Background
Our program and issue positions reflect three major goals:

Goal # 1: Preserve Denali National Park and Preserve's wilderness values.
National Parks are public lands where the highest degree of preservation of natural resources is a legal mandate. Natural sounds, solitude and minimal signs of human intrusion are important wilderness values for Denali's backcountry.
We support:
1. Protection of natural sounds in Denali National Park.
2. Completion of wilderness designations for Denali's ANILCA additions.
3. The current ban to snowmachines in Denali's core wilderness.
and restriction of recreational snowmachining in Denali's additions.
4. Retaining the Park road's unique character.

 

Goal # 2: Preserve the intact ecosystem of Denali National Park & Preserve.
Denali National Park and Preserve is renowned for its intact natural ecosystem and intact habitat, protecting almost the entire range of its wide-traveling caribou herd and most of the territories of several wolf packs. The Northern Additions to Denali were added by ANILCA expressly for the protection of wildlife and habitat.
We support:
1. Careful development on lands adjacent to Denali to avoid impacts on park wildlife.
2. Maintaining Denali's northern additions as roadless habitat.
3. Public oversight in decisions regarding the Stampede townships north of Denali and west of Healy..
4. Limits on new tourism development that could overtax park resources, at the park entrance, in surrounding communities and in Kantishna.
5. Public involvement and oversight in decisions regarding development on Denali's south side.

 

Goal # 3: Promote sustainable development on local, state, and private lands in the Denali Borough in order to create a thriving community that is wildlife-friendly and retains its proximity to wild lands.
While some individual tourism businesses recognize the importance of these limits, the pace of development continues unabated. The tourism industry as a whole has not accepted that there are limits to growth at Denali. Lack of land use planning in the Denali Borough is a significant problem for the communities outside the national park.
We support:
1. Engaging the tourism community to address limits.
2. Careful planning for Denali Borough Lands to retain wild lands and lifestyles.
3. Local youth involvement in environmental issues.
4. Recycling, energy conservation and sustainable lifestyles in our community.
5. Encouraging careful resource development to protect the environment and rural lifestyles.