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
Today in History
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Presidents Day
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Total solar eclipse
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A perfect day to fly your flag
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Shining like Klondike gold
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Dreaming of the Tyrrhenian Sea
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Behold the blood moon
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In memory of those lost
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Spring awakens
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Mount Fuji Day
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International Dark Sky Week
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Opt outside today
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A march toward a dream
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Computer Science Education Week
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Beware the Ides of March
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Christmas Tree Point Road and Twin Peaks, San Francisco
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Stop and see the flowers
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Superbloom in Carrizo Plain National Monument, California
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Climb a tree for wild animals and plants
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Chapel on the rock
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Southern gemsbok in the savannah, Botswana
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An uncommon look at an American icon
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A valley view at 9,000 feet
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‘The memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever’
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Take the Stairs Day