Denali National Park Alaska

There are many stories to come out of Denali National Park Alaska. It’s an ancient, wild, vast state whose remoteness from the “lower 48″ does not undermine its historical importance or its peoples’ interconnection with our modern-day national community. Alaska’s Native cultures date back ten thousand years on Alaska soil, well beyond the short history of Denali National Park Alaska. The traditional ways of life persist in various forms today, evolving over the years around newcomers like the British, American and Russian traders of the early nineteenth century, then the waves of prospectors of the late 1800’s gold rush, and more recently in the 20th century, industries that wish to profit from Alaska’s natural resources…mining, timber, and fishing.

Even tourism changes Alaska and its inhabitants, with cruises to Alaska increasing dramatically since September 11, 2001, after which US tourists tended to choose domestic destinations rather than go abroad. Increased tourist traffic has had an impact on at least the mental state of local Alaskans, with three-quarters of a millions cruise passengers alone arrive each year in Alaska, of course there will be an impact. There are a great many debates on how many cruise ships can safely enter the inlets of Alaska without negatively impacting the environment…especially in Glacier Bay, where ships can disturb marine life such as whales.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, August 30th, 2008 at 8:40 pm and is filed under Denali National Park. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.