Bering Land Bridge National Preserve

Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
IUCN category VI (protected area with sustainable use of natural resources)
Serpentine Tors
Location	Seward Peninsula, Alaska, United States
Nearest city	Kotzebue, Alaska
Coordinates	65°50′N 164°10′W / 65.833°N 164.167°W / 65.833; -164.167Coordinates: 65°50′N 164°10′W / 65.833°N 164.167°W / 65.833; -164.167
Area	2,697,391 acres (10,915.95 km2)
Created	December 1, 1978 (1978-December-01)
Visitors	2,642 (in 2012)
Governing body	National Park Service
Website	Bering Land Bridge National Preserve

The Bering Land Bridge National Preserve is one of the most remote United States national park areas, located on the Seward Peninsula. The National Preserve protects a remnant of the Bering Land Bridge that connected Asia with North America more than 13,000 years ago during the ice age. The majority of this land bridge now lies beneath the waters of the Chukchi and Bering Seas. During the glacial epoch this bridge was a migration route for people, animals, and plants whenever ocean levels fell enough to expose the land bridge. Archeologists disagree whether it was across this Bering Land Bridge, also called Beringia, that humans first migrated from Asia to populate the Americas, or whether it was via a coastal route.

Bering Land Bridge National Monument was established in 1978 by Presidential proclamation under the authority of the Antiquities Act. The designation was modified in 1980 to a national preserve with the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), which would allow both subsistence hunting by local residents and sport hunting. The preserve includes significant archaeological sites and a variety of geological features. The preserve has seen recent volcanic activity, with lava flows and lake-filled maars. Hot springs are a popular destination for tourists.

The preserve lies on the northern side of the Seward Peninsula, with 2,697,391 acres (1,091,595 ha). The preserve extends along the coast from a point to the west of Deering along Goodhope Bay to Cape Espenberg, then westward along the shore of the Chukchi Sea. The boundary moves inland to avoid the village of Shishmaref and the Shishmaref Inlet, then rejoins the coast to include Ikpek Lagoon. A narrow corridor connects the Ikpek Lagoon section to the main preserve. The interior portions extend to and across the Continental Divide as far as the Bendeleben Mountains. The region around the continental divide includes volcanic areas such as Serpentine Hot Springs and lava fields between the Noxapaga River and the Kuzitrin River. The preserve's high point is Mount Boyan on the south border.