Tourism in Katmai country: A history of concessions activity in Katmai National Park and Preserve
Norris FB. 1992. Tourism in Katmai country: A history of concessions activity in Katmai National Park and Preserve. National Park Service Regional Office. Anchorage, Alaska
The following study is an attempt to chronicle the history of commercial operations within the present boundaries of Katmai National Park and Preserve in southwest Alaska. Since the creation of Yellowstone National Park, concessions operations have been integrally involved in the feeding, lodging, and transportation of park visitors. That idea was institutionalized when the National Park Service became a reality in 1916. The so-called Organic Act that year provided for two contrasting goals: protection and use. On the one hand, parks were established "to conserve the scenery and the natural and the historic objects and the wild life therein," but they were also asked "to provide for the enjoyment of the same" as long as they left the objects of that protection "unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." The following study is an attempt to chronicle the history of commercial operations within the present boundaries of Katmai National Park and Preserve in southwest Alaska. This area was created as a national monument in 1918. Its acreage was substantially augmented in 1931, and for almost half a century afterwards was the largest unit in the national park system. But few visited the vast reserve until 1950, when Northern Consolidated Airlines (NCA), under the guidance of President Raymond I. Petersen, opened a series of five fishing camps. Those camps-two located inside the old monument boundaries, the other three north of them-remain the only concessioner-operated facilities in the present park.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Norris, Frank
- Date of Issue
- 1992
- Publisher
- National Park Service Regional Office
- Units
- HIST , KATM , WRST
- Keywords
- Alaska, Concession Operations, Concessions, Cultural Resources, ehistory, Fishing, History, Katmai, Northern Consolidated Airlines, Preservation, Recreation, Tourism, Wien Alaska Concessions