2017 US Code
Title 16 - Conservation
Chapter 1 - National Parks, Military Parks, Monuments, and Seashores
Subchapter XXXIX - Denali National Park
Sec. 347 - Establishment; boundaries

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miles to said point; thence due west twenty-eight and one-half miles to the point of beginning, is reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or disposal under the laws of the United States, and said tract is dedicated and set apart as a public park for the benefit and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.

(Feb. 26, 1917, ch. 121, §1, 39 Stat. 938; Jan. 30, 1922, ch. 39, 42 Stat. 359; Pub. L. 96–487, title II, §202(3)(a), Dec. 2, 1980, 94 Stat. 2382; Pub. L. 102–154, title I, Nov. 13, 1991, 105 Stat. 1000.)

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."

"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.

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."

Admission 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 sections 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.