...Teddy Roosevelt was a committed conservationist long before he met John Muir, but after the Yosemite trip he marshaled his exuberance with new urgency. When TR assumed office in 1901, half of the nation’s timberlands had been cut down, the buffalo and other species faced extinction, and special interests were teaming up to lay waste to huge tracts of pristine wilderness. Thanks to TR, five national parks were created, along with 150 national forests, 51 bird refuges, four national game preserves, 18 national monuments (including the Grand Canyon which later became a national park), 24 reclamation projects, and the National Forest Service. Significantly, TR extended the concept of democracy to include future citizens, arguing that it was undemocratic to exploit the nation’s resources for present profit. "The greatest good for the greatest number," he wrote, "applies to the number within the womb of time."
Alaska is my home, Totino.
Denali is the most heavily used National Park in Alaska. If you plan to visit, get as much info as you can beforehand. 99% of the park is regulated backcountry, and you need a permit for whatever unit you plan to use. It's best to come up with 2 or 3 different plans in case you can't get your first choice of backcountry units.
You may also be surprised that you can't actually see Denali or Foraker from the park visitor's center. On a good day, you can see them from Anchorage or Fairbanks 200+ miles away, but a 3000' ridge hides them from the VC...
With the exception of Nanga Parbat in Kashmir, Denali is the tallest mountain in the world from it's base to it's summit, but you can't see the whole face of NP like you can see Denali, so Denali is the biggest mountain on earth to look at.
Kenai Fjords and Katmai are the parks I use the most. There are commercial fisheries on the Katmai Coast and KFNP has some great surf spots.
Some have called Lake Clark NP the most scenic spot in Alaska. Switzerland should have such Alps...
The scenery and opportunities in Wrangell-St Elias NP are as at least as intense as Denali, and it's about twice as big...
Gates Of The Arctic NP is something special as well.
To Alaskans, the NPs are not necessarily the choicest places to go. Our two National Forests, the Chugach and the Tongass are so big and wild that it would take years to even see all of either. Managed by NFS
Then there's the National Wildlife Refuges like Kodiak NWR, ANWR, Izembek, Becharof, Alaska Maritime NWR - all American Edens in their own rite. USF&W managed.
Then there's lands and rivers managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) - millions of acres spread all through the Great Land.
America's Public Land is a vast National Treasure. Alaska is it's Crown Jewel.
http://www.nps.gov/aplic/about_us/index.html
