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By the Numbers: Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve

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Hubbard Glacier dumps icebergs into the sea along a six-mile wide calving surface. NPS photo.

Six times the size of Yellowstone, 25 percent covered in glacial ice, and home to an active volcano, Wrangell-St..Elias generates some wonderful numbers.

13,175,900

Total acreage, including 8,323,147 acres in the National Park and 4,852,753 acres in the National Preserve. At 20,587 square miles, Wrangell-St. Elias is by far the largest of the 392 units in the National Park System.

9,078,675

Acres of federally designated wilderness. That’s 14,185 square miles. There’s no larger wilderness tract in the National Wilderness Preservation System.

$4,800,000

The park’s base budget for FY 2009.

750,000

Peak daily sediment transport, in cubic feet, of the Copper River. The fourth siltiest river in the world, the Copper adds an estimated 75 million tons of sediment to its delta each year.

65,693

Reported recreational visits in 2008.

18,008

Elevation, in feet, of Mount. St. Elias, the highest peak in the park and the second highest peak in the United States.

3,000

Approximate depth, in feet, of the 127-mile long Bagley Icefield, the largest sub-polar icefield on the continent.

1,500

Approximate area, in square miles, of the Malaspina Glacier, the largest non-polar piedmont glacier in North America.

400

Years in age of the ice that the 76 mile-long Hubbard Glacier dumps into the sea along its six mile-wide calving surface. The Hubbard is the longest tidewater glacier in Alaska and one of the longest tidewater glaciers on the planet.

250

Cubic miles of lava thought to be available to 14,163 foot-high Mt. Wrangell, the highest and largest of Alaska’s active volcanoes.

133

Number of lichen species documented in the park.

101

Combined length of the park’s two gravel roads, the McCarthy Road (59 miles) and the Nabesna Road (42 miles).

80

Approximate length, in miles, of the Nabesna Glacier, the longest non-polar valley glacier.

33

Number of permanent employees. This year the park also had 3 term employees and 80 seasonals. (In 2008, 81 volunteers contributed 3,062 hours.)

25

Percentage of Wrangell-St. Elias covered by glacial ice.

13

Number of public-use cabins within the park. Most are restored mining, trapping, or hunting cabins in remote locations. Some are accessible only by bush plane.

4

Number of major mountain ranges that converge in this NPS unit, including the Wrangell, St. Elias, Chugach, and Alaskan Ranges. The St. Elias Range is the highest coastal mountain range in the world

3

Number of improved airstrips in the park. The one at McCarthy is maintained by the State of Alaska and the ones at Chisana and May Creek are maintained by the park.

0

Number of reptile species known to inhabit the park.

- 65

Record low temperature, in degrees Fahrenheit, at Gulkana. In January, the average daily minimum temperature at Gulkana is -14 Fahrenheit.

Comments

What is the latest on the Monkey Wrench Gang film Kurt wrote about a while back?


ahh, my kind of Park - no known reptiles!


Bob--

One more trivia fact: if you could explore a section of land--640 acres--every day, it would take you more than 56 years to complete the exploration of Wrangells.

Rick Smith


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