Discoveries…America National Parks: Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias

This new entry in Jim and Kelly Watt's visually stunning series highlights America's largest national park: the Wrangell–St. Elias Park and Preserve in Alaska, which sprawls across 13 million acres—an area about as big as Vermont. The camera travels along rough and primitive roads (actually former rail beds), while offering glimpses of remote homesteads and views of spectacular scenery, including nine of the nation's highest peaks, the biggest glaciers in North America, and the continent's greatest concentration of volcanoes. Along the way, we learn about fishing methods dating back to the beginning of recorded history, as native Alaskans use dip nets and fish wheels (contraptions that look like Ferris wheels of buckets) to scoop up salmon on the Copper River. Among the few modern imprints on the landscape are the Kennecott copper mill and mine, once a thriving enterprise and now part of a National Historic Landmark; and the tiny community of McCarthy, whose population of around 30 permanent residents balloons up to about 200 during the summer tourist season. DVD extras include “Bush Alaska Insights” and a featurette on the McCarthy Museum. Recommended. Aud: P. (C. Block)