NATIONAL PARK SERVICE • U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Foundation Document Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve Idaho July 2014 Foundation Document Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve U.S. Department of the Interior Idaho National Park Service ¤£20 E E E E E E E E E E E ¤£20 X E E E E E E E ¤£20 E ¤£26 ;" HWY £20/26/93 E ¤ Sunset Cone Visitor Center Grassy )";" ConeE North Crater E EPaisley Cone E Silent Cone E Inferno Cone NORTH CRATER S EBroken Top TRAIL D L O Half Cone M E E E R E T Big Cinder Butte W I L D ECrescent Butte E R N E E S Coyote Butte S UV24 XEcho Crater EThe Watchman E The Sentinel E Legend X Crater Trail Greater "Monument" Boundary Other BLM Lands National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) I ;" Campground State Highway (both NPS and BLM) Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) Private E Volcanic Peak Secondary Road NPS Wilderness Department of Energy (DOE) State )" Visitor Center Local Road NPS-managed Monument NPS-managed Preserve 0 2.5 5 10 15 4WD BLM-managed Monument Miles Produced by NPS Denver Service Center Planning March 2014 Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve Contents Mission Of The National Park Service 1 Introduction 2 Part 1: Core Components 3 Brief Description Of The Park . 3 Park Purpose . 4. Park Significance . 5 . Fundamental Resources and Values . 6 Other Important Resources and Values . 8. Interpretive Themes . 9. Part 2: Dynamic Components 10 Assessment of Planning and Data Needs . 10. Identification of Key Issues and Associated Planning and Data Needs . 11 Other Important Issues By Program Area . 16. Planning and Data Needs . 19 Part 3: Contributors 26 Appendixes 27 Appendix A: Executive Order and Legislative Acts for Craters of the Moon . National Monument and Preserve . 27 Appendix B: Analysis of Fundamental and Other Important Resources and Values . 35 Appendix C: Inventory of Special Mandates and Administrative Commitments . 59 Appendix D: Excerpts from Basics for Wilderness Stewardship for Craters of the Moon Wilderness . 65. i Foundation Document Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve Mission Of The National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The National Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world. The NPS core values are a framework in which the National Park Service accomplishes its mission. They express the manner in which, both individually and collectively, the National Park Service pursues its mission. The NPS core values are: · Shared stewardship: We share a commitment to resource stewardship with the global preservation community. · Excellence: We strive continually to learn and improve so that we may achieve the highest ideals of public service. · Integrity: We deal honestly and fairly with the public and one another. · Tradition: We are proud of it; we learn from it; we are not bound by it. · Respect: We embrace each other’s differences so that we may enrich the well- being of everyone. The National Park Service is a bureau within the Department of the Interior. While numerous national park system units were created prior to 1916, it was not until August 25, 1916, that President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Service Organic Act formally establishing the National Park Service. The national park system continues to grow and comprises 401 park units covering more than 84 million acres in every state, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. These units include, but are not limited to, national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails, and the White House. The variety and diversity of park units throughout the nation require a strong commitment to resource stewardship and management in order to ensure both the protection and enjoyment of these resources for future generations. The arrowhead was authorized as the official National Park Service emblem by the Secretary of the Interior on July 20, 1951. The sequoia tree and bison represent vegetation and wildlife, the mountains and water represent scenic and recreational values, and the arrowhead represents historical and archeological values. 1 Foundation Document Introduction Every unit of the national park system is to have a foundational document that will provide basic guidance for planning and management decisions—a foundation for planning and management. The core components of a foundation document include a brief description of the park as well as the park’s purpose, significance, fundamental resources and values, other important resources and values, and interpretive themes. The foundation document also includes special mandates and administrative commitments, an assessment of planning and data needs that identifies planning issues, planning products to be developed, and the associated studies and data required for park planning. Along with the core components, the assessment provides a focus for park planning activities and establishes a baseline from which planning documents are developed. A primary benefit of developing a foundation document is the opportunity to integrate and coordinate all kinds and levels of planning from a single, shared understanding of what is most important about the park. The process of developing a foundation document begins with gathering and integrating information about the park. Next, this information is refined and focused to determine the most important attributes of the park. The process of preparing a foundation document aids park managers, staff, and the public in identifying and clearly stating in one document the essential information that is necessary for park management to consider when determining future planning efforts, outlining key planning issues, and protecting resources and values that are integral to park purpose and identity. While not included in this document, a park atlas is also part of a foundation project. The atlas is a series of maps compiled from available geographic information system (GIS) data on natural and cultural resources, visitor use patterns, facilities, and other topics. It serves as a GIS-based support tool for planning and park operations. The atlas is published as a (hard copy) paper product and as geospatial data for use in a web mapping environment. The park atlas for Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve can be accessed online at: http://insideparkatlas.nps.gov/. 2 Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve Part 1: Core Components The core components of a foundation document include a brief description of the park, park purpose, significance statements, fundamental resources and values, other important resources and values, and interpretive themes. These components are core because they typically do not change over time. Core components are expected to be used in future planning and management efforts. Brief Description Of The Park Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve (the park) is in south central Idaho in Blaine, Butte, Lincoln, Minidoka, and Power counties. It is within a one- to two-hour drive of Twin Falls, Idaho Falls, Pocatello, and other population centers along the Interstate 84 (I-84), I-86, and I-15 corridors. President Calvin Coolidge established Craters of the Moon National Monument on May 2, 1924, for the purpose of protecting the unusual landscapes of the Craters of the Moon Lava Field. This “lunar” landscape was thought to resemble that of the moon and was described in the presidential proclamation as “a weird and scenic landscape peculiar to itself.” Since 1924, the park boundary has been adjusted and expanded numerous times. A 2000 presidential proclamation expanded Craters of the Moon National Monument from roughly 54,000 acres to approximately 753,000 acres to ensure protection of the Great Rift volcanic rift zone and its associated features. The proclamation also placed the lands under the administration of both the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), with each agency having primary management authority over separate portions. On August 2002, Public Law 107-213 designated the NPS portion of the expanded monument as a national preserve. The three administrative units at Craters of the Moon include the BLM national monument, the NPS national monument, and the NPS national preserve. Cooperative interagency management of these units enhances public service and protection of nationally significant resources, while retaining many traditional uses of the land. This foundation document applies only to the two NPS-administered units. The park contains the youngest and most geologically diverse section of basaltic lava terrain found on the Eastern Snake River Plain, an extensive area of volcanic formations that reaches across southern Idaho east to Yellowstone National Park, in Wyoming. It includes three distinct young lava fields: Craters of the Moon, Kings Bowl, and Wapi. The Craters of the Moon Lava Field is the largest basaltic lava field of predominantly Holocene age (less than 10,000 years old) in the conterminous United States. The park also protects most of the Great Rift Region, which includes the numerous lava flows and other volcanic material from the Great Rift volcanic rift zone. It compares in significance to other volcanic rift zones such as those found in Hawaii and Iceland. The Great Rift varies in width between 1 and 5 miles, extends for more than 50 miles, and is the deepest known land-based volcanic rift in the world. Many features and structures associated with basaltic volcanism are represented in the Great Rift region, including various kinds of lava flows, volcanic cones, and lava tubes. Other features include explosion pits, lava lakes, squeeze-ups, basalt mounds, an ash blanket, low shield volcanoes, and various lava tube cave features.