VALUED LANSCAPES FAR NORTH

Valued Landscapes of the Far North blends cultural, historical, and physical geographies of Denali National Park for an insightful and humanistic perspective of Alaska’s pristine national park and the “visitor experience” there. This illustrated book explores human-environmental interactions, shows how applied historical and cultural geography can help address environmental and management concerns, and looks at Denali as a therapeutic landscape, capable of enhancing a combination of physical, mental, and spiritual healing.

Palka employs the concept of place as the integrating theme in his quest to better understand this important biosphere reserve, whose preeminence also stems from its popularity as a distant, wild, and scenic national park and its symbolic value as a vast, untouched wilderness in America’s last frontier. His innovative methodology incorporates perspectives from the “detached outsider” to the “immersed insider” to develop a greater understanding of the visitor experience. He focuses on the most distinguishing characteristics of the park from a visitor’s perspective and how these features contribute to a visitor’s sense of place—while reinforcing the enduring spirit of Denali.

Eugene J. Palka is director of the geography program in the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a Colonel in the U.S. Army.