment periods an opportunity to bring forward any unresolved concerns shared during formal comment periods, or concerns related to information not available during those comment periods. The Regional Forester scheduled objection resolution meetings on January 14, and 15, 2020 related to the 2019 Chugach National Forest Land Management Plan. 

Forest Plan Documents:

  1. Final Environmental Impact Statement
    1. Volume I (32.4 MB pdf)
    2. Volume II (2 MB pdf)
  2. Regional Forester’s list of Species of Conservation Concern (700 KB pdf)
  3. Chugach National Forest Land Management Plan Interactive Map

Responsible Officials

The responsible official who approved the ROD and the revised Forest Plan is:

Jeff E. Schramm, Forest Supervisor
Chugach National Forest
Supervisor's Office
161 E. 1st Ave, Door 8
Anchorage, AK 99501
Phone: (907) 743-9500


The responsible official for the Regional Forester’s species of conservation concern list is:

David E. Schmid, Regional Forester
USDA Forest Service, Alaska Region
709 W. 9th Street
Juneau, AK 99801

For further information, contact: David Fitz-Enz, 907-743-9595, david.fitz-enz@usda.gov

Past Actions and Previously Released Documents  

Documents that were released during earlier stages of the Forest Plan Revision process are available at:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=40816

Archived Documents from the Planning Process

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