Voices from Denali: "It's bigger than wilderness"

Abstract

Denali National Park and Preserve, at over 6 million acres (2.5 million ha) contains the highest point in North America. Mount McKinley, at more than 20,000 feet (more than 6,000 m) above sea level, watches over thousands of caribou, moose, packs of wolves, grizzly bears, and Dall sheep, as well as many other mountains and a vast amount of rare plant life. Research was conducted at Denali in 2004 as a way to understand the experiences people have when they either fly into the park to climb Mt. McKinley or the surrounding peaks, or just to see the glaciers and mountains within the park. Here is a glimpse of this place from the perspectives of the people who travel great distances to experience it and the pilots from Talkeetna, Alaska, who make their living flying visitors to the mountain (see figure 1).

Citation

Watson, Alan E.; Knotek, Katie; Christensen, Neal. 2005. Voices from Denali: "It's bigger than wilderness". International journal of wilderness. 11(2): 4-7