In the final weeks of 1980, one of the most significant conservation decisions in US history was taking shape in Alaska. The move would place vast areas of the state under federal protection, preserving landscapes ranging from forests and rivers to glaciers, mountains and wildlife habitats. According to the National Park Service , on 2 December 1980, US President Jimmy Carter signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), protecting more than 104 million acres of federal land through new or expanded conservation designations. Nearly half of that land, about 57 million acres, was designated as wilderness, while the legislation also created or expanded national parks, wildlife refuges, conservation areas and wild and scenic rivers across Alaska.
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