Alaska is home to 23 national parks, which make up two-thirds of the United States’ 83 million acres of national parkland. In 2010, those parks attracted more than 2.2 million visitors.
Unfortunately, due to climate change, Alaska is warming at a faster rate than the rest of the United States, and some of the consequences within the national parks are cause for concern. Glacial melting has led to flooding and thawing permafrost has led to mudslides. Rising temperatures have also resulted in vegetation sprouting up in unexpected places along the tundra.
In order to preserve Alaska’s parkland, the National Park Service has developed a Climate Change Response Strategy to increase scientific data collection, manage adaptation efforts and promote public awareness about those efforts.
“Alaska’s still going to be here, and it’s still going to be a vast wilderness,” said Jim Stratton, senior regional director for the National Parks Conservation Association’s Alaska office. “It’s just going to be changed… we can’t really say how good or how bad it [will be].” And it’s too soon to say how those changes will affect tourism.
Thus far, Alaska’s tourism industry is doing fine. Visitation during the 2010 to 2011 fall/winter season went up by 3% from the 2009 to 2010 season, marking the first autumn/winter increase in four years, according to Alaska’s Office of Tourism Development.
But since conditions are ever-changing at the parks, here’s a quick roundup of what to keep in mind before visiting.
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