How Was Denali National Park Formed?

Charles Sheldon, a naturalist from Vermont, led the preservation movement after an extensive visit to the north side of Mount McKinley in 1907-08. His book, "A Return to Wilderness," chronicled the four seasons he spent in a small cabin studying the Dall sheep that lived there. Among his supporters was Teddy Roosevelt, and after years of lobbying, Mount McKinley National Park was formed. Although the boundaries of the park protected the wildlife, the protection did not extend to Mount McKinley, according to GORP.com.

Furthermore, Congress did not appropriate funds for the park immediately, writes Walter R. Borneman in "Alaska." Sheldon had to personally lobby Congress for the funds, and in 1921 funding finally was granted for the park to be created.

The Athapaskan people who once lived in the region called Mount McKinley "Denali," which means "the high one." Sheldon lobbied for the park to be given this traditional name, according to "Alaska, Adventures in Nature" by Paul Otteson. Sheldon was overruled and the park and mountain were named after the assassinated president, William McKinley.

In 1976, the park was named an international biosphere reserve as a subarctic ecosystem. The biosphere preservation project seeks to "foster policies, research and learning for reducing biodiversity loss, for mitigating and adapting to global change, and for enhancing earth system understanding and monitoring, including the fight against desertification," according to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization that manages this and other reserves around the globe.

In 1980, acreage was added to Mount McKinley National Park and Denali National Park and Preserve was formed. The move tripled the park's size, and for the first time Mount McKinley was protected.