Nature

Nature

Fish

Learn about the commonly asked questions about fish in the park.

Birds

With over 20,000 square miles Wrangell-St. Elias provides rich habitat for many birds!

Mammals

Spanning 13.2 million acres, Wrangell–St. Elias National Parkis home to one of the most diverse mammal communities in the continent!

Plants

The most common flower in Alaska is the fireweed, occurring in vibrant purple rows along the highways.

Aurora Borealis

A natural light phenomena occurs when atomic solar particles strike and excite atoms in Earth’s atmosphere, which emits photons and color.

Geology

Wrangell-St. Elias is a wonderland of geology. Massive peaks, volcanoes, and countless glaciers!

Natural Features & Ecosystems

The geological history of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve began over 200 million years ago.

 

NPSpecies Checklists

Our natural resource specialists keep track of animal and plant species within the park. They are documented within a database called NPSpecies. If you'd like to view or print out a checklist of species, please follow these directions:

• NPSpecies is best viewed in Internet Explorer.
• Open NPSpecies irma.nps.gov/NPSpecies/Search/SpeciesList/WRST
• Choose Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve from the drop-down list and click "Go".
• Choose the category of species you'd like to see. (For example, choose "Mammals" to see a mammals checklist.) Then click the "Search" button.
• Finally, click the "Report/Pdf" button.
• Now you can either view the species checklist or print it out!

Research and Monitoring

Find out more about scientific Research & Monitoring in the park!

If you'd like to learn more about current and past research in Alaska National Parks, check out Alaska Nature and Science. There are also scientific articles illustrated with photographs of Alaska′s spectacular scenery, wildlife, culture or history, and many describe innovative and traditional approaches to communicating knowledge through experiential learning, arts, humanities and technology.

Community and Copper in a Wild Land -- This book introduces the natural and cultural history of the Kennecott Valley. It provides an overview of the flora, fauna, and cultural history of the region.