Thirty-four years ago today, December 1, 1978, President Jimmy Carter took abrupt and sweeping action to preserve 17 endangered areas in Alaska. Carter used the 1906 Antiquities Act to prevent exploitation while the Congress deliberated. Carter’s proclamation established:
Admiralty Island National Monument
Aniakchak National Monument
Becharof National Monument
Bering Land Bridge National Monument
Cape Krusenstern National Monument
Denali National Monument
Gates of the Arctic National Monument
Enlarging the Glacier Bay National Monument
Enlarging the Katmai National Monument
Kenai Fjords National Monument
Kobuk Valley National Monument
Lake Clark National Monument
Misty Fiords National Monument
Noatak National Monument
Wrangell-St. Elias National Monument
Yukon-Charley National Monument
Yukon Flats National Monument
Two years and a day later the Congress passed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.