Gates of the Arctic National Park

Gates of the Arctic National Park 4 comments

Where Is It: It’s the northernmost Park in the US: it’s entirely north of the Arctic Circle. There are no roads to get there; you either have to take an air taxi or walk.

The Birth: From Wikipedia:

Proposals for a national park in the Brooks Range first emerged in the 1960s, and in 1968 a National Park Service survey team recommended the establishment of a 4,100,000-acre park in the area. That year, Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall recommended to President Lyndon B Johnson that Johnson use the Antiquities Act to proclaim a national monument in the Brooks Range and other Alaskan locations, but Johnson declined. By the 1970s the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (NCSA) prompted serious examination of the disposition of lands held by the federal government. A series of bills were proposed to deal with the settlements required by ANCSA, but the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) was held up in Congress in the late 1970s. President Jimmy Carter used the Antiquities Act to proclaim the proposed parklands under ANILCA as national monuments, proclaiming Gates of the Arctic National Monument on December 1, 1978. In 1980 Congress passed ANILCA, establishing the monument lands as Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve on December 2, 1980.

Size: 8,472,506 acres, larger than Belgium.

# Visitors: 11,012 in 2013. Attendance peaks in August; there is little to no attendance October – May.

Fees: There are no fees in the Park.

Staying There: There are no improved camping sites. Camping is permitted throughout the park, save for locations managed by native corporations. Park Service operations in the park are managed from the Bettles Ranger Station, to the south of the park. The park headquarters is in Fairbanks.

Contact Info:

Bettles Ranger Station (Field Operations)

PO Box 30

Bettles, AK 99726

National Park Service (Fairbanks Headquarters)

4175 Geist Road

Fairbanks, AK 99709

Bettles Ranger Station: 907-692-5494

Fairbanks Administrative Center: 907-457-5752

Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 12/5/13.

A “wow” photo of a summer storm in Anaktuvuk Pass. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 1/25/14.

Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 2/5/14.

Photo by Paxson Woelber. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 4/17/14.

Bear tracks. From the Park’s website.

Lapland Rosebay. From the Park’s website.

Alpine Hawksbeard. From the Park’s website.

White Field Chickweed flowers poke up among the bright blue forget-me-nots, the Alaska state flower. From the Park’s website.

High on a ridge above the headwaters of the Alatna, Arctic Bell Heather flowers carpet the ground. From the Park’s website.

The sun shines through the petals of an Arctic Wintergreen flower (pyrola arctica). From the Park’s website.

Fall tundra. From the Park’s website.

Grey wolf. From the Park’s website.

Porcupine. From the Park’s website.

Grizzly bear. From the Park’s website.

Arctic Ground Squirrel. From the Park’s website.

A large bull moose with the last bit of velvet clinging to one antler stands in a patch of drawf birch with bright red fall leaves. From the Park’s website.