Wilderness

See Kenai Fjords wilderness: from temperate rainforest teeming with life to towering nunataks—mountain peaks protruding from surrounding ice.

NPS / T. Fulton

 

A Place of Magnanimous and Dynamic Change, Insistent in its Grandeur.

Mountains tumble towards the coastal waters as black bears forage along the rocky beaches. Waves crash against rock. Harbor seals lounge in front of gargantuan tidewater glaciers that unleash ice into the ocean in thunderous calving events. Moving inland, tall swaths of lichen-shrouded spruce trees create a dense forest. Near the sharp peaks of the wilderness, mountain goats traverse the cliffs, and bald eagles soar above waterfalls. Kenai Fjords wilderness is a place of flamboyant beauty, and it is also a place of subtle power and delicate balance.

Kenai Fjords National Park showcases the interconnection of ice, ocean, and mountains. Though management boundaries do not extend into coastal waters, the link between the Harding Icefield, its outflowing glaciers, and the fjord estuary ecosystem is undeniable. The life that thrives in this interconnected wilderness also supports people who built communities near these waters. The Sugpiaq people have had a relationship with these lands for thousands of years—harvesting bounties from land and sea since the glaciers receded from the fjords.

"We the Alutiiq [Sugpiaq]... have lived in the Chugach Region for countless years, ever since the ice began to retreat exposing shores and mountains. The nunatak lands were beautiful as always and the sea rich with sea life."

- Rhoda 'Ataaka' Moonin, Respected Sugpiaq Elder from the village of Nanwalek, from Chugachmiut video Sugpiat Lucit: Ways of the Sugpiaq

 

Map of Kenai Fjords' Wilderness Areas

NPS

Eligible Wilderness

Kenai Fjords National Park encompasses over 569,600 acres of eligible wilderness, about 85% of the entire park. These eligible wilderness areas possess characteristics that reflect the definition of wilderness but require further study to determine if they should be recommended to Congress for wilderness designation.

Kenai Fjords National Park was designated in 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which created a more human-centric lens for wilderness stewardship than that which is found outside the state. However, the NPS’s primary mandate is the same across all federal lands: to preserve wilderness character. The holistic concept of wilderness character protects the biophysical environment, personal experiences, and symbolic meanings that collectively distinguish wilderness from general backcountry and frontcountry areas. Unique social, cultural, and ecological benefits of wilderness are rooted in wilderness character preservation.

 

A woman lifts a salmon in the Sugpiaq community of Port Graham

NPS / A. Castellina

Wilderness as Homeland

Sugpiaq people and villages maintain their cultural and ancestral affiliation to lands within park boundaries, including places of significance within wilderness. Sugpiaq (plural Sugpiat), means “real people." in their language Sugcestun. A maritime people, they span a large expanse of what is now south-central Alaska—including what comprises Kenai Fjords National Park. Alutiiq (plural Alutiit) is a term that stems from “Aleut.” Russian explorers used the name when encountering coastal Alaskans in the 1740s. The term Chugach refers to the Alaska Native people of the lower Kenai Peninsula, including lands within Kenai Fjords National Park, and Prince William Sound. Different individuals and generations use a mix of these terms to identify themselves. No matter the name, people past, present, and future are intertwoven with these lands and waters. 

A subsistence way of life is at the core of this relationship. While the federal lands of Kenai Fjords National Park are not designated for subsistence, subsistence practices occur on corporation-owned lands within the park and its adjacent waters.

"The Kenai Fjords land is a whole new area of subsistence resource that is available to our village... ...by having the Kenai Fjord land available to us, presently and to our future generations, we have opened up the whole area to be managed well so that the subsistence resources that are in the whole area will be maintained at a good level."

- Patrick Norman, President of Port Graham Corporation, 1997:23512a (uaf.edu)

 

The bountiful intertidal zone

NPS / J. Pfeiffenberger

Marine mammals that rely on ice from glaciers offer food, clothing, tools, and everyday items for the Sugpiaq people. For example, seal fat is used to make oil for light and food. Seal gut is sewn into waterproof parkas and other functional items. Gull, tern, and puffin eggs are harvested from nests on rocky fjord coastlines. Along the shore, a wealth of food can be found between the tides. Clams, cockles, urchins, and other marine invertebrates are harvested today. As the saying goes, “When the tide is out the table is set.”  

As glaciers retreat, they leave behind U-shaped valleys with steep slopes. Despite harsh weather and difficult terrain, microorganisms, mosses, and lichens establish themselves. New plants and animals move in, and shrubs and trees take root. A temperate rainforest supports a wide diversity of life. The Sugpiaq people harvest many essentials from the forest. They use wood to build the frames of traditional qayaqs (kayaks). Spruce roots provide materials for basketry and traditional hunting hats.  Since time immemorial, people have been members of the community of life that inhabits these lands and waters.

 

Learn how to respectfully and safely explore wilderness

NPS / F. North

Visiting Wilderness

Today, Kenai Fjords provides opportunities to explore a diversity of human connections. We invite you to experience and appreciate the scenic and wild values of the Harding Icefields, its outflowing glaciers, coastal fjords, and wildlife and to comprehend environmental change in a human context. Kenai Fjords National Park has something for everyone. Whether you take a boat tour, go for a hike, or kayak in a remote fjord, you will be surrounded by exquisite scenery and abundant wildlife.

Learn more about exploring Kenai Fjords Wilderness.