In 2010 the State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) issued a license to Usibelli Corporation (the owner of one of the state’s largest coal mines in nearby Healy, AK) to begin exploration for coalbed methane on more than 200,000 acres north and east of Denali National Park. If significant quantities are found the exploration license could be converted to a development lease. Extraction would entail numerous roads and well sites and the use of hydraulic fracturing (known as “fracking”) near residential areas along the Stampede Road and on currently undeveloped land designated by the state for its wildlife habitat and recreational value. Although exploration has not yet begun, we are concerned because DNR has been unresponsive to the concerns of local residents and has not given any assurance that the impacts to human residences and critical wildlife habitat would be mitigated. In August, the Denali Citizens Council formally appealed DNR’s Best Interest Finding for the Healy Basin Gas Exploration License. We continue to support this effort and encourage you to help them sustain their appeal.
Learn more at www.denalicitizens.org.
Vol. XXXVI!
December 2012
Edited by Jan Tomsen and Simon Hamm
Illustrations by William D. Berry and Amanda P. Devine
P.O. Box 67
Denali National Park, AK 99755
(907) 683-2290
info@campdenali.com
www.campdenali.com
www.parksideanchorage.com
The enthusiasm of our staff is often what makes the guest experience so memorable. If you know of someone who would be a good fit for our organization, encourage him or her to view the employment pages of our website, www.campdenali.com. General staff positions are available for the 2013 season, as well as the following professional seasonal positions:
Dinner Chefs
Naturalist Guides
**Registered Nurses are encouraged to apply for any of our positions.
Denali is what America was; it’s the old and new, the real and ideal, the wild earth working itself into us on days stormy and calm, brutal and beautiful, unforgiving and blessed. It’s where we came from, long before agriculture, television and designer coffee, before our goofball ideas of having dominion over all living things, before our modern, paradoxical definitions of progress and prosperity, and too much stuff; it’s the lean, mean, primal place buried in our bones no matter how much we might deny it, no matter how fancy our homes, how busy our routines, how cherished our myths. Denali resides in each of us as the deep quiet, the profound moment, the childhood lost and found again, the open space and rare chance to be observant, truly alive.
We opened our reservation books for 2014. Check out the stellar line-up of 2014 Special Emphasis Series speakers. For more information on our 2014 rates and schedules click here. Summer 2013 availability is limited.