|
NPS Photo - Chris Russoniello | A red fox trotting along on the high elevation tundra. |
|
Shared Mission of Bering Land Bridge National Preserve and the Beringia Shared Heritage Program:
"...recognize and celebrate the contemporary and historic exchange of biological resources and cultural heritage shared by Russia and the United States on both sides of the Bering Strait."
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve was established by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) on December 2, 1980.As stated in ANILCA, Section 202 (2), the purpose of Bering Land Bridge is to:
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve shall be managed for the following purposes, among others: to protect and interpret examples of arctic plant communities, volcanic lava flows, ash explosions, coastal formations, and other geologic processes; to protect habitat for internationally significant populations of migratory birds; to provides for archeological and paleontological study, in cooperation with Native Alaskans, of the process of plant and animal migration, including man,between North America and the Asian Continent; to protect habitat for,and populations of, fish and wildlife including, but not limited to,marine mammals, brown/grizzly bears, moose, and wolves; subject to such reasonable regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, to continue reindeer grazing use, including necessary facilities and equipment,within the areas which on January 1, 1976, were subject to reindeer grazing permits, in accordance with sound range management practices;to protect the viability of subsistence resources; and in a manner consistent with the foregoing, to provide for outdoor recreation and environmental education activities including public access for recreational purposes to the Serpentine Hot Springs area. The Secretary shall permit the continuation of customary patterns and modes of travel during periods of adequate snow cover within a one-hundred-foot right-of-way along either side of an existing route form Deering to the Taylor Highway, subject to such reasonable regulations as the Secretary may promulgate to assure that such travel is consistent with the forgoing purposes.
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve is one of over 390 National Park Service units that, working with other partners, helps safeguard this nation's natural and cultural heritage.
Park Documents
2008-2009 Commercial Use Authorization Holders
PDF 14KB
2008 Compendium
PDF 64KB
Park Purposes:
Protect and interpret examples of arctic plant communities,volcanic lava flows, ash explosions, coastal formations, and other geologic processes; Protect habitat for internationally significant populations of migratory birds; Provide for archeological and paleontological study, in cooperation with Native Alaskans, of the process of plant and animal migration between North America and the Asain Continent; Protect habitat for, and populations of fish and wildlife including, marine mammals, brown/grizzly bears, moose, and wolves; Continue reindeer grazing use; Provide for outdoor recreation and environmental education activities at Serpentine Hot Springs
Selected Park Interpretive Themes:
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve lies at the heart of continental crossroads that profoundly influenced the distribution of life in the Western Hemisphere, including peopling of South America as well as spreading of Eskimo culture to Greenland - Europe - Asia
.
People have been a an integral and continuous part of Northwest Alaska
natural ecosystems for the past 12,000 years.
Local residents depend on the use of Bering Land Bridge National Preserve's resources as the foundation of their subsistence way of life.
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve contains internationally significant resources that document the dynamic environment of the arctic region.
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve is of a wilderness character, containing ecosystems as they have evolved, naturally, with only isolated manifestations of Euro-American influences.
|