Contested Ground: An Administrative History of Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska, 1978–2001
Bleakley GT. 2001. Contested Ground: An Administrative History of Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska, 1978–2001. Park Administrative Histories. National Park Service, Alaska System Support Office. Anchorage, Alaska
In accordance with the dictates of NPS-28 (the National Park Service's Cultural Resource Management Guideline), an administrative history describes how a park was conceived and established and how it has been managed to the present day. The park's legislative history and important issues in planning, land acquistion, development, public relations, and other topics of ongoing management concern are emphasized. This particular study has endeavored to fulfill those goals as they apply to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (WRST) in Alaska. WRST is the largest unit in America's national park system at 13.2 million acres, and while it was conceived primarily as a natural park, it also contains ample evidence of the region's rich cultural history as well. WRST was born during the social and political turmoil surrounding a decades-long struggle over the fate of Alaska's public lands, and in many respects remains contested ground. WRST's management mission is especially complex due to governing legislation provided under both the 1916 Organic Act and the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). The Organic Act directs WRST to "conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein ... and leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations". ANILCA, while calling for similar conservation and preservation measures, also allows some sport hunting, mining and subsistence lifestyles to continue with WRST boundaries. This administrative history study aims to enable WRST's managers to make informed and accurate decisions by identifying and clarifying the complex assortment of policies and issues that led to the creation of this park and have shaped its operation over the past two decades.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Bleakley, Geoffrey
- Date of Issue
- 2001
- Publisher
- National Park Service, Alaska System Support Office
- Units
- HIST , WRST
- Keywords
- Access, Administration, Administrative History, Alaska, ANICLA, Concessions, Cultural Resources, ehistory, Faciilities, Hazardous Materials, History, inholdings, Interpretation, issues, legislative process, Making a Park in the Wrangells, Minerals Management, Mining, Natural Phenomena, operations, Resource and Visitor Protection, Subsistence, Vegetation, wildlife and fish, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park And Preserve, WRST