• Sunset view of Glacier Bay and the surrounding Fairweather Mountains.

    Glacier Bay

    National Park & Preserve Alaska

Management

Mission Statement:
We will achieve, maintain and communicate Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve's status as a superlative Park, Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site. Through effective leadership, enhanced scientific research, information-based preservation actions, and stakeholder partnerships, we will manage uses to provide a unique, inspirational visitor experience while protecting the Park's marine, glacial and terrestrial ecosystems. We will recognize and perpetuate the Park's intangible values, including those values associated with the Tlingit homeland, wilderness, and solitude.

Outcomes or Desired Future Conditions

  1. Physical, biological and successional processes proceed unimpaired and are not negatively influenced by visitor use activities, extractive or consumptive activities, park operations or external activities.
  2. Glacier Bay is managed in a regional and international context to protect the natural, cultural and economic environment.
  3. Wilderness/ inspirational /spiritual values and purposes are sustained and integrated into park management and protection.
  4. Native peoples’ concerns are recognized, considered, evaluated and incorporated into park management.
  5. Visitors have a safe and enjoyable visit, have the opportunity to forge emotional, intellectual and recreational ties to Glacier Bay's natural and cultural heritage, and are motivated to play an active role in conservation.
  6. Cultural resources are valued as an integral part of the park's mission, values and purpose.
  7. Glacier Bay is a center where researchers from multiple disciplines collaborate to conduct management and ecosystem directed research.
  8. Glacier Bay is a results-oriented, dynamic and accountable organization, recognized as a leader in park and protected area management.

See also:

Did You Know?

Iceworms do exist!

No hoax, iceworms do exist. These small, threadlike, segmented black worms, usually less than one inch long, thrive in temperatures just above freezing. Observers as far back as the 1880’s reported the tiny worms on the surface of glaciers. When sunlight strikes, ice worms burrow into the ice.