Title 16, ConservationRelease 119-102
§347 Establishment; Boundaries
Title 16 › CHAPTER 1 — NATIONAL PARKS, MILITARY PARKS, MONUMENTS, AND SEASHORES › SUBCHAPTER XXXIX — DENALI NATIONAL PARK › § 347
Summary
Creates Denali National Park by taking a specific area of land in Alaska out of settlement, occupancy, or sale under U.S. law and making it a public park for people to enjoy. The described area starts at a hilltop between two forks of the Toklat River shown on the 1911 USGS Mount McKinley map (approximate latitude 63°47′ N, longitude 150°20′ W). From that point the boundary runs south 6°20′ W for 19 miles; south 68° W for 60 miles; southeast about 28 miles to the summit of Mount Russell; northeast about 89 miles to a point 25 miles due south of the point that is due east of the starting point; then due north 25 miles; and due west 28.5 miles back to the start. It also adds the lands between the park’s south, east, and north edges and a new boundary that begins at Mount Russell, goes northeast about 100 miles to the 149th meridian (to a spot 25 miles south of a point due east of the park’s upper northwest corner), then north 25 miles along the 149th meridian, and then west about 40 miles to the park’s upper northwest corner as it existed before January 30, 1922.
Full Legal Text
Title 16, §347
Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
The tract of land in the Territory of Alaska particularly described by and included within the metes and bounds, to wit: Beginning at a point as shown on Plate III, reconnaissance map of the Mount McKinley region, Alaska, prepared in the United States Geological Survey, edition of 1911, said point being at the summit of a hill between two forks of the headwaters of the Toklat River, approximate latitude sixty-three degrees forty-seven minutes, longitude one hundred and fifty degrees twenty minutes; thence south six degrees twenty minutes west nineteen miles; thence south sixty-eight degrees west sixty miles; thence in a southeasterly direction approximately twenty-eight miles to the summit of Mount Russell; thence in a northeasterly direction approximately eighty-nine miles to a point twenty-five miles due south of a point due east of the point of beginning; thence due north twenty-five miles to said point; thence due west twenty-eight and one-half miles to the point of beginning, is reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or disposal under the laws of the United States, and said tract is dedicated and set apart as a public park for the benefit and enjoyment of the people, under the name of the Denali National Park. In addition to the above-described tract, all those lands lying between the south, east, and north boundaries above described and the following described boundary are made a part of and included in the Denali National Park for all purposes, to wit: Beginning at the summit of Mount Russell, which is the present southwest corner of the park; thence in a northeasterly direction one hundred miles, more or less, to a point on the one hundred and forty-ninth meridian, which is twenty-five miles south of a point due east of the upper northwest corner of the park; thence north along the one hundred and forty-ninth meridian twenty-five miles; thence west forty miles, more or less, to the upper northwest corner of Denali National Park as existing prior to January 30, 1922.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Codification The first sentence of this section was from section 1 of act Feb. 26, 1917, and the second sentence, comprising the remainder of the section, from act Jan. 30, 1922. As originally enacted the second sentence of this section, extending the boundaries of the park, provided as follows “That the south, east, and north boundaries of the Mount McKinley National Park are hereby changed as follows: Beginning at the summit of Mount Russell, which is the present southwest corner of the park; thence in a northeasterly direction one hundred miles, more or less, to a point on the one hundred and forty-ninth meridian which is twenty-five miles south of a point due east of the upper northwest corner of the park; thence north along the one hundred and forty-ninth meridian twenty-five miles; thence west forty miles, more or less, to the present upper northwest corner of Mount McKinley National Park. And all these lands lying between the above-described boundary and the present south, east, and north boundaries are hereby reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or disposal, and under the laws of the United States said lands are hereby made a part of and included in the Mount McKinley National Park; and all the provisions of the Act to establish Mount McKinley National Park, Alaska, and for other purposes, approved February 26, 1917, are hereby made applicable to and extended over lands hereby added to the park.”
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Change of Name
“United States Geological Survey” substituted in text for “Geological Survey” pursuant to provision of title I of Pub. L. 102–154, set out as a note under section 31 of Title 43, Public Lands. “Denali National Park” substituted in text for “Mount McKinley National Park” pursuant to Pub. L. 96–487, § 202(3)(a), which is classified to section 410hh–1(3)(a) of this title and which added lands to the park, established additional land as the Denali National Preserve, and redesignated the whole as the Denali National Park and Preserve. Feasibility Study for Northern Access Route Into Denali National Park and Preserve Pub. L. 104–134, title I, § 101(c) [title I], Apr. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321–156, 1321–164; renumbered title I, Pub. L. 104–140, § 1(a), May 2, 1996, 110 Stat. 1327, provided in part that: “The National Park Service shall, within existing funds, conduct a Feasibility Study for a northern access route into Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska, to be completed within one year of the enactment of this Act [Apr. 26, 1996] and submitted to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations and to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Resources [now Committee on Natural Resources]. The Feasibility Study shall ensure that resource impacts from any plan to create such access route are evaluated with accurate information and according to a process that takes into consideration park values, visitor needs, a full range of alternatives, the viewpoints of all interested parties, including the tourism industry and the State of Alaska, and potential needs for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act [of 1969] [42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.]. The Study shall also address the time required for development of alternatives and identify all associated costs. “This Feasibility Study shall be conducted solely by the National Park Service planning personnel permanently assigned to National Park Service offices located in the State of Alaska in consultation with the State of Alaska Department of Transportation.”
Executive Documents
Change of Name
For redesignation of Denali as Mount McKinley, except that the national park area surrounding Mount McKinley shall retain the name Denali National Park and Preserve, see section 3(b) of Ex. Ord. No. 14172, set out as a note under section 364 of Title 43, Public Lands. Admission of Alaska as StateAdmission of Alaska into the Union was accomplished Jan. 3, 1959, on issuance of Proc. No. 3269, Jan. 3, 1959, 24 F.R. 81, 73 Stat. c16, as required by section 1 and 8(c) of Pub. L. 85–508, July 7, 1958, 72 Stat. 339, set out as notes preceding section 21 of Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
16 U.S.C. § 347
Title 16, Conservation
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102