Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve
The Wrangell-St Elias National Park in southeastern Alaska, with around 53,320 km ², the largest national park in the United States. The national park was founded in 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act and, together with the surrounding nature reserves of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the largest contiguous protected areas in the world.
Check-in
Unlike most other national parks in Alaska, the Wrangell-St Elias National Park is relatively well connected to the road network, even if there are only two short sections of road in the park itself. The nearest international airport is in Anchorage. About the Glenn Highway National Park can be reached in about four hours by road. In Glennallen, where a little south is also the main visitor center of the National Park, is the Glenn Highway on the Richardson Highway and continues south to Valdez, where larger car ferries create on the Alaska Marine Highway.
Within the boundaries of the national park pass only two gravel roads, where there is a ban of some car rental companies, to drive these roads. The one ( McCarthy Road) leads 98 km from Chitina on the west side of the park along the Chitina River to McCarthy, the other ( Nabesna Road) 73 km from Slana in the north to Nabesna.
History
The park is Kennicott, an abandoned mining town for five copper mines in the vicinity. The Kennecott Copper Corporation began in 1908 with the construction of the mine, which was put into operation in 1911 and quickly attracted numerous workers. In 1938, the last mines were shut down. From there, the so -sponsored copper was transported through the Copper River and Northwestern Railway to Cordova on the Gulf of Alaska on McCarthy. After the decommissioning of the copper mining and setting of rail transport McCarthy was a ghost town. It was not until the 1970s, when the region was opened up to tourists to Kennicott, people settled again. The ruins of the mines of Kennicott are still preserved and are on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to the copper mining and gold was mined at Nabesna in the north.
The national park was founded in 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act and is almost six times the size of Yellowstone National Park. Within the park three different protection zones are designated; one of which is designated as a National Preserve, where the level of protection is the lowest. Here the mining or hunting is allowed both as a traditional use of the natives, as well as for Foreign and commercially. Today is operated to a limited extent in the private parts of the National Preserves mining. The Wrangell- St Elias National Park with 36732.3 km ² is designated as a Wilderness Area, the most severe class of protected natural areas in the United States. It is the core zone of the national park and the largest wilderness area in the U.S., where it accounts for ten percent of the entire National Wilderness Preservation System.
Together with the Canadian Kluane National Park in the Yukon Territory, the Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in the extreme southeast of Alaska along the Gulf of Alaska and the Tatshenshini - Alsek Provincial Park in British Columbia ( Canada ), the park since 1994, a World Heritage Site. With a total area of 97,124 km ² makes this reserve one of the world's largest dar.
Geography
9 of the 16 highest mountains in the United States are located in the Wrangell St. Elias National Park. Most mountains of the Wrangell Mountains with the last in 1930 broken, 4316 m high volcano Mount Wrangell meet up with the world's highest coastal mountain range, the Saint Elias Mountains with the highest point in the park, which is situated on the Gulf of Alaska Mount Saint Elias ( 5489 m). In addition, here take the Chugach Mountains in the southwest and foothills of the Alaska Range in the north ( with the Nutzotin and Mentasta Mountains ) together. The latter represent the northern boundary of the park, while to the west runs the park boundary along the Copper River.
Within the boundaries of the national park is home to myriad glaciers. With the Bagley Icefield is the largest icefield subpolar North America in the Chugach Mountains. It supplies many large glaciers like Malaspina Glacier, the Hubbard Glacier or the Bering Glacier, with an area of 5200 km ² and a length of 190 km both the largest and longest glacier in North America.
Flora & Fauna
For large animal rich world of gigantic and almost untouched by civilization wilderness include wolves, mountain goats, black bears, grizzly bears, moose and caribou. In addition to live here one of the largest populations of Dall sheep (about 13,000 animals ) and two here reintroduced bison herds. You may also see the cougar is found in the park. In addition, Canada lynx, coyote and wolverine in addition to the bears and wolves, the largest predators of the area. Small mammals of the National Park are red fox, North American River Otter, Beaver, Urson, hoary marmot, snowshoe hare, Arctic ground squirrel, flying squirrel, red squirrel, pika, and various small rodents, such as lemmings. In the coastal waters of whales, sea otters, seals and sea lions. About 80 percent of the land area consists of snow, ice and rock. Due to the harsh climate come apart from the extensive spruce forests in the lower altitudes mainly dwarf shrubs and grasses in front, but quite in a large variety of species. Typical shrubs are the blueberry and the needle rose.