Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-04-05
AN ALASKAN PARK
BY Frederic J. HaSkin
\ y
ASHINGTON, March 30.-The work
Of surveying the boundaries OF
Mount Mckinley National par

which is said to be the most remarkable OF
all the areas which the United States govern
ment has set aside for the purposes Of con-
servation and public pleasure, is to begin
this spring. These boundaries will inclose
great area of primitive wilderness, teem-
ing with game, in which it will be unlawful
to kill that game except for miners and pros
pectors who are actually dependent upon 1t
| for living.
| 1t is hard at present to arouse popular in
terest in national park in Alaska because
| it seems so far away. Yet the new govern
ment railroad in Alaska will bring Mount
Mckinley within three weeks of New York
| City, and you can travel all the way, except
the last twenty miles, by boat and rail. This
means that Mount Mckinley will be no harder
for the tourist to reach than is Hawaii, which
| in recent years has attained such wide popu-
larity. 1t will soon be possible to go, on
summer vacation Of a few months, from the
most popuIous city in the world to one of
it's most remote places, where wild life exists
in the abundance of pre-Columbia days. This
is an opportunity which the American tour
list will not miss. It is said that plans are
already under way for a big hotel there to
accommodate him. 1t is probable, too, that
the national park service will, in due course,
install there the shelters for travellers which
it has in other parks. Here, as in all ma
tional parks and forests, everything will be
omen to all If you cannot afford hotel,
you can take your own outfit and camp, or
! build your OWN cabin if you want to stay
longer.
1t is the prospect of this movement of
tourists to Alaska which has prompted the
government to set aside Mount Mckinley as
a national park. The prime purpose in Gre
ating the park is to protect the big game
herds within it, and the reason for this is
! that game is an absolute necessity to the
development of Alaska. The exploring, pros
pecting and surveying which are the neces-
/ Oh,
country cannot be carried on unless men can
! live off the country as they go along. Our
own west could not have been opened up
without the great herds of bison and ante
lope that covered the prairies and the deer
and elk that abounded in the mountains. No
protection was ever afforded these wild
herds, but they were not finally destroyed
until they had served their purpose. The
west was so far away from civilization that
it was not menaced by tourists.
Conditions in Alaska
The case of Alaska is different. 1t is rap
,dly being made accessible to the civilization
which owns it. If Sportsmen and tourists
are allowed to slaughter the game, there
will be none left for the men who actually
need it. The Alaskans are said fully to real
ize this and therefore to favor the establish
ment of the park. By preventing the ship
ment of game from it, and the carrying of
arms into it by tourists, the game can, with
out much expense, be given all the protec
ton it will need for years to come. The re-
| gion will in this way serve as a reservoir
! from which game will overflow in all direc-
| tions, keeping the country stocked.
The northern slope of Mount Mckinley is
said to be Of the finest game regions in
the world. A great variety of game and fur
bearing animals exist there in abundance,
but the most valuable ones from the stand
point of food supply are the mountain sheep,
or bighorn, the moose and the caribou. The
| m fountain chnnn which iS n1cowhprn rn
animal, here exists in great numbers. The
caribou range in enormous herds that are so
:ame they trot alongside the pack trains that
enter the country, fascinated by the curious
spectacle. Moose are found on the lower
slopes in great abundance There are many
BEARS and abundant small game.
All of this is |on the northern slope, for
the southern side is almost devoid of life.
This curious state of affairs is caused by the
fact that the northern slope of the great
mountain is warmed by winds blowing off
the Japanese current. AS result, it has
warm summer. In winter the thermometer
sometimes drops far below zero, but the snow
is not very deep nor the climate difficult to
endure.
eve are accustomed to think winter there
is cold, said Charles Selden,, who spent
whole year alone on Mount Mckinley. 'Win-
ter is the most delightful season of the
year" He went on to say that he did not
suffer from the cold even on the coolest days,
and that he wore no more clothing than he
would have in the Adirondack mountains.
Winter, he says, is the best time for travel
ing over the mountain because then the
ground is frozen and the footing is good. In
the summer there are many little boys and
marshes.
Qualifications as Park Site
This northern slope is described as one
of the most beneficial regions in the world,
rich in animal life, full of wild flowers,
healthful all the year round. The southern
slope is a vast rock slide where almost moth
ing can live, covered in winter with snow,
which sometimes reaches a depth of sixty
feet.
Mount Mckinley is said by those who have
seen it to be the most spectacular peak in
the world. It rises in a great dome, crowned
with glittering ice and snow, to an elevation
of 1900 feet, and is thanked by smaller
mountains l. 900 to Is 600 feet high. A few
hunters and few prospectors most Of whom
work placer gold deposits, are. the only
human beings in the vast wilderness AL
no mining Industries have yet been estab-
lished within the park boundaries. The es-
adjustment of the park will not in any way
interfere with mining and prospecting. It
will, however, prevent private individuals
from getting hold of the land and control
ing it. 1t means that this region will be
free to all Americans for all time.
This freedom is perhaps the greatest boon
which is conferred by our whole system of
national parks in the east, but not nearly
will be appreciated more and more as time
goes on. The pity is that national parks and
forests were not also established in the east
hands. There are, of course. a few state and
| national marks in the east but not nearly