Parked at Home 2024 | #4: Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve
Last night — March 29, 2024 — I watched the latest installment of the 2024 season of Parked at Home hosted by the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (BRVNHP). During this webinar, chief of interpretation Todd Smith joined us from Fairbanks, AK to discuss Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve (GAAR).
Park Ranger Mark Mello began by remarking how people tend to look down at phones and tablets instead of up at nature even when visiting a national park. Mello grew up in a relatively rural part of southeastern Massachusetts where he saw many stars at night. He first experienced severe light pollution as a teenager when he visited Boston and realized he could not see the stars. In contrast, while working at Arches National Park, he saw significantly more stars than at home and understood why the area was dedicated an International Dark Sky Place.
The first people to inhabit the Blackstone River Valley had a close connection to the sky. The name Wampanoag literally translates to “People of the First Light”. European colonists were also closely tied to the sky. In 1684, Harvard College postponed its commencement due to an eclipse of the sun, which they viewed as a bad omen. Before electrical lighting, millworkers in the Blackstone River Valley relied on sunlight to see their machines during their work week, which last six days a week and ten to fourteen hours a day. The bell towers of these factories were designed to draw the upward gaze of these millworkers, as this timekeeper was the tallest structure in the mill community. At Old Slater Mill, the bell tower was recently restored, allowing visitors to experience the same visual and audio effect as workers in the past. Elsewhere in the Blackstone River Valley, Worcester native Robert Goddard wanted to reach the sky and set off the first rocket in Auburn, MA in 1926.
Smith explained that GAAR is the second largest park by area after Wrangle-St. Elias National Park and Preserve located to the south, which is twice the size. GAAR was established by the Carter Administration in the Alaskan National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980 as part of a larger complex. The park shares ecosystems with Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve near the Canadian border. GAAR protects 8.4 million acres, or 13,000 square miles, at the center of the Brooks Range of mountains and hosts the headwaters for six wild rivers. It is the least visited National Park in the United States, with 11,000 counted visits in 2023, which equivalates to about 4,000 unique visitors. Soon, Smith will move three hundred miles north of Fairbanks to his summertime office, which is 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Taking a flight is the easiest way to get into the park, although boating and hiking are also possible.
The appeal of the park for most visitors is not seeing other humans for an extended period of time. The park has no built trails, amenities, or cell phone coverage; becomes a swampy breeding ground for mosquitoes when the permafrost melts during the summer; and requires visitors to take a backcountry orientation and carry firearms to defend themselves from bears. The environment is sensitive, and one step off a regularly walked path can kill several plants. However, visitors believe braving the harsh environment to avoid “cars, and other people, and full parking lots” is worth the struggle.
Beautiful Arrigetch Peaks is “the most heavily visited place” and where most of the backcountry rangers and volunteers go. Many of the staff at GAAR are scientists specializing in wildlife and archaeology who double as interpreters. Some staff work out of the Arctic Interagency Visitor Center in Coldfoot, AK, which is shared with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Another visitor center is located in Bettles, AK, a former military airfield where most visitors fly to and from. Anaktuvak Pass was once part of the park but has since been phased out, although the village still has a small visitor contact station.
Smith explained that the park has changed greatly in the past twenty years. Bettles was the headquarters until twelve or thirteen years ago when the school closed, destroying “the heart and soul of the community” and eliminating the town as a place that rangers wanted to live. Most park employees now live in Fairbanks, which is no different from any other American city except for the extreme cold. Housing is a reasonable price, but food is expensive, as everything needs to be flown or trucked in. Modern delivery services like Amazon and Walmart have reduced the cost of delivery, while Starlink satellites allow for internet access comparable to what is found in the lower forty-eight states. Smith admitted that there is little to do in the area besides exploring the park itself, which is what draws the employees. Even so, seasonal employees may avoid the area because the park has no employee housing.
Besides changes to lifestyle, the environment in and around GAAR has changed due to global warming. Climate scientists at the park have tracked its weather since the late 1980s, and records go back to the mid-1950s. Fewer cold days mean more pine and spruce bark beetles survive to destroy trees, which in turn causes a higher number of fires. The problem comes farther north each year and will soon enter the park. Meanwhile, houses sink as the ground unevenly subsides and cracks the foundations. The park service works closely with Athabaskan and Iñupiat people to steward the land as part of a mandate established with the founding of the Alaskan parks. Similarly, at BRVNHP, park employees hosted a tribal roundtable while completing a general management plan for the park.
As for insider tips on visiting GAAR, Smith’s advice was to plan and prepare by knowing your limits before you go. You must be a skilled navigator to go through the park. Mello closed the talk by reminding viewers to look up at architecture and the night sky, and to consider what has changed in our environment throughout history.
Read the summaries from Parked at Home 2024:
- #3: Amistad National Recreation Area
- #2: Everglades National Park
- #1: First State National Historical Park
Read the summaries from Parked at Home 2023: