Before passing this name change, however, Congress removed an important measure from the legislation. The original bill would have designated 3,000 acres of the park as wilderness, a move that would permanently protect the area’s natural features. Furthermore, an adjacent landowner has urged Congress to allow his 18,200-acre, geologically significant property to be included in Pinnacles, but lawmakers have yet to act on this proposal.

Congress has not passed a single piece of wilderness legislation or added any lands to the park system in the last two years. NPCA believes our new Congress should pick up where this bill left off and expand Pinnacles and establish wilderness protections within its boundaries.

-Neal Desai, Pacific Region Associate Director

Earlier this month, more than 100 million acres of public land in Alaska shared one common anniversary: On December 2, Lake Clark, Kenai Fjords, and other parks and preserves established through the Alaskan National Interest Land Conservation Act, or ANILCA, turned 32 years old. This federal legislation created ten different national parks and expanded three others in America’s largest, wildest state, including:

• Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve
• Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
• Cape Krusenstern National Monument
• Denali National Park
• Gates Of The Arctic National Park and Preserve
• Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
• Katmai National Park and Preserve
• Kenai Fjords National Park
• Kobuk Valley National Park
• Lake Clark National Park and Preserve
• Noatak National Preserve
• Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve
• Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve

Although ANILCA was controversial when it passed–protesters burned President Carter in effigy and some residents engaged in acts of civil disobedience–this law is now recognized as one of the most significant land conservation measures in America’s history and an enormous contributor to Alaska’s tourist economy.

Here are just a few images of the vast natural wonders protected by ANILCA. Put on an extra sweater and enjoy!

-Jennifer Errick, Editor, Online Communications

Americans are captivated by wilderness; it comes in all shapes and sizes, from the forested Olympic National Park to the river of grass in the Everglades. Thanks to U.S. Secretary Ken Salazar, Americans can now experience the majestic beauty of the first marine wilderness area on the West Coast: Drakes Estero, in Point Reyes National Seashore.

The decision to protect Drakes Bay as wilderness was nearly 40 years in the making. In 1976, Congress passed a law that included designating the estuary within Point Reyes National Seashore as the first marine wilderness area on the West Coast. However, this ruling came with one caveat–a commercial oyster company using motorboats and raising non-native oysters could continue operating, but its permit would expire on November 30, 2012. Once the commercial operation ended, nature would take over, and the estuary would return to its natural state. After all, taxpayers purchased this property with the goal to have it be fully protected and accessible as part of this national park.

A promise made should be a promise kept, right? Unfortunately, when the ownership of the oyster company changed hands in 2005, the new operator chose not to honor the contract, and instead fought to stay.

Secretary Salazar’s decision to protect this five bay estuary demonstrated his deep understanding and commitment to protecting America’s greatest wilderness areas. Over the last several years, NPCA has worked tirelessly with the secretary, the Park Service, Congress, and President Obama to protect not only this area but other pristine wilderness areas across the country, including the Rocky Mountains, Zion, Joshua Tree, and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, as intended by their designation as national parks sites.

As our members and supporters know, NPCA is not one to back down from a fight–especially when something as rare and precious as marine wilderness is at stake. Our work began once we learned of the oyster company’s efforts to seek a lease extension. Over the years, we have conducted extensive legal and policy research on this issue; rallied local and national supporters; educated elected officials; and participated in scientific study processes to protect the long-standing plan to attain a fully-protected wilderness at Drakes Estero. Our work demonstrates that advocacy is consistently needed if we want our national parks to be unimpaired for future generations.

We value wilderness areas in national parks for the clean air and water, scenery, and wildlife they provide. And wilderness is not found everywhere. If anything, wilderness can be likened to an endangered species in the continental United States–and marine wilderness is even less common. What was once acre upon acre of vast open lands, especially in the West, is becoming developed at an alarming pace. When President Obama announced his America’s Great Outdoors initiative, he talked about this very issue: “Over the last century, our population grew from about 90 million to 300 million people, and as it did, we lost more and more of our natural landscape to development. Meanwhile, a host of other factors–from a changing climate to new sources of pollution–have put a growing strain on our wildlife and our waters and our lands.”

We agree, wholeheartedly.

Secretary Salazar’s decision to provide full wilderness designation to Drakes Bay–as planned and paid for by the American public–will enhance opportunities for public access to a remarkable protected marine environment near the major urban hub of San Francisco and the nine Bay Area counties, home to more than 9 million people. Far more than just a beautiful view, Drakes Estero serves as a stopover for thousands of sensitive and migratory birds and a habitat for seals. It also accounts for at least 7 percent of California’s eelgrass habitat, which helps maintain a healthy marine ecosystem. Without the bustle of business and a noticeable commercial footprint in the middle of Drakes Estero, all who visit Point Reyes National Seashore can enjoy enhanced opportunities for recreation, wildlife viewing, and the much-revered quality of solitude. Such an experience simply cannot be replicated.

Our work to protect Drakes Estero is not over. On December 4, the oyster company filed a lawsuit to fight Secretary Salazar’s landmark decision. Meanwhile, Salazar’s opponents have criticized him sharply in the media, pointing out that 30 oyster farmers are now out of a job. We firmly believe that the national parks belong to everyone and should not support commercial enterprises that benefit a chosen few—something Congress recognized 40 years ago when it chose to let the company’s permit expire. We will remain vigilant in our efforts to safeguard the secretary’s decision and protect the future of the West Coast’s first marine wilderness area, and we will keep you apprised of our efforts and how you can help. We also ask you to join us in thanking Secretary Salazar for his monumental decision, which will be long felt by our generation, our children, grandchildren, and all who explore this wonderful, natural gem.

Learn more

Listen to NPCA’s Pacific Region Associate Director Neal Desai in a forum with Kevin Lunny, the owner of the Drakes Bay Oyster Farm, on a recent KQED radio program:

Also, see a slideshow with images from Drakes Estero, including the oyster farm:

You can read about it and dream about going, but nothing compares with actually seeing it in person. Alaska, our 49^th state, is an extraordinary place. This 582,000-square-mile parcel of land is sometimes referred to as “Seward’s folly,” after Secretary of State William Seward, who orchestrated its purchase in 1867 despite ridicule from his contemporaries. Now, after spending three weeks in Alaska last June, I can appreciate Seward’s vision.

Contrary to the criticism leveled by Seward’s critics, Alaska is not a wasteland. It’s a wonderland containing some of our most wild remaining landscapes, including Denali National Park, which lies along the roadway that runs between Anchorage and Fairbanks, the two most populous cities in the state.

Rather than renting a car for the trip, we traveled to Denali on the train, a slow, enjoyable trip of four hours. You can cover the same distance in half the time by car, but for a first-time visitor, the train provides a good introduction to the landscape and history, shared by guides who spot bears, moose, tundra swans, and other wildlife for the benefit of the passengers. The train stops just outside the park, where shuttles carry passengers to nearby hotels. Getting around the area is easy enough, thanks to the hotel shuttles and the fleet of buses that take visitors on tours into the park.

I knew there was only one road that went into the park, and I certainly knew that beyond mile 15 the only way to get into the park was aboard a Bluebird bus (similar to a school bus but with overhead storage capacity and seat belts). But I did not realize how vast the park is (equal in size to New Hampshire) or that with very few exceptions there are no trails crossing the landscape.

Denali, for all intents and purposes, is a wilderness park. Conservationist Charles Sheldon, known as the “Father of Denali,” helped establish the park as a wildlife sanctuary to protect the Dall sheep that roam the mountain range. Sheldon spent years studying different species of American mountain sheep, and eventually followed his passion to Alaska where he spent several summers exploring the lands at the base of Mt. McKinley. His passion to preserve the Dall sheep drove him to advocate for the establishment of the park, finally succeeding in 1917.

Visiting Denali was an eye-opening experience, especially since the journey coincided almost exactly with the summer solstice when there is no clear division between day and night. The nearly continuous light—it would get somewhat twilight-like at 2 a.m.—debunked assumptions we make in the lower 48 about the separation of night and day and how that affects animal behavior, including our own. Bears, moose, willow ptarmigans, and other animals and birds can be out at any time looking for food, taking a dip in a lake, wandering across the tundra.

I quickly realized that I was a guest in this wilderness. The creatures I had the good luck to see—grizzly bear sows with cubs, moose with calves, a lynx, herds of Dall sheep, and caribou—were roaming freely on their home turf. This point was underscored, when in a rare moment I left the Bluebird bus and walked across the trail-less landscape, exposed to the heat of the sun, and then several minutes later, a cold rain laced with hail. Denali is just one of 15 national park units in Alaska, each one extraordinary in its own right. How fortunate for us that Secretary Seward had the foresight to convince the United States to buy the land; and how incredible that the will and determination of one man set aside such an extraordinary park.

Inspired to make your own trip to Denali? Learn more about the adventure of riding into the park by reading NPCA Alaska Program Manager Joan Frankevich’s story “Over the Years, Denali Road Continues to Provide Superb Wildlife Viewing” (PDF, 439 KB, page 3). Book your own train ride through the Alaskan landscape at the Alaska Railroad Corporation. Or take a trip with your browser and check out our recent slideshow with stunning photos of Denali.

If you liked this story, you might also like:

• Getting Close to Katmai’s Bears in the Hopes of Protecting Them (July 31, 2012)
• New NPS Video: Spend Three Minutes in the Wilderness (April 11, 2012)
• Friday Photo: A Cool Swim at Katmai (June 1, 2012)

Since the passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964, nearly 110 million acres of the United States have been designated as wilderness in 757 distinct tracts, from the six-acre Pelican Island Wilderness in Florida to the more than 9 million acres of the Wrangell-St. Elias Wilderness in Alaska. These protected lands represent about 5 percent of the country in 44 states (every state except Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, and Rhode Island, with more than half of all designated wilderness land in Alaska). Although several federal agencies manage designated areas, the National Park Service manages most of the wilderness in the United States.

The Park Service just produced this beautiful short video celebrating the Wilderness Act and the lands it protects. For those who appreciate the peace of wild things, it’s a perfect opportunity to spend a few minutes viewing some of the most pristine and beautiful places in America without leaving any footprints. For more information on U.S. wilderness and tips for preserving it, see wilderness.nps.gov and www.wilderness.net.

-Jennifer Errick, Editor, Online Communications