NATIONAL PARK SERVICE • U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Foundation Document Overview Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve Alaska

Contact Information For more information about the Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve Foundation Document, contact: [email protected] or 907-246-3305 or write to: Superintendent, Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve, P.O. Box 7, King Salmon, AK 99613 Purpose Significance Fundamental Resources and Values

Significance statementsexpress why Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve resources and values are important enough to merit national park unit designation. Statements of significance describe why an area is important within a global, national, regional, and systemwide context. These statements are linked to the purpose of the park unit, and are supported by data, research, and consensus. Significance statements describe the distinctive nature of the park and inform management decisions, focusing efforts on preserving and protecting the most important resources and values of the park unit.

The purpose of Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve is to protect, study, and interpret the dynamic geology, ecology, and human use of Aniakchak Caldera and the surrounding landscape. Fundamental Resources and Values

Fundamental resources and values are those features, Human Use: Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve systems, processes, experiences, stories, scenes, sounds, provides an opportunity to understand the history of smells, or other attributes determined to merit primary human interaction with the natural resources of a dynamic consideration during planning and management processes volcanic landscape. because they are essential to achieving the purpose of the • Archeological Resources park and maintaining its significance. • Historic Resources Geology: Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve • Cultural Landscapes protects the site of one of the world’s largest volcanic • Museum Collections eruptions and provides opportunities to study and • Subsistence interpret the dynamic volcanic landscape and other Aniakchak National Monument and geological processes. Visitor Experience: Preserve and Aniakchak Wild River challenges the visitor • Aniakchak Caldera to enter and experience the awe-inspiring caldera, free- • Fossils/Paleontology flowing river, and other remote and dynamic landscapes. • Surprise Lake • Wildness/Remoteness • Education • The Caldera • Science • Aniakchak Wild River Ecological Succession: Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve provides for the study of natural ecological succession in an area that has been repeatedly impacted by volcanic eruptions and catastrophic flooding, including the Aniakchak River, from the caldera to the ocean. • Native Fish • Wildlife • Vegetation Communities • Research and Monitoring • Education Description

Midway down the wild, remote, and mostly roadless Alaska it a wild river within the national wild and scenic rivers Peninsula lies one of the nation’s most fascinating but least system. Nestled inside the caldera is Surprise Lake, a remnant visited volcanic features. Aniakchak National Monument of a much larger lake that catastrophically drained in a massive and Preserve encompasses approximately 600,000 acres and flood. Warm springs and melting snow feed Surprise Lake, is a vibrant reminder of Alaska’s location in the volcanically which in turn gives rise to the Aniakchak River. The river exits active “Ring of Fire.” About 3,400 years ago, a 7,000-foot the caldera through “The Gates” and moves swiftly through volcano collapsed during a massive eruption. A 6-mile-wide, this narrow, rocky gorge in the caldera wall before slowing to 2,500-feet-deep caldera was left in the eruption’s wake. meander toward Aniakchak Bay and the Pacific Ocean on its Subsequent eruptions, including the last one in 1931, have 27-mile southeastward course. created cinder cones, lava flows, and explosion pits that dot Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve lies the caldera floor. In addition to the Aniakchak Caldera, the approximately 450 miles southwest of Anchorage and 150 park boundary also contains other important resources. miles southwest of King Salmon on the Alaska Peninsula. To the east, rugged bays and inlets of the Pacific coast and Most people access Aniakchak via chartered airplanes offshore islands provide habitat for sea mammals and sea departing from King Salmon and other nearby towns birds. Boundaries of the area also include a vast sweep of and villages. Boats can also reach the Pacific coast of the treeless tundra and lowland ecosystem characteristic of the monument and preserve. A few adventurous groups have lower Alaska Peninsula. also hiked into Aniakchak Caldera via a cross-country route In creating Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve in from Port Heiden. The national monument and preserve

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