Talkeetna chamber supports U.N. listing for Denali

March 13, 2007

By John R. Moses

For the Frontiersman

TALKEETNA - Talk of fund-raising and local events took a back seat to issues of world politics as 14 members of Talkeetna's Chamber of Commerce debated whether the National Park Service should seek a United Nations designation for the heart of Denali National Park and Preserve as a means to attract more tourists.

Some felt that rushing a request for a &#8220World Heritage Site” designation is unnecessary, since the park is already a major tourist destination. Others either felt the designation couldn't hurt tourism or that it might even bring in more

visitors.

In the end, the &#8220ayes” carried the day - barely.

Glacier Bay and Wrangell-St. Elias national parks are two Alaska places already on the list, which includes the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park and the Statue of Liberty.

Park Superintendent Paul R. Anderson solicited letters of support from surrounding cities, Native communities and groups like the chamber of commerce to show Juneau legislators and the park service that the community is behind the plan, and they should be as well. Even if the request is made through the park service to the U.N., that's no guarantee the old boundaries of the original 1917 park will be included in the World Heritage list.

The next chance to get on the Park Service's U.S. Tentative List happens in 2016.

National Park Service planner Miriam Valentine brought the chamber a list of local entities that support the designation, including the Denali and Mat-Su Borough assemblies and many towns surrounding the park.

&#8220We know it's a national treasure, it's a national park,” Valentine said of the proposed World Heritage area. &#8220We believe it's also a worldwide treasure.”

Valentine said the designation would only help to attract more visitors to the area year-round, and that would benefit everyone.

No one at the chamber's general membership meeting debated that point. But the request for a letter of support passed by just one vote after lively debate - in part because some fear getting on that list will lead to international pressure or increased regulation of flightseeing and other activities.

Others simply do not want any involvement with the amount of bureaucracy they say is attached to anything from the United Nations.

The United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) chooses every 10 years which sites get to join the list. The agency exists in part to help maintain world treasures, especially those threatened by civil strife, natural disasters or decay.

Scientists might be asked, for instance, to help find ways to save a crumbling artifact. A historic city on the World Heritage list that is damaged by fire could ask the agency for aid.

For longtime resident Jim Kellard, the very idea of seeking anything from the U.N. is unpatriotic.

&#8220This is a bad thing to have,” he said. &#8220What do we need the U.N. for?”

Park service planner Valentine answered with a question of her own.

&#8220You see no need for the recognition of a national park as a world destination?” she asked.

&#8220It's already a world destination,” Kellard said. &#8220We may not even be picked.”

Businesswoman Bev Tanner, who runs a general store and coffee house downtown, had other concerns. She noted the Alaska delegation in Juneau previously voiced opposition to the designation.

Valentine said that's why park management is seeking local letters of support from groups like the chamber before asking the state to support the

nomination.

Chamber President Suzy Kellard, a longtime resident who runs a gift shop downtown, said she's seen a lot of unintended impacts over the decades from things that were supposed to be good for everyone.

&#8220At first glance, it sounds like the most wonderful thing in the world,” she said.

Kellard said she doesn't want to open up a worldwide opinion poll on Denali flyovers and glacier landings, even though they take place outside the boundaries of the original park proposed for a heritage site. She said that even though the U.N. would have no authority over the heritage site, there might be an impact that could influence local control.

Kellard also noted that UNESCO is headquartered in France, a country with a reputation for unfriendliness to America and American

interests.

&#8220You know, they don't even call them French fries anymore, they call them freedom fries,” she said.

Aviation company co-owner Geri Denkewalter runs an operation with husband Eric at Talkeetna State Airport. She assured the attendees that the FAA and park service are the ones she deals with for regulatory guidance, and putting the park on the U.N. list would make no difference.

The old park's boundaries have long been off-limits for landings.

&#8220We've been trying like mad to land in the old park,” she said.

Landings happen in the park's more recently acquired land, and only U.S. government agencies will regulate such activities, she said.

Also, she noted, if problems arise from being on the UNESCO list, the park service could simply resign from

the list.