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125 Years of Science for America - 1879 to 2004
U.S. Geological Survey
Scientific Investigations Map 2819

World Heritage Site - Bien du Patrimoine Mondial - Kluane/Wrangell-St. Elias/Glacier Bay/Tatshenshini-Alsek

By Keith A. Labay and Frederic H. Wilson

2004

thumbnail view of poster

This publication consists of a 42” x 36” poster consisting of a map and text.

Conserving our Natural Heritage

The four parks depicted on this map make up a single World Heritage Site that covers 24.3 million acres. Together, they comprise the largest internationally protected land-based ecosystem on the planet. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) established the World Heritage Program in 1972 for the identification and protection of the world’s irreplaceable natural and cultural resources. World Heritage Sites are important as storehouses of memory and evolution, as anchors for sustainable tourism and community, and as laboratories for the study and understanding of the earth and culture. This World Heritage Site protects the prominent mountain ranges of Kluane, Wrangell, Saint Elias, and Chugach. It includes many of the tallest peaks on the continent, the world's largest non-polar icefield, extensive glaciers, vital watersheds, and expanses of dramatic wilderness.

Préservons notre Patrimoine

Les quatre parcs figurant sur cette carte ne constituent qu’un seul site du patrimoine mondial recouvrant plus de 99 millions de km2, ce qui en fait le plus grand écosystème terrestre protégé par loi internationale. En 1972, L’UNESCO (l’organisation des Nations Unies pour les sciences, l'éducation et la culture) a établi le programme du patrimoine mondial afin d’identifier et de protéger les ressources naturelles et culturelles irremplaçables de notre plante. Si les sites du patrimoine mondial sont si importants c'est parce qu'ils représentent à la fois des livres ouverts sur l’histoire de la Terre, le point de départ du tourisme durable et du développement des collectivités, des laboratoires pour étudier et comprendre la nature et la culture. Ce site du patrimoine mondial assure la protection des chaînes de montagnes de Kluane, Wrangell, Saint Elias, et Chugach. On y trouve plusieurs des plus hauts sommets du continent, le plus grand champ de glace non-polaire du monde, d’immenses glaciers, des bassins hydrologiques essentiels, et de la nature sauvage à perte de vue.

Download the World Heritage Site poster as a PDF file (42 x 36 inches; 20.2 MB)

For questions about the content of this report, contact Keith Labay

Version history


This report is also available in print:

U.S. Geological Survey, Information Services
Box 25286, Federal Center
Denver, CO 80225
Telephone: 1–888–ASK–USGS (1–888–275–8747)
E-mail: infoservices@usgs.gov


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URL of this page: https://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/2004/2819/
Maintained by: Michael Diggles
Created: July 20, 2004
Last modified: July 22, 2004 (mfd)