Alaska's parks

Gates of the Arctic National Park

Mountains, rivers and archaeology make park a biospheric jewel

The village allows camping in the willows along the east side of the runway. Native corporation lands surround the village, and visitors are allowed to hike and drive dog teams through them. Camping is allowed but is restricted; check at the ranger station, store, restaurant, community center or Nunamiut Corp. office for information.

Birders and scientists have recorded 133 species in the park in the past three decades. Arctic peregrine falcons, a threatened species, nest in the area, as do other raptors: eagles, hawks, jaegers and the northern shrike.

Fishing is allowed, but catch-and-release fishing is suggested because the fish grow so slowly in the park's climate. Grayling are most common, and there are lake trout, northern pike, arctic char, whitefish and salmon as well. Subsistence users rely on whitefish and on chum salmon, which spawn in Kobuk and Koyukuk rivers, and sheefish, which spawn in the Kobuk.

The park has long, hard winters and short, cool summers. The average temperature range on the southern side of the Brooks Range in July is 46 to 70 degrees, and the wettest time is June through September with thunderstorms in June and July. The temperature may drop below freezing in mid-August and continue dropping to January, when the temperature range is 10 below zero to 30 below zero.

On the northern side, the July ranges are 40 to 60 and the February lows bottom out around 47 below. Precipitation on the northern side is light, making the area an "arctic desert."

The National Park Service has a list of recommended readings about the Brooks Range:

• "Wild Alaska" by Nancy Lange Simmerman and Tricia Brown.
• "The Alaska River Guide" by Karen Jettmar.
• "Arctic Village" by Robert Marshall.
• "Journeys to the Far North" by Olaus J. Murie.
• "Two in the Far North" by Margaret E. Murie.
• "People of the Noatak" by Claire Fejes.
• "The Brooks Range" by Alaska Northwest Publishing Co.
• "Up the Koyukuk" by the Alaska Geographic Society.
• "Interior Alaska -- A Journey Through Time" by the Alaska Geographic Society.

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