Southeast Alaska Parks and Partners

The Southeast Alaska Network encompasses 3.3 million acres (8.2 million hectares) of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, and Sitka National Historical Park. Glacier Bay is the largest park and has 2.77 million acres (1.12 million hectares) of designated marine and terrestrial wilderness. Klondike Gold Rush and Sitka national historical parks are important cultural landscapes with significant natural resource components. The environments of these parks span temperate coastal rainforests, continental subalpine and alpine, recently deglaciated landscapes, marine and intertidal waters, and a variety of freshwater systems.

Recently, a substantial coastal area was added to the network, sometimes referred to as the "Lost Coast." This remote outer coast spaning from Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve to Glacier Bay includes over 300 miles of coastline, 3 million acres of coastal lands, and 150,000 acres of marine jurisdiction, placing it among the most significant marine and coastal areas under National Park Service stewardship. As part of a World Heritage Site (established by the United Nationas Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization in 1979), the area includes an impressive array of globally significant coastal and marine resources ranging from North America's largest tidewater glacier to some of the world's largest aggregations of marine mammals.

Last updated: September 23, 2022