Dear Beenthere and Bob:

My guess is that "NOAA" is the code for "Noatak National Preserve," the largest park system unit in the administrative collective called the Western Arctic National Parklands.

Noatak is distinctive as the largest, largely intact river system, including a vast number of tributaries, in the National Park System, although the upper Noatak is actually in Gates of the Arctic NP (intended to encompass mountain systems), and most of the rest in in Noatak (intended to be a valley park, or a watershed).

Kobuk Valley is the National Park in this Western Arctic collective. These parks should each be managed by separate superintendents.