Denali National Park, Alaska contains a two million acre wilderness area and a gravel road runs through it. Other than this single access route, it is essentially trackless and an immensely beautiful nature preserve dominated by the "High One", 20,320 feet (Mt. McKinley*). Denali presides over tundra moraine that in Alaska's early fall is alive with colors of white, gold, red and greens. A trophy hunter, Charles Sheldon came to the Kantishna Hills in 1908 and sojourned ten months. He quickly became concerned that market hunters would devastate the iconic Dall sheep, the only white wild sheep in the world. He joined
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| spot the ptarmigan |
President Roosevelt's conservation campaign and lobbied to make Denali a National Park, the "Yellowstone of the North". He succeeded in making his vision reality. The original preserve was expanded to six million acres in 1980 when President Carter signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Convervation Act (ANILCA). It established over 100 million acres of new parks, preserves and wild refuges. He called signing the act into law one of the most satisfying actions of his entire public career.
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| the desire of... |
The wildlife of Denali, especially the wolf, benefitted from the work of wildlife biologist Adolph Murie who was asked by the Park Service to study the relationship between wolves and Dall Sheep. Murie spent three years, 1939-41, in Park cabins and followed wolf packs in their daily activities. He also observed moose, caribou, and bear. Murie examined 1,174 scats to find out what these animals ate. The Government Printing Office first published his study, "The Wolves of Mt. McKinley" in which he concluded that wolves "have a salutary effect on sheep as as species" since they prey primarily on the young and infirm. Caribou is the wolf's "basic food supply in interior Alaska", supplemented by sheep, ground squirrels, marmots and mice. In the 30's that was akin to
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| rutting season |
wildlife management heresy since wolves were uniformly portrayed as craven killers, the wild dog that refused to become enslaved to man. Pernicious remnants of that vilification still persist as a few western states have resumed killing the wolf because it is thought to compete with man's dominion over nature, especially animals hunted as trophies such as elk, moose and sheep.
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| 2 year olds waiting for mom |
Alaska, unfortunately, follows this persuasion. Only 55 wolves remain in Denali, at the low end of their historic population range of 50-120. In six years the Denali's wolf population dropped from 120. The Park Service attributes this population decrease to the ending of a buffer agreement with the state in 2010. Wolves roaming in the private Stampede enclave once again were subjected to hunting and trapping. Although no bounty is offered for killing wolves, they are subject to Alaska's "intensive management" program to increase moose and caribou
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| caribou grazing on exposed hillside |
numbers. Intensive management includes the removal of natural predators. Moose is a prized meat source even among urban Alaskans. As a consequence wolf hunting regulations have been considerably relaxed. Although the Park Services is not "overly concerned" about the so few wolves living in the protected six million acres, Denali is designated a world-heritage biosphere. If wolves are decimated to the point they no longer function in their ecological role, reintroducing them from elsewhere would endanger its distinctive international designation.
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| male grizzly using the road |
Today, the park really belongs to the wildlife. Humans are restricted to walking, flying, or as most of the 400,000+ annual visitors experience Denali, riding along the access road in buses, private and National Park operated. In the future when climate change makes Alaska even more accessible to visitors, the current level of road and air traffic at about 10,000 road vehicles per year could increase dramatically. The National Park Service must remain especially vigilant against adverse human impacts on the wilderness. Water quality in streams near the access road must bemonitored closely to determine if road runoff is polluting otherwise clean water. Air pollution from dust and vehicle exhaust must also be a priority concern of management officials. If evidence of pollution warrants, vehicle numbers should be constricted to compatible numbers, or a switch to electric vehicles undertaken as soon as technological development permits. Without these safeguards Denali could indeed become the Yellowstone of the North in a bad way. Wilderness is the Creators work, but only man can preserve it.
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| the dawn's early light |
*Mt. McKinley is a misnomer at best and its continued use detracts from the evocative native Athabasca name, Denali. McKinley never visited his namesake. The mountain was so named officially because a prospecting Ivy-leaguer wanted to draw attention to the gold standard supported by McKinley in his presidential campaign. If presidential relationships to geographic features are a criteria is should be re-named Mt. Carter. Politics aside, US Person and most fair-minded persons prefer Denali. All photos courtesy of US Person.
