Denali's Revised Backcountry Management Plan - 2005
This plan will amend Denali's General Management Plan of 1986, along with the South Denali Implementation Plan now in progress and the Entrance Area and Road Corridor Plan. It will provide guidelines for protecting park resources and providing visitor experiences in Denali's backcountry over the next 20 years. The Final Backcountry Plan will also constitute a Wilderness Management Plan, a Soundscape Management Plan, and a Commercial Services Plan for the park. A tall order, and not completely accomplished by the Revised Draft.

DCC members will recall that a Draft Backcountry Management Plan was released in 2003. That year, we considered the plan at a conference entitled Preserving Denali's Winter Wilderness. The most contentious aspects of the first plan, including problems with Wilderness suitability and motorized access, remain in the Revised PLan, especially in the NPS Preferred Alternative. There will be no closures and few limitations on modes of access. However, the NPS has attempted to establish indicators and standards for several Management Areas in the park, in order to maintain wilderness character, natural sounds and solitude.

Here are some key concerns we have about the Revised plan:

Wilderness suitability - We are concerned that certain management designations in the Revised Plan (especially Corridors, Portals and Management Area A) will fail to maintain the Wilderness suitability of Denali Park lands in the 4 million acres ANILCA additions, areas that have not yet been recommended for or designated as statutory Wilderness by Congress.

Motorized access - The NPS Preferred Alternative 4 could allow increased off-road motorized activity by snowmachies within Denali's additions. We argue that the plan should make it clear that recreational snowmachining is not an appropriate or legally guaranteed activity in Denali by defining Traditional Activities for the Park additions as it was defined for the Core Wilderness Park in 2000.

Enforcement - The Revised Plan establishes some indicators and standards for various Management Areas within the Backcountry. Maintaining desired future conditions will depend on a well thought out and appropriately executed monitoring plan. Little is said about the nature of such a plan in the document or the likely cost in dollars and manpower. We have to ask, can this plan be monitored and enforced, and, if funds are not available, what will NPS do to maintain the integrity of the backcountry?

Maps - The Preferred Alternative contains too many Management Areas (Management Area A - Red) that tolerate higher levels of crowding and unnatural sounds in areas where this is not the current condition and need not develop in that direction. See below an alternative map that preserves natural sounds in two key areas, Kantishna and Dunkle Hills. We are also concerned regarding the large Management Area A (red) located over areas on the south slope of Mt. McKinley. Although this area could be expected to have more noise intrusions and greater crowding during the mountaineering season, the Preferred Alternative accepts too much growth of these activities.

PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE MAP

OUR WORKING ALTERNATIVE MAP

History of Backcountry Planning at Denali

Contentious Issues

DCC Comments on Draft Plan, May 2003

History of Backcountry Planning at Denali National Park & Preserve

Creation of the Bus System:
In 1971, the George Parks Highway opened, connecting Fairbanks and Anchorage along the railbelt adjacent to then Mt. McKinley National Park. Realizing that this road would increase visitation to the park and its famous wilderness road, Park managers introduced a shuttle bus system in 1972. This system was successful in accommodating the Park's thousands of yearly visitors. It consisted of two services, a paid tour for local hotel guests and a free shuttle for all park visitors (later, a fee for the shuttle was introduced).. Additionally, private lodges in Kantishna operated their own buses for their overnight guests. In the year 2000, the NPS established a limit on the number of vehicles that could traverse the Park road during the summer season. The growth of bus traffic on the Park road, brought a tremendous increase in visitation and use of the Park's backcountry.

Development of the first Backcountry Plan:
In 1976, realizing that increased visitation to Denali's backcountry would require management to prevent damage to both tangible and intangible resources, the NPS issued its first Backcountry Management Plan. This plan divided the Park into 42 management zones and established guidelines for both day and overnight use.

ANILCA and the GMP:
In 1980, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) added 4 million acres to then McKinley Park and renamed it Denali National Park. In ANILCA, the Park was charged with developing guidelines to manage the enlarged park. This led to the General Management Plan (GMP), published in 1986. This plan provided general guidelines for appropriate uses and overall policies for the park, but was expected to be updated every decade or so.

The Draft Backcountry Management Plan of 2003:
In 2001, the NPS began developing a new Backcountry Management Plan as an amendment to the General Management Plan. This plan covered the entire 6 million acre park, and for the first time would provide management guidelines for the 4 million acre ANILCA additions.

The Park Service planners met with a variety of stakeholders during preparation of the first draft of the Backcountry Management Plan. Contentious issues began to arise, especially how the park would manage off road motorized access and whether the park could manage so called intangible resources like solitude or wilderness character.

The first draft, featuring five alternatives, was released in February 2003. A copy of the plan can be viewed on the internet at the following address: http://www.nps.gov/dena/home/planning/plans/bcplan/bcplan.html

State of Alaska objects to Draft Plan:
In its comments on the draft plan, the State of Alaska reiterated its objection to performing any closures to any type of activity in the plan, and warned that no closures could occur without damage to physical resources. The State of Alaska and the Federal Administration both have been proponents of open access into National Parks and supportive of recreational snowmachining there. In addition, they have supported the concept of no more Wilderness designations in Alaska's Parks. To read an article in the Anchorage Daily News on this topic, click here. To read the NPS press release put out to answer these objections, click here.

NPS to Prepare Supplemental Backcountry Management Plan
In order to better deal with public concerns about the Draft Plan, the National Park Service announced on January 12th that it plans to write a new draft of the Backcountry Management Plan for Denali National Park and Preserve. The Supplemental Plan may be out for public comment later in 2004. DCC will monitor the development of the plan and will post updates on this Website.
To read the press release and see an analysis of comments on the first Draft, visit the NPS website at http://www.nps.gov/dena/home/planning/plans/bcplan/bcupdate.html

Contentious Issues

Recreational Snowmachining;
Although banned by regulation in the core Wilderness Park ( 2 million acres),.recreational snowmachining has occurred over the last couple of decades in parts of the ANILCA Park additions (4 million acres), especially in an area south of the crest of the Alaska Range along the drainages of the Bull River, Chulitna River, Tokositna River, and Cantwell Creek.
Although snowmachining in the backcountry has been banned in most lower 48 National Parks, the situation in Alaska is different. ANILCA, in establishing new conservation system units, gave limited access by snowmachines for traditional activities in National Parks, if that use had been occurring at the time of ANILCA, 1980. This exception was meant to protect rural residents who used snowmachines as part of their lifestyles. DCC argues that recreational snowmachining, as an activity in itself, is not an ANILCA guarantee. Unfortunately, the Draft Backcountry Plan allows some recreational snowmachining.

Traditional Activities:
This phrase, used in ANILCA, referred to activities for which snowmachines, ariplanes and motorboats could be allowed in National Parks, if carried on prior to ANILCA. The NPS defined this term for Denali's core wilderness in a rulemaking in the year 2000. However, the Backcountry Plan will not define this term, something that DCC has urged them to do in order to prevent the gradual increase of recreational snowmachining in the Park additions.

Natural Sounds:
The National Park Service has recently identified soundscape as a resource and supported the protection of natural sounds. This concept has been criticized as not measurable. However, NPS continues sound monitoring activities at Denali and to develop criteria for assessing damage to this resource. DCC believes that management for wilderness character and natural sounds in National Parks is legitimate and necessary and supports NPS efforts in that regard.

Wilderness designations:
ANILCA required the National Park Service to perform a study of lands in the 4 million acre additions for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System. NPS began this process in the 1980s, but no recommendations were ever made. Most of the lands in Denali's ANILCA additions are de facto Wilderness, and DCC believes that until Wilderness recommendations and designations have been made, all areas of Denali's additions must be managed to preserve wilderness character. This again calls into question the use of snowmachines.

Conservation Community Comments

DCC held a Winter Wilderness Conference in March 2003 to assist local citizens in preparing comments on the Draft Plan. In addition, DCC and other organizations submitted comments. To view their comments, click on the links.

National Parks and Conservation Association

Northern Alaska Environmental Center

Denali Citizens Council