Park Management Summaries

Where there is fire, there is smoke—fire is a natural part of Alaska. Learn how smoke travels and why it is so difficult to manage.

Science Summary (2017) - The Denali park road presents park managers with a complicated web of intersecting ambitions. To some they might see a solitary dirt road winding through the wilderness but to park managers they have to consider much more including visitor expectations, protecting wildlife populations in an unaltered natural ecosystem, and how the park road may affect wildlife viewability.

Science Summary (2011) - Poop happens. Between 1951 and 2012, climbers have deposited at least 152,000 lbs (~70 metric tons) of human waste in the Kahiltna Glacier. Discover how scientists measure the amount of waste -- and its downstream effects, like e coli -- and how Denali strives to mitigate the issue.

Science Summary (2017) - The Denali Park Road facilitates a unique wilderness experience for visitors. But this 92 mile road crosses through difficult terrain and extreme weather, and needs a hardy, remarkable group of individuals to maintain it.

In 1986, Denali National Park and Preserve established a limit of 10,512 vehicle trips on the park road during the core summer season. With visitation increasing, the park has been pressured to defend or change this limit. In 2006, Denali managers initiated a scientific study to better understand the impacts of traffic volume and traffic patterns on the park’s physical, biological, and social environment.

Science Summary (2014) - If a bear poops in the woods, then where do mountaineers poop? Not all human waste can be left on Denali. Luckily, some creative thinkers came up with an innovated way to dispose of this waste.

What do you hear when you visit Denali National Park and Preserve? Maybe the howls of wolves, thunder of avalanches, roar of rivers, or buzzing mosquitoes? Scientists are studying the soundscape of Denali in order to learn how to best preserve it.

Science summary (2010) - The Natural Resource Condition Assessment (NRCA) program is one of the strategies that the Natural Resource Challenge started in 1999. These strategies help national parks use science-based management practices in order to assess the status of natural resources in the parks.

The early stampede of fortune seekers to the Kantishna Mining District in 1905 subsided quickly, yet mining continued intermittently there through 1985. Part of the legacy of Kantishna mining was holes in the hillsides, non-functional floodplains, and streams downcutting and eroding banks and tailing piles. Here's how the park hopes to restore the streams in Kantishna today.

Science summary (2010) - Even though Denali ecosystems are still intact, toxic contaminants enter the park from global sources every year. Over time, these contaminants can accumulate in the environment.