Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

 

SE Alaska, near Juneau. The park (3,224,840 acres/1,305,603 hectares) and the preserve (58,406 acres/23,646 hectares) were established in 1925 as a national monument and in 1980 designated a national park and preserve. Glaciers descending from the towering snow-covered mountains of the Fairweather Range into the bay create one of the world's most spectacular displays of ice. Among the bay's most famous glaciers is Muir Glacier, c.2 mi (3.2 km) wide and rising c.265 ft (80 m) above the water. Wildlife includes bears, deer, mountain goats, porpoises, whales, and waterfowl. See National Parks and Monuments (table).

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
IUCN Category II (National Park)
Location	Alaska, USA
Nearest city	Juneau
Coordinates	58°30′0″N 137°00′0″W / 58.5, -137
Area	3,283,246 acres (13,287 km²)
Established	December 2, 1980
Total visitation	413,382 (in 2006)
Governing body	National Park Service

The area around Glacier Bay in southeastern Alaska was first proclaimed a U.S. National Monument on February 25, 1925. It was changed to Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is a United States National Park in the southern part of Alaska west of Juneau. The park area was included in an International Biosphere Reserve in 1986 and is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park covers 5,130 mi² (13,287 km²). Most of the park is a designated wilderness area which covers 4,164 mi² (10,784 km²) of the park.

No roads lead to the park and it is most easily reached by air travel. During some summers there are ferries to the small community of Gustavus or directly to the marina at Bartlett Cove. Despite the lack of roads, there are over 300,000 visitors per year, most on cruise ships.

Glaciers descending from high snow capped mountains into the bay create spectacular displays of ice and iceberg formation. In the last century the bay’s most famous glacier was probably the Muir Glacier, at one time nearly 3 km (2 miles) wide and about 80 m (265 feet) tall. The Muir Glacier has receded and since the 1990's is no longer tidewater. Most visitors today see the Margerie and Lamplugh Glaciers. All of Glacier Bay was glacier-bound as recently as 1750.

The explorer Captain George Vancouver found Icy Strait, at the south end of Glacier Bay, choked with ice in 1794. Glacier Bay itself was almost entirely iced over. In 1879 naturalist John Muir found that the ice had retreated almost all the way up the bay, a distance of around forty-eight miles. By 1916 the Grand Pacific Glacier was at the head of Tarr Inlet about 100 km (65 miles) from Glacier Bay's mouth. This is the fastest documented glacier retreat ever. Scientists are hoping to learn how glacial activity relates to climate changes from the retreat.

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve includes 9 tidewater glaciers. 4 actively calve (shed) icebergs into the bay.

Wildlife in the area includes bears, deer, mountain goats, whales, and waterfowl.

World Heritage Site

The Kluane-Wrangell-St. Elias-Glacier Bay-Tatshenshini-Alsek transborder park system comprising Kluane, Wrangell-St Elias, Glacier Bay and Tatshenshini-Alsek parks, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 for the spectacular glacier and icefield landscapes as well as for the importance of grizzly bears, caribou and Dall sheep habitat.

Other images

External links

• Official website: Glacier Bay National Park
• World Heritage Site
• Glacier Bay National Park travel guide from Wikitravel

National parks of the United States
Acadia • American Samoa • Arches • Badlands • Big Bend • Biscayne • Black Canyon of the Gunnison • Bryce Canyon • Canyonlands • Capitol Reef • Carlsbad Caverns • Channel Islands • Congaree • Crater Lake • Cuyahoga Valley • Death Valley • Denali • Dry Tortugas • Everglades • Gates of the Arctic • Glacier • Glacier Bay • Grand Canyon • Grand Teton • Great Basin • Great Sand Dunes • Great Smoky Mountains • Guadalupe Mountains • Haleakala • Hawaii Volcanoes • Hot Springs • Isle Royale • Joshua Tree • Katmai • Kenai Fjords • Kings Canyon • Kobuk Valley • Lake Clark • Lassen Volcanic • Mammoth Cave • Mesa Verde • Mount Rainier • North Cascades • Olympic • Petrified Forest • Redwood • Rocky Mountain • Saguaro • Sequoia • Shenandoah • Theodore Roosevelt • Virgin Islands • Voyageurs • Wind Cave • Wrangell-St. Elias • Yellowstone • Yosemite • Zion
List by: date established, state

World Heritage Sites in the United States of America

Cahokia · Carlsbad Caverns · Chaco Culture · Everglades · Grand Canyon · Great Smoky Mountains · Hawaii Volcanoes · Independence Hall · Kluane-Wrangell-St. Elias-Glacier Bay-Tatshenshini-Alsek (with Canada) · La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site · Mammoth Cave · Mesa Verde · Monticello and the University of Virginia · Olympic National Park · Pueblo de Taos · Redwood · Statue of Liberty · Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park (with Canada) · Yellowstone · Yosemite

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