Wrangell–Saint Elias Wilderness

Alaskan wilderness area

61°16′N 141°36′W / 61.267°N 141.600°W / 61.267; -141.600Area9,078,675 acres (36,740.09 km²)Established1980Governing bodyNational Park Service

Wrangell–Saint Elias Wilderness is a wilderness area located in southeastern Alaska in the United States. At 9,078,675 acres (3,674,009 ha), the Wrangell–Saint Elias Wilderness is the largest designated U.S. Wilderness Area. The wilderness lies within Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve, the largest national park in the United States.^[1]

The wilderness contains the most extensive glaciation in Alaska (with more than 100 glaciers), nine of North America's 16 highest peaks (many over 16,000 feet), the 90-mile-long and 4,000-foot-thick Bagley Icefield (North America's largest subpolar ice field), and the Malaspina Glacier, which spreads 50 percent larger than the state of Delaware.

The wilderness area is part of the Kluane / Wrangell–St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek international park system, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, located in Canada and the U.S.

The wilderness is home to many animals, including Dall sheep, grizzly bears, black bears, coyotes, bison, caribou, wolverines, moose, beavers, mountain goats, gray wolves, red foxes, and marmots.

References

^ http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=wildView&wid=660 Wilderness.net

Wilderness.net (public domain)
National Park Service
Alaska National Interests Lands Conservation Act
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act - Public Law 96-487

Protected areas of Alaska

Federal

National Parks	Denali Gates of the Arctic Glacier Bay Katmai Kenai Fjords Kobuk Valley Lake Clark Wrangell–St. Elias
National Historical Parks	Klondike Gold Rush (Chilkoot Trail) Sitka
National Monuments	Admiralty Island (USFS) Aleutian Islands World War II (FWS) Aniakchak Cape Krusenstern Misty Fjords (USFS)
National Preserves	Bering Land Bridge Noatak Yukon–Charley Rivers
National Wildlife Refuges	Alaska Maritime Alaska Peninsula Arctic Becharof Innoko Izembek Kanuti Kenai Kodiak Koyukuk Nowitna Selawik Tetlin Togiak Yukon Delta Yukon Flats
National Forests	Chugach Tongass
Forest Service units	Mendenhall Glacier
U.S. Wilderness Areas	Aleutian Islands Andreafsky Becharof Bering Sea Bogoslof Chamisso Chuck River Coronation Island Denali Endicott River Forrester Island Gates of the Arctic Glacier Bay Hazy Islands Innoko Izembek Karta River Katmai Kenai Kobuk Valley Kootznoowoo Koyukuk Kuiu Lake Clark Maurille Islands Misty Fjords Mollie Beattie Noatak Nunivak Petersburg Creek–Duncan Salt Chuck Pleasant/Lemesurier/Inian Islands Russell Fiord Saint Lazaria Selawik Semidi Simeonof South Baranof South Etolin South Prince of Wales Stikine-LeConte Tebenkof Bay Togiak Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Tuxedni Unimak Warren Island West Chichagof-Yakobi Wrangell–Saint Elias
Wild and Scenic Rivers	Alagnak Alatna Andreafsky Aniakchak Beaver Creek Birch Creek Charley Chilikadrotna Delta Fortymile Gulkana Ivishak John Kobuk North Fork Koyukuk Mulchatna Noatak Nowitna Salmon Selawik Sheenjek Tinayguk Tlikakila Unalakleet Wind
National Conservation Area	Steese

State

State Parks	Afognak Island Chilkat Chugach Denali Kachemak Bay Point Bridget Shuyak Island Wood-Tikchik
State Forests	Haines Southeast Tanana Valley