The Brooks Range is
a mountain range that stretches from
west to east across northern Alaska
and into Canada's Yukon Territory,
a total distance of about 1100 km
(700 mi). The mountains top out at
over 2,700 m (9,000 ft). Mount Chamberlin,
9020 ft (2,749 m), is the highest
peak in the range. Other notable peaks
include Mount Isto, 8,975 ft (2,736
m) and Mount Michelson, 8,855 ft (2,699
m).[1] The range is believed to be
approximately 126 million years old.
The range is mostly
uninhabited, but the Dalton Highway
and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System
run through the Atigun Pass (1,415
m, 4,643 ft) on their way to the North
Slope and the oil fields at Prudhoe
Bay. The Alaska Native villages of
Anaktuvuk and Arctic Village, as well
as the very small communities of Coldfoot,
Wiseman, Bettles, and Chandalar Lake
are the only settlements in the 700-mile
Brooks Range. In the far west, near
the Wulik River in the De Long Mountains
is the Red Dog mine, largest zinc
mine in the world.
The range was named
by the United States Board on Geographic
Names in 1925 after Alfred Hulse Brooks,
who was the chief USGS geologist for
Alaska from 1903 to 1924.
Various historical records
also referred to the range as the
Arctic Mountains, Hooper Mountains,
Meade Mountains and Meade River Mountains;
the Canadian portion is still often
referred to as the British Mountains.
The British Mountains are part of
Ivvavik National Park.[2]
Prudhoe Bay, at the
northern base of the range, has vast
reserves of oil; the National Petroleum
Reserve of Alaska covers some 23.5
million acres (9.5 million hectares).
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline crosses
the range at Atigun Pass en route
to the Valdez terminal in southern
Alaska. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,
in the eastern part of the range,
is considered by many to be one of
the world's ecological treasures;
it is home to some 160 species of
birds, more than 35 different kinds
of land mammals (e.g., caribou, musk
oxen, wolverines, and wolves), and
several species of marine mammals
and fish. This refuge is the subject
of controversy between environmentalists
and proponents of oil drilling. Gates
of the Arctic National Park and Preserve,
in the rugged Endicott Mountains,
and the adjoining Noatak National
Preserve also lie along the range.
See also Alaskan mountains.
[3]
The scenery in the Brooks Range is
jaw dropping. The floors of its labyrinthine
canyons are filled with rivers, lakes
and meadows. The divides between the
canyons run the gambit from sheer stone,
walls and smooth, undulating ridges.
95% of the range's area is accessible
only via airplane. The Dalton Highway
the only road access into the Brooks
Range, and only a narrow corridor is
within hiking distance of the road.
[4]
AlaskaGeographic
— May 02, 2008 — The Brooks
Range is one of Alaska's wildest places.
Guiding us through these rugged mountains,
Richard Nelson, noted anthropologist
and writer, reveals the tenuous, yet
rich, nature of life above the Arctic
Circle. Here, birds come to breed from
around the globe and caribou graze in
perpetual motion. Home to the once nomadic
Nunamiut people now living in the remote
village of Anaktuvuk Pass, Gates of
the Arctic National Park and Preserve
is also where Bob Marshall and Mardy
Murie were inspired to protect America's
wilderness. Their stories weave through
the film with that of a Wiseman hunter
and trapper. Ultimately, this film is
about the people who call wilderness
home.
