Jimmy Carter

“ Wildlife populations include the largest population of wild mountain sheep in North America, moose, mountain goat, and a non-migratory population of caribou. The area is the only part of Alaska where four of the five identifiable forms of bear occur, including the interior grizzly, the coastal brown bear, the black bear, and the rare, blue-color phase of the black bear called glacier bear. ”

“ As a result of their isolation by virtue of ice fields and the Copper River, these areas are virtually ecological islands in which development of subspecies is largely unaffected by interchange with outside plant and animal species. ”

“ Thermal features in the area include the mud cones and hot springs on the western base of Mount Drum. More complete undeveloped river systems exist here than in any other land area in the Nation, with more than 1,000 miles of powerfully running, silt-laden rivers. ”