ENVISON team members kicked off the new year in Denali, Alaska with field research that included qualitative data collection, a tour of a U.S. Air Force Station, and convening Denali’s local knowledge alliance. The ENVISION team had the privilege of learning from several local business owners and their connections to protected areas in Interior Alaska. As one of the key interest groups in the region, local business is highly dependent on visitation to Denali National Park and Preserve, offering a variety of recreation and tourism related opportunities (e.g., sled dog kennel tours, all-terrain vehicle activities, guided fishing and hunting tours, and guided hikes). Through interviews, ENVISION team members also learned about the challenges that many local business owners are facing in Interior Alaska. A rapidly changing social-ecological landscape has created uncertainty around the future of tourism and recreation, facets of the Denali region that many local businesses rely on. Understanding how to best prepare for this change is a challenge that many Denali business owners are grappling with.
