On this day in 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed into law the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which converted massive tracts of Alaskan wilderness into protected land. That single act 40 years ago doubled the size of the entire National Park System. Alaska"s eight national parks cover more than 54 million acres. The Cove of Spires, shown here, is just one of the dramatic glacial landscapes that you can experience in Kenai Fjords National Park. Located near Seward, the park is home to 38 glaciers, which cover over half the park"s area in ice—though climate change has reduced them drastically over the last decades.
Protecting Alaska
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
Okavango Delta, Botswana
-
A notorious advocate for women
-
A glittering diamond in the rough
-
White Desert National Park, Egypt
-
High alpine color in Colorado
-
You ve never seen anything like this
-
Dancers perform ‘Revelations’
-
Bioluminescence at Trwyn Du Lighthouse in Wales
-
Beware the Ides of March
-
Yellow-eyed penguins, Moeraki, New Zealand
-
Meet our fuzzy Earth Day mascot
-
Working for that cliffside view
-
National Park Week begins
-
Springtime in the Mediterranean
-
Room at the top?
-
How lovely are your branches
-
Christmas comes to New York City
-
A ‘city’ within Valencia
-
Salmon return to the Copper River
-
A bridge too Fawr