Denali National Park and

Preserve

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elcome!




¢Ôocated in the Alaska
Range²mountain chain
about 600 miles long
¢Alaska Range formed 5
million years ago by the
movement of geologic
forces
¢National park contains
³Denali´²AKA²Mt.
McKinley
¢Denali (the highest
peak in North America)
and its neighboring
peaks, are carved from
granite rocks
Natural History
 |iome

° A majority of the park is

vast expanses of tundra,
although it does include a
few wooded areas
° The areas of tundra are
considered either moist or
alpine
° Over 450 species of
flowering plants fill the
park, and many rely on fire,
giving the park a very
complicated fire history
 Natural History
Î
° Ôong winters are followed by
short growing seasons
° Generally, summers are
usually cool and damp, but
can be very unpredictable
° Mountains block water to
north thus«
 Drier climate and huge
temperature fluctuations to the
North
 South receives transitional
maritime continental climates,
with moister, cooler summers and
warmer winters

° There are 37 mammal species
recorded in the park and preserve
 Dall sheep, Caribou, Moose, olves
(rare), Grizzly bears, fox, weasel,
wolverine, lynx, etc.
° |irdlife is varied and interesting
 Plovers, gyrfalcons, mew gulls, and snow
buntings are among the 156 species of
birds recorded at Denali
° Spring, summer, and fall is a busy
time during which animals must
garner most of their annual food
supplies
° inter challenges wildlife with frigid
temperatures and the cessation of
plant growth (food is scarce)
 Can you guess the wildlife?


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¢Denali National Park
and Preserve is over 6
million acres large

¢Formerly known as
Mount McKinley
National Park from 1917
until the park was
expanded and renamed
in 1980

¢Interesting Fact: It is
larger than the State of
Massachusetts
 Management and Ôaws/Protocol
° In 1980, Alaska National
Interest Ôands
Conservation Act
(ANIÔCA) was signed,
expanding the national
park system in Alaska by
over 43 million acres
° Denali National Park and
Preserve is managed as
three distinct units:
 Denali ilderness
 Denali National Park
additions
 Denali National Preserve
° Denali National Park has
two areas designated as
National Preserves, which
permit subsistence and
State of Alaska
hunting/trapping
° State harvests are regulated
by State game laws passed
by the Alaska |oard of
Game
° Federal subsistence
harvests are regulated by
federal regulations passed
by the Federal Subsistence
|oard
 hy is it Important to Preserve?
° Denali is home to a variety
of Alaskan birds and
mammals, including a
healthy population
of grizzly bears and black
bears.
° Denali homes a mix a
habitats that include forest
at the lowest elevations,
tundra at middle
elevations, and glaciers,
rock, and snow at the
highest elevations.
 Ecosystems

 !"
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° Alaska Range¶s perpetually snow

covered flanks glaciers ° None.
° Open tundra expanses dotted
with small lakes and ponds
° Turbid glacial rivers
° At lower elevations in the park
the boreal forest, a mixed spruce
forest with aspen and birch,
winds its way up into valleys and
along river corridors
° The interior mountains support
complex and diverse habitats
resulting from variation in
elevation, geology, slope, and
exposure
 Threats/Challenges
!$Î!"
° Degradation by the pollution of
motorized vehicles
 ATV¶s and snowmobiles, which will
cause both noise and air pollution
° Insufficient funds given to the
national park
 Alaska national parks count for two-
thirds of all national parklands, in 1999
received a mere $43 million out of a
total Park Service budget of $2
billion²3 percent of the budget for 66
percent of the land base; moreover, the
Alaska region has fewer employees
than Yosemite or Yellowstone
° Overhunting of species


%
° Adopt regulations that define "traditional
activities" in parks and other conservation areas
as utilitarian activities necessary for sustaining a
traditional rural way of life, not including
recreational activities or the use of motorized
vehicles as an activity
° Establish a set of specific principles and
guidelines regarding reasonable regulation of
motorized and non-motorized transportation to
protect the full range of natural and other values
of the parks
° Define private inholders' right of access to their
lands without requiring a host of new roads or
railroads through the parks
° Adopt permanent regulations to decide highway
right-of-way claims, under federal law, that
recognize valid, existing roads but preclude
development of trails and footpaths into
thousands of miles of new roads through parks
and wilderness
hy visit?
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° Denali National Park and Preserve is a beautiful

expanse of land that hosts a variety of nearly pristine
habitats and ecosystems that ranges from clear lakes
and colorful tundra to the rugged, towering glacial
snows atop the Alaska Range, which provides home
to a myriad of species. In short, Denali National Park
and Preserve exemplifies interior Alaska's character
as one of the world's last great frontiers for
wilderness adventure.
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