Denali National Park

Denali National Park is in Alaska. The park was originally established to protect large mammals. 14,000 years ago, glaciers formed Denali. It took hundreds of years after the glaciers melted for plants to grow. The glaciers left flatlands called taiga and hills called tundra. Taiga means northern evergreen forest in Russian. Denali National Park was formed in 1917. The park is larger than the state of Massachusetts. The whole park is six million acres of  7,400 square miles. 

Who lived there?
The Athcabascan Indians lived there before the land was even explored.

Who explored the land?
Mr. Charles Sheldon and his friend Harry Karstens took a trip and then realized how beautiful it was and decided to make it a national park.

Animals and plants that live there:

There are three areas of Denali National Park:Denali wilderness, Denali National Park Additions and Denali National Preserve. There are 37 mammal species recorded in the park and preserve.  In Denali there are caribou, moose, wolves, grizzly bears, birds, foxes, weasels, wolverines, lynx, martens, snowshoe hares, hoary marmots, red squirrels, ground squirrels, pika, porcupines, beavers, shrews, voles and lemmings.  Wolves are not usually seen but they are an important part of nature.  Grizzly bears eat plants and animals.  Grizzly bears usually have two cubs.  There are many different kinds of  birds.  The birds fly to really far away places like Africa, South America and Antarctica.

More than 650 species of plants like mosses, lichens, fungi, algae and other plants live in the tundra.  These plants are some that survive in winter or cold habitats.  The plants that live in the tundra are very small because  the top layer of the soil is the only place that is not frozen.  New rivers are formed in flat valleys everyday  because the rock is soft.  This rock is called pulverized rock or rock flour. The most popular trees in the taiga are called white and black spruce. 

National wonders, landmarks, habitats & sights to see:
Denali means "the high one" and got its name by Mount McKinley.  Mount McKinley is the tallest mountain in the United States.  It can be found in Alaska near Denali.  Denali allows sport hunting, trapping and fishing.

How we can protect the national park:
You can help protect Denali by not feeding the animals because if you feed them, they will stick around the campground.

Park Rangers:
Park Rangers have a big responsibility.  They have acres of land to care for.  They have to be really friendly.  They also have many useful supplies.  They answer many of your questions and point out things like animals and plants.  Sometimes they dress up in costumes that show the history of the park.  They tell you stories about the park while you are warm around a campfire.  It takes very hard study to be a park ranger because you are expected to do many things.  If somebody gets lost, then the park ranger goes and finds them.  To find the person a park ranger has to use many vehicles and many different tools.  They are also in charge of mules and horses.  Sometimes there are forest fires.  Some of them are allowed and some are not.  The park rangers fight the forest fires and controls the burning.  There are a lot of animals in national parks.  The park ranger counts the wildlife and keeps people from feeding them.  Being a park ranger must be really tough.