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76-615: The area includes Cook Inlet , the Matanuska-Susitna Valley , the Kenai Peninsula , Prince William Sound , and the Copper River Valley . Tourism, fisheries, and petroleum production are important economic activities. The major city is Anchorage . Other major towns include Palmer , Wasilla , Kenai , Soldotna , Homer , Seward , Valdez , and Cordova . The climate of Southcentral Alaska

152-643: A megathrust earthquake occurred when over 600 miles of the Aleutian fault ruptured, uplifting the Kenai Mountains 60 feet (20 meters) in under 5 minutes. With a magnitude of 9.2, the earthquake was the fourth largest ever recorded. It devastated Anchorage where much of downtown dropped several stories, and the mountains surrounding the Turnagain Arm subsided 8 feet (2.4 meters), submerging the towns of Portage and Girdwood, as well as long stretches of

228-457: A common motivation for the continued protection of all national parks around the world. National parks are almost always accessible to the public. Usually national parks are developed, owned and managed by national governments, though in some countries with federal or devolved forms of government, "national parks" may be the responsibility of subnational, regional, or local authorities. The United States established Yellowstone National Park ,

304-572: A corner of the Pacific Plate subducts under the North American Plate , uplifted the ocean floor and compressed it, causing the crust to thicken and scrunch . Tectonic forces lifted the mountains and peninsula out of the water, forming a valley that was cut off from the ocean to the north and the west. The rest of Alaska's mountains were formed in the same manner, in cyclic events, and the mountain ranges become progressively older

380-463: A couple of rivers. Cook sailed up Turnagain Arm in his ship, HMS  Resolution , finding it impossible to navigate against the strong currents and mudflats, and got stuck on a sandbar when he tried to get back out, having to wait for the tide to come in and free his ship. He never actually confirmed it led to a river, which led to a decade of massive speculation until George Vancouver returned to finish

456-514: A lower cost basis and a larger geographical coverage (in 1989 when created, it was the largest protected area in Asia). It includes four of the six tallest mountains in the world: Everest , Lhotse , Makalu , and Cho Oyu . The QNNP is contiguous to four Nepali national parks, creating a transnational conservation area equal in size to Switzerland. In 1993, the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park

532-417: A mean of 30 feet (9.1 m), and the fourth highest in the world, behind Bay of Fundy (38 ft, 11.7 m), Ungava Bay (32 ft 0 in, 9.75 m), and Bristol Channel (31 ft, 9.6 m). The ocean's natural 12-hour 25-minute tidal cycle is close to Turnagain Arm's natural resonance frequency, which then reinforces the tide similar to water sloshing in a bathtub. Tidal fluctuations in

608-488: A national park system, with the creation of the Nahuel Huapi National Park in 1934, through the initiative of Francisco Moreno . After World War II , national parks were founded all over the world. The United Kingdom designated its first national park, Peak District National Park , in 1951. This followed perhaps 70 years of pressure for greater public access to the landscape. By the end of

684-694: A national park. These include: While the term national park is now defined by the IUCN, many protected areas in many countries are called national park even when they correspond to other categories of the IUCN Protected Area Management Definition, for example: While national parks are generally understood to be administered by national governments (hence the name), in Australia, with the exception of six national parks, national parks are run by state governments and predate

760-609: A part of the Forest of Fontainebleau (France, 1861). Yellowstone was part of a federally governed territory . With no state government that could assume stewardship of the land, the federal government took on direct responsibility for the park, the official first national park of the United States. The combined effort and interest of conservationists, politicians and the Northern Pacific Railroad ensured

836-574: A visit with Russian fur trader Gerasim Izmailov in Unalaska , and combined these maps with those of his expedition to create the first Mercator projection of the North Pacific. The inlet was named after Cook in 1794 by George Vancouver , who had served under Cook in 1778. Turnagain Arm was named by Cook, "turnagain" being a moniker he had used before, at his annoyance at having to turn around after exploring another dead end. Upon reaching

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912-569: Is subarctic . Temperatures range from an average high of 65 °F (18 °C) in July to an average low of 10 °F (−12 °C) in December. The hours of daylight per day vary from 20 hours in June and July to 6 hours in December and January. The coastal areas consist of temperate rainforests and alder shrublands. The interior areas are covered by boreal forests. The terrain of Southcentral Alaska

988-401: Is a nature park designated for conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protected and owned by a government. Although governments hold different standards for national park designation, the conservation of 'wild nature' for posterity and as a symbol of national pride is

1064-578: Is considered to be closer to a Park rather than a hunting preserve, is that Neapolitan government already considered the division into the present-day wilderness areas and non-strict nature reserves. In 1810, the English poet William Wordsworth described the Lake District as a "sort of national property, in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive and a heart to enjoy." The painter George Catlin , in his travels through

1140-422: Is exposed, making marine navigation difficult. Historically, ships and boats designed for the area had a relatively flat bottom with a modest centerboard and absence of a large keel because the boats would occasionally become beached at low tide either on purpose or by accident. This design allowed the craft to support its weight on land without sustaining any serious damage to its structure. An example of this design

1216-716: Is listed as critically endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This was perhaps due to local hunt, although an article in the Anchorage Daily News questioned this conclusion. Killer whales commonly feed on belugas in the Cook Inlet, driving them to the upper part of the inlet where they often seek refuge in the shallower waters of the arms. In 2000, the US National Marine Fisheries Service listed

1292-531: Is now Royal National Park was established just south of Sydney , Colony of New South Wales , on 26 April 1879, becoming the world's second official national park. Since Mackinac lost its national park status, the Royal National Park is, by some considerations, the second oldest national park now in existence. Banff National Park became Canada's first national park in 1885. New Zealand established Tongariro National Park in 1887. In Europe,

1368-411: Is perceived as a brand name that is associated with nature-based tourism and it symbolizes a "high quality natural environment with a well-designed tourist infrastructure". The duties of a park ranger are to supervise, manage, and/or perform work in the conservation and use of park resources. This involves functions such as park conservation; natural, historical, and cultural resource management; and

1444-584: Is primarily used to fuel commercial fertilizer production and a liquified natural gas (LNG) plant and to Anchorage where the gas is consumed largely for domestic uses. Alaska has approximately half the known coal reserves in the U.S. For decades, there has been a proposal to build a large coal mine (the Chuitna Coal Mine ) on the west side of Cook Inlet near the Chuitna River , and the native village of Tyonek, Alaska . American Rivers placed

1520-613: Is shaped by seven mountain ranges: Southcentral Alaska contains several dormant and active volcanoes. The Wrangell Volcanoes are older, lie in the East, and include Mount Blackburn , Mount Bona , Mount Churchill , Mount Drum , Mount Gordon , Mount Jarvis , Mount Sanford , and Mount Wrangell . The Cook Inlet volcanoes, located in the Tordrillo Mountains and at the north end of the Aleutian Range, are newer, lie in

1596-585: Is still discussing the parameters of defining a national park. The largest national park in the world meeting the IUCN definition is the Northeast Greenland National Park , which was established in 1974 and is 972,000 km (375,000 sq mi) in area. In 1969, the IUCN declared a national park to be a relatively large area with the following defining characteristics: In 1971, these criteria were further expanded upon leading to more clear and defined benchmarks to evaluate

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1672-463: Is the Nomad, a much photographed fishing boat once owned by Joe Reddington which has sat on a mudflat near Knik for several decades. These mudflats can also be dangerous to walk on, exhibiting quicksand -like characteristics, and have claimed the life of at least four people who have wandered out on them, usually tourists, with many more being rescued every year. Cruise ships dock at Seward on

1748-494: The 22nd United States Congress had enacted to set aside four sections of land around what is now Hot Springs, Arkansas , to protect the natural, thermal springs and adjoining mountainsides for the future disposal of the U.S. government. It was known as Hot Springs Reservation , but no legal authority was established. Federal control of the area was not clearly established until 1877. The work of important leaders who fought for animal and land conservation were essential in

1824-571: The Alaska Railroad along the eastern shores of Turnagain Arm and Knik Arm of Cook Inlet around 1915. The natives of the Eklutna village are the descendants of the residents of eight native villages around upper Cook Inlet. During the 1964 Alaska earthquake , areas around the head of Turnagain Arm near Girdwood and Portage dropped as much as 8 feet (2.4 m) by subsidence and subsequent tidal action. Both hamlets were destroyed. Girdwood

1900-616: The Aleutian Islands and Koniag natives from Kodiak , to hunt for sea otters and other marine mammal species for trade with China via Russia's then-exclusive inland port of trade at Kiakhta . Other Europeans to visit Cook Inlet include the 1778 expedition of James Cook , its namesake, who sailed into it while searching for the Northwest Passage . Cook received maps of Alaska, the Aleutians, and Kamchatka during

1976-515: The American West , wrote during the 1830s that Native Americans in the United States might be preserved "(by some great protecting policy of government) ... in a magnificent park ... A nation's Park , containing man and beast, in all the wild and freshness of their nature's beauty!" The first effort by the U.S. Federal government to set aside such protected lands was on 20 April 1832, when President Andrew Jackson signed legislation that

2052-568: The American frontier and were meant to be monuments to America's true history. Yet, in some instances, the lands that were to be set aside and protected in formerly colonized lands were already being inhabited by native communities, who were then removed off of these lands to create pristine sites for public consumption. Critics claim that the removal of people from national parks enhances the belief that nature can only be protected when humans do not exist within it, and that this leads to perpetuating

2128-421: The Chuitna River on its list of America's Ten Most Endangered Rivers of 2007, based on the threat of this mine. Turnagain Arm is one of only about 60 bodies of water worldwide to exhibit a tidal bore . The bore may be more than six feet (1.8 m) high and travel at 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) on high spring tides and opposing winds. Turnagain Arm sees the largest tidal range in United States, with

2204-530: The Federation of Australia ; similarly, national parks in the Netherlands are administered by the provinces. In Canada, there are both national parks operated by the federal government and provincial or territorial parks operated by the provincial and territorial governments, although nearly all are still national parks by the IUCN definition. In many countries, including Indonesia, the Netherlands, and

2280-579: The Gulf of Alaska or Whittier in Prince William Sound and transport passengers via bus or train to Anchorage. However, over 95% of freight entering Alaska comes through the Port of Anchorage , which is served by major container ship companies and other carriers. The Cook Inlet beluga whale is a genetically distinct and geographically isolated stock. The population fell to 278 in 2005 and it

2356-484: The Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage in south-central Alaska . Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding Anchorage. On its southern end, it merges with Shelikof Strait , Stevenson Entrance, Kennedy Entrance and Chugach Passage. The Cook Inlet and both its arms are bodies of brackish water , containing a turbid mix of ocean salt-water and freshwater runoff from

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2432-589: The Knik River , the Little Susitna River , the Susitna and Matanuska rivers , Eagle River , Ship Creek , Resurrection Creek , Portage Creek, Kenai River , and many others. The watershed includes the drainage areas of Denali (formerly named Mount McKinley) and is the collection point for the runoff from many surrounding glaciers, leading to the high turbidity and large silt deposits. Within

2508-637: The Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias (later becoming Yosemite National Park ) to the state of California. According to this bill, private ownership of the land in this area was no longer possible. The state of California was designated to manage the park for "public use, resort, and recreation". Leases were permitted for up to ten years and the proceeds were to be used for conservation and improvement. A public discussion followed this first legislation of its kind and there

2584-572: The 431 sites managed by the National Park Service of the United States, only 63 carry the designation of National Park. Countries with a large ecotourism industry, such as Costa Rica, often experience a huge economic effect on park management as well as the economy of the country as a whole. Tourism to national parks has increased considerably over time. In Costa Rica for example, a megadiverse country , tourism to parks has increased by 400% from 1985 to 1999. The term national park

2660-656: The Aleutian Fault, is found in the nearby Aleutian Trench in the Gulf of Alaska, where a corner of the Pacific Plate is forced underneath Alaska at a 45-degree angle. Thus, most of the uplift force occurs along a line from Kodiak Island and up the Kenai Mountains to the Chugach mountains. The inlet lies in a region where the crust is wrinkled under this force and the tectonic forces push the ground downward. In 1964,

2736-414: The Cook Inlet beluga whale population as depleted and began development of a conservation plan. On October 22, 2008 the Cook Inlet beluga whale was put onto the endangered species list. Cook Inlet activities include commercial fishing, oil and gas development, release of treated sewage , noise from aircraft and ships, shipping traffic, and tourism. However, it is not known what impact these activities had on

2812-600: The Cook Inlet watershed. Cook inlet, along with the Kenai Peninsula, the Kenai Mountains, the Chugach Mountains, and Kodiak Island , formed approximately 65 million years ago, just after the extinction of the dinosaurs. Like most of Alaska's mountains, they consist mainly of sedimentary rock and metamorphic rock that were deposited on the ocean floor during the Cretaceous period . This area, where

2888-528: The Kenai rely on income generated from fisheries in the Cook Inlet. The west side of the Inlet is not connected to any major road systems and is typically accessed by boat or plane, including the village of Tyonek, Alaska , some oil camps, and many seasonal fishing camps. The Cook Inlet Basin contains large oil and gas deposits including several offshore fields. As of 2005 there were 16 platforms in Cook Inlet,

2964-594: The Seward Highway. Because it lies along a subduction zone , the Cook Inlet region contains active volcanoes, including Augustine Volcano and Mount Redoubt , and is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire . Hot magma and steam from the subducting ocean floor build up within these volcanoes, which tend to erupt in fairly regular cycles with very explosive force, often spewing volcanic ash tens of thousands of feet (several kilometers) high. Volcanic eruptions in

3040-652: The United Kingdom, national parks do not adhere to the IUCN definition, while some areas which adhere to the IUCN definition are not designated as national parks. As many countries do not adhere to the IUCN definition, the term "national park" may be used loosely. In the United Kingdom , and in some other countries such as Taiwan , a "national park" simply describes a general area that is relatively undeveloped, scenic, and attracts tourists, with some form of planning restrictions to ensure it maintains those characteristics. There may be substantial human settlements within

3116-594: The West, and include Mount Redoubt , Mount Iliamna , Hayes Volcano , Mount Augustine , Fourpeaked Mountain , and Mount Spurr . Most recently, Augustine and Fourpeaked erupted in 2006, and Mount Redoubt erupted in March 2009, resulting in airplane flight cancellations. 60°N 150°W  /  60°N 150°W  / 60; -150 Cook Inlet Cook Inlet ( Tanaina : Tikahtnu ;  Sugpiaq :  Cungaaciq ) stretches 180 miles (290 km) from

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3192-620: The beluga whale population. The Coastal Marine Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks 's School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences working with the U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS), began a three-year project in 2003 focusing on the water circulation in Cook Inlet. Cook Inletkeeper , a member of the Waterkeeper Alliance , began in 1994 when a group of Alaskans became concerned about

3268-544: The best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst." The first area to use "national park" in its creation legislation was the U.S.'s Mackinac National Park , in 1875. (The area was later transferred to the state's authority in 1895, thus losing its official "national park" status. ) Following the idea established in Yellowstone and Mackinac, there soon followed parks in other nations. In Australia, what

3344-500: The bounds of a national park. Conversely, parks that meet the criteria may be not be referred to as "national parks". Terms like "preserve" or "reserve" may be used instead. Starting in 1735 the Naples government undertook laws to protect Natural areas, which could be used as a game reserve by the royal family; Procida was the first protected site; the difference between the many previous royal hunting preserves and this one, which

3420-499: The creation of Yellowstone, Yosemite, and nearly 37 other national parks and monuments, another 44 years passed before an agency was created in the United States to administer these units in a comprehensive way – the U.S. National Park Service (NPS). The 64th United States Congress passed the National Park Service Organic Act , which President Woodrow Wilson signed into law on 25 August 1916. Of

3496-582: The decade a further nine national parks had been designated in the UK. Europe has some 359 national parks as of 2010. The Vanoise National Park in the Alps was the first French national park, created in 1963 after public mobilization against a touristic project . In 1971, Lahemaa National Park in Estonia was the first area to be designated a national park in the former Soviet Union . In 1973, Mount Kilimanjaro

3572-519: The development and operation of interpretive and recreational programs for the benefit of the visiting public. Park rangers also have fire fighting responsibilities and execute search and rescue missions. Activities also include heritage interpretation to disseminate information to visitors of general, historical, or scientific information. Management of resources such as wildlife, lake shores, seashores, forests, historic buildings, battlefields, archaeological properties, and recreation areas are also part of

3648-697: The development of legal action. Some of these leaders include President Abraham Lincoln, Laurance Rockefeller, President Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, and First Lady Lady Bird Johnson to name a few. John Muir is today referred to as the "Father of the National Parks" due to his work in Yosemite. He published two influential articles in The Century Magazine , which formed the base for the subsequent legislation. President Abraham Lincoln signed an Act of Congress on 1 July 1864, ceding

3724-583: The dominion parks under the administration of the Dominion Park Branch (now Parks Canada ), within the Department of the Interior. The branch was established to "protect sites of natural wonder" to provide a recreational experience, centred on the idea of the natural world providing rest and spiritual renewal from the urban setting. Canada now has the largest protected area in the world with 450,000 km of national park space. Even with

3800-613: The first "public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people," in 1872. Although Yellowstone was not officially termed a "national park" at the time, in practice it is widely held to be the first and oldest national park in the world. However, the Tobago Main Ridge Forest Reserve (in what is now Trinidad and Tobago; established in 1776) and the area surrounding Bogd Khan Uul Mountain (Mongolia, 1778), which were restricted from cultivation to protect surrounding farmland, are considered

3876-752: The first national parks were a set of nine parks in Sweden in 1909, followed by the Swiss National Park in 1914. Africa's first national park was established in 1925 when Albert I of Belgium designated an area of what is now Democratic Republic of Congo centred on the Virunga Mountains as the Albert National Park (since renamed Virunga National Park ). In 1895, the Groenkloof Nature Reserve

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3952-538: The further north they lie. Thus, the Cook Inlet and its surrounding land masses are rather young compared to those of the Alaska Range , which formed around 126 million years ago, or the Brooks Range which formed around 256 million years ago. The valley left by this continental compaction remains open to the Gulf of Alaska to the south, forming the inlet as it exists today. The surrounding mountains were host

4028-555: The head of Cook Inlet, Cook was of the opinion that both Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm were the mouths of rivers and not the opening to the Northwest Passage. Under orders by the British Crown to ignore any such rivers and inlets, he had initially planned to pass it by, but at the insistence of John Gore and many others of his crew, he reluctantly agreed to explore the area. Cook anchored at Ship Creek and encountered

4104-432: The inlet and its orientation with respect to the lunar orbit causes the tide to come in and go out very rapidly. As the inlet narrows, the speed of the water increases, creating very powerful currents with speeds of up to 6 knots (7 miles per hour). While lined with large areas of silt and mudflats , the central and upper inlet is filled with narrow troughs that may be 150 to 300 feet (50 to 100 meters) deep. These, along with

4180-515: The interior of the state, arrived sometime between 500 and 1600 AD. In the 18th century, Russian fur hunters ( promyshlenniki ) were among the first European visitors. The Lebedev Lastochkin Company leader Stepan Zaikov established a post at the mouth of the Kenai River, Fort Nikolaevskaia , in 1786. These fur trappers used Siberian Native and Alaska Native people, particularly Aleuts from

4256-755: The job of a park ranger. Since the establishment of the National Park Service in the US in 1916, the role of the park ranger has shifted from merely being a custodian of natural resources to include several activities that are associated with law enforcement. They control traffic, manage permits for various uses, and investigate violations, complaints, trespass/encroachment, and accidents. National parks in former European colonies have come under criticism for allegedly perpetuating colonialism . National parks were created by individuals who felt that pristine, natural sections of nature should be set aside and preserved from urban development. In America, this movement came about during

4332-514: The large ice sheets and glaciers during the Pleistocene epoch (the Ice Ages, around 2 million to 11,000 years ago) which scoured the land and formed vast plains and moraines surrounding much of the upper inlet from glacial till that was deposited. Cook Inlet exists in a subsidence zone which contains many faults , and is frequently prone to earthquake activity. The primary fault,

4408-433: The local Natives for the first time when two men approached in kayaks, invited them to come ashore. Under Cook's orders, William Bligh , of HMS  Bounty fame, organized a party to travel up Knik Arm. Bligh served as Cook's Sailing Master on this, his 3rd and final voyage, the aim of which was discovery of the Northwest Passage . After meeting with some local Dena'ina, Bligh returned to report Knik Arm indeed led only to

4484-436: The main body of Cook Inlet, while not as extreme as the shallow and narrow Turnagain Arm, regularly reach 25 feet (7.6 m) or more and exhibit currents in excess of 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) at full tidal flow. The inlet and its arms have been proposed as a potentially attractive site for the generation of tidal power . Turnagain Arm and Knik Arm are known for large areas of silt . At low tide, much of this

4560-568: The map. Having been in a bad mood since first agreeing to explore the area, and as a result of this frustration, the second body of water was given the disingenuous name "Turn Again". Early maps label Turnagain Arm as the "Turnagain River". The SS Farallon was a wooden Alaskan Steamship Company liner that struck Black Reef in the Cook Inlet on January 5, 1910. All thirty-eight men on board survived, and were rescued twenty-nine days later. Few white people visited upper Cook Inlet until construction of

4636-414: The oldest legally protected areas . Parks Canada , established on May 19, 1911, is the world's oldest national park service. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and its World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) have defined "National Park" as its Category II type of protected areas . According to the IUCN, 6,555 national parks worldwide met its criteria in 2006. IUCN

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4712-404: The oldest of which is the XTO A platform first installed by Shell in 1964, and newest of which is the Osprey platform installed by Forest Oil in 2000. Most of the platforms are operated by Union Oil, which was acquired by Chevron in 2005. There are also numerous oil and gas pipelines running around and under the Cook Inlet. The main destinations of the gas pipelines are to Kenai where the gas

4788-417: The passage of enabling legislation by the United States Congress to create Yellowstone National Park. Theodore Roosevelt and his group of conservationists, the Boone and Crockett Club , were active campaigners and were highly influential in convincing fellow Republicans and big business to back the bill. Yellowstone National Park soon played a pivotal role in the conservation of these national treasures, as it

4864-434: The rapid ecological changes in the inlet. The group formally incorporated the following year using settlement proceeds from a Clean Water Act lawsuit against Cook Inlet oil and gas producers. Their stated mission is to "protect Alaska's Cook Inlet watershed and the life it sustains," with a focus on clean water, healthy habitat, local economies, and energy. They are based in Homer . National park A national park

4940-401: The region have been associated with earthquakes and tsunamis , and debris avalanches have resulted in tsunamis also. There was an earthquake of the magnitude of 7.1 on December 31, 1901 generated by an eruption that caused several tsunamis. In 2009 a lahar from Mt. Redoubt threatened the Drift River oil terminal . Cook Inlet has the fourth largest tidal range in the world. The shape of

5016-451: The temperatures in the Cook Inlet region fairly moderate compared to the extremes found in other parts of the state. The inlet was first explored and settled by Alutiiq people, tribes of coastal-dwelling Pacific Eskimos , beginning around 6000 years ago. The Chugach arrived around the first century and were the last of the Alutiiq people to settle in the area, but abandoned it after tribes of Dena'ina people , an Athabaskan people from

5092-400: The tide comes in all at once. Large bores are less frequent, and are typically formed during a new or full moon, especially when the moon is at perigee . Unlike areas around the Bering Sea where weather is largely affected by sea ice, the waters of the inlet are warmed by the Alaska Current in the Gulf of Alaska, part of the North-Pacific Subpolar Gyre , which affects the climate and keeps

5168-413: The tides, provide a challenge to ships navigating through the waters. The strong tides create powerful rip tides and bore tides which are sometimes among the largest in the world. Tidal bores occur within the inlet, and especially Turnagain Arm, almost daily, but are usually too small to notice. Large bores tend to occur after extreme tidal lows, appearing as a wall of water sometimes over 10 feet high as

5244-437: The various rivers and streams. The narrow channel of the inlet funnels the tides creating very fast-moving currents, rip tides , and occasional bore tides . Cook Inlet watershed is the most populated watershed in Alaska. The watershed covers about 100,000 km (39,000 sq mi) of southern Alaska, east of the Aleutian Range , south and east of the Alaska Range , receiving water from its tributaries , which include

5320-424: The watershed there are several national parks and the active volcano Mount Redoubt , along with three other historically active volcanoes . Cook Inlet provides navigable access to the port of Anchorage at the northern end, and to the smaller Homer port further south. Before the growth of Anchorage, Knik was the destination for most marine traffic in upper Cook Inlet. Approximately 400,000 people live within

5396-585: Was a heated debate over whether the government had the right to create parks. The perceived mismanagement of Yosemite by the Californian state was the reason why Yellowstone was put under national control at its establishment six years later. In 1872, Yellowstone National Park was established as the United States' first national park, being also the world's first national park. In some European and Asian countries, however, national protection and nature reserves already existed - though typically as game reserves and recreational grounds set aside for royalty, such as

5472-602: Was classified as a National Park and was opened to public access in 1977. In 1989, the Qomolangma National Nature Preserve (QNNP) was created to protect 3.381 million hectares on the north slope of Mount Everest in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. This national park is the first major global park to have no separate warden and protection staff—all of its management consists of existing local authorities, allowing

5548-515: Was established as the first game sanctuary in Africa. In 1926, the government of South Africa designated Kruger National Park as the nation's first national park, although it was an expansion of the earlier Sabie Game Reserve established in 1898 by President Paul Kruger of the old South African Republic , after whom the park was named. Argentina became the third country in the Americas to create

5624-601: Was established in Jamaica to conserve and protect 41,198 hectares, including tropical montane rainforest and adjacent buffer areas. The site includes Jamaica's tallest peak ( Blue Mountain Peak ), hiking trails and a visitor center. The Park was also designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015. The world's first national park service was established May 19, 1911, in Canada. The Dominion Forest Reserves and Parks Act placed

5700-629: Was later relocated inland and Portage was abandoned. About 20 miles (32 km) of the Seward Highway sank below the high-water mark of Turnagain Arm; the highway and its bridges were raised and rebuilt in 1964–66. Most of Alaska's population is in the Cook Inlet area, with highest concentration in Anchorage . Along the East side of the Cook Inlet, the Kenai Peninsula is host to many smaller fishing communities, such as Kenai , Soldotna , Ninilchick, Anchor Point and Homer . Many residents of

5776-535: Was suffering at the hands of poachers and others who stood at the ready to pillage what they could from the area. Theodore Roosevelt and his newly formed Boone and Crockett Club successfully took the lead in protecting Yellowstone National Park from this plight, resulting in laws designed to conserve the natural resources in Yellowstone and other parks under the Government's purview. American Pulitzer Prize -winning author Wallace Stegner wrote: "National parks are

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