A typo froze Sutton's wild rec area for eight years. Not anymore.

A patch of old coal country outside Sutton has spent eight years stuck in legal limbo — and the state just freed it, clearing the way to finally write rules for one of Southcentral Alaska's busiest and most freewheeling recreation spots.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed SB 230 on Wednesday, fixing a single, stubborn problem: when the Legislature created the Jonesville Public Use Area in 2018, the written description of the land didn't match the ground it was supposed to cover. That mismatch was enough to freeze the whole thing. For eight years the Department of Natural Resources couldn't set the boundaries or draft regulations, because the law and the map didn't agree. The new bill swaps in the correct descriptions and lets the work resume.

To understand why anyone cared enough to pass a law about a typo, it helps to know the place. Jonesville is roughly 14,000 acres of reclaimed coal mine near Sutton — Sutton itself was a mining town from the 1920s through the '70s — and after the pits were restored it became, by default, open state land where just about any legal activity goes. A 1-to-2-hour drive for most of Southcentral, with lakes, waterfalls, trails, and old mine cuts perfect for four-wheelers and dirt bikes, it draws hunters, campers, shooters, and off-roaders year-round.

But "anything goes" had a dark side. The push to formally designate the area grew out of real danger: a fatal shooting one summer, and stray bullets striking nearby homes. Residents and the Sutton Community Council wanted what a neighboring recreation area, the Knik River Public Use Area, had already done — bring some order to the shooting, vandalism, and trail damage without shutting the gates on the recreation people love. A management plan can set designated shooting areas, protect wildlife habitat, and lay out where motorized use belongs.

Now DNR can actually do that. Sen. George Rauscher, who represents Sutton and sponsored the bill, said the fix means "the Jonesville area can be managed safely to the benefit of recreationalists, wildlife, and those who call the surrounding areas home."

One caveat worth keeping in view: the original designation came with no dedicated money for writing the plan or enforcing it. So the legal roadblock is gone, but how fast Jonesville actually gets managed — and patrolled — still depends on DNR finding the resources to do it.