Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
Location in Alaska
Location in North America
LocationHoonah-Angoon Census Area and Yakutat City and Borough, Alaska, United States
Nearest cityJuneau
Coordinates58°30′N 137°00′W / 58.500°N 137.000°W / 58.500; -137.000
Area3,223,384 acres (13,044.57 km2)
EstablishedDecember 2, 1980
Visitors545,758 (in 2022)
Governing bodyNational Park Service
Websitenps.gov/glba
Part ofKluane / Wrangell–St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek
CriteriaNatural: (vii), (viii), (ix), (x)
Reference72ter
Inscription1979 (3rd Session)
Extensions1992, 1994

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is a national park of the United States located in Southeast Alaska west of Juneau. President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the area around Glacier Bay a national monument under the Antiquities Act on February 26, 1925. Subsequent to an expansion of the monument by President Jimmy Carter in 1978, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) enlarged the national monument by 523,000 acres (817.2 sq mi; 2,116.5 km2) on December 2, 1980, and created Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. The national preserve encompasses 58,406 acres (91.3 sq mi; 236.4 km2) of public land to the immediate northwest of the park, protecting a portion of the Alsek River with its fish and wildlife habitats, while allowing sport hunting.

Glacier Bay became part of a binational UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, and was inscribed as a Biosphere Reserve in 1986. The National Park Service undertook an obligation to work with Hoonah and Yakutat Tlingit Native American organizations in the management of the protected area in 1994. The park and preserve cover a total of 3,223,384 acres (5,037 sq mi; 13,045 km2), with 2,770,000 acres (4,328 sq mi; 11,210 km2) being designated as a wilderness area.