National Geographic Society

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Geographic_Society

National Geographic Society

Abbreviation	NGS
Formation	January 13, 1888; 132 years ago
Type	Nonprofit
Purpose	Education Environmental protection Historical preservation
Headquarters	1145 17th Street N.W. Washington, D.C., United States
Region served	Worldwide
Chairman	Jean M. Case
CEO/President	Tracy Wolstencroft
Main organ	Board of Trustees
Website	www.nationalgeographic.org

The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical conservation, and the study of world culture and history. The National Geographic Society's logo is a yellow portrait frame—rectangular in shape—which appears on the margins surrounding the front covers of its magazines and as its television channel logo. Through National Geographic Partners (a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company), the Society operates the magazine, TV channels, a website, worldwide events, and other media operations.

Overview

A dancer of the cafes, Algeria, 1917 photograph from National Geographic Magazine

 

The National Geographic Society was founded in 1888 "to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge". It is governed by a board of trustees, whose 21 members include distinguished educators, business executives, former government officials and conservationists. The organization sponsors and funds scientific research and exploration. National Geographic maintains a museum for the public in its Washington, D.C., headquarters.

It has helped to sponsor popular traveling exhibits, such as the early 2010s King Tut exhibit featuring artifacts from the tomb of the young Egyptian Pharaoh. Its Education Foundation gives grants to education organizations and individuals to improve geography education. Its Committee for Research and Exploration has awarded more than 11,000 grants for scientific research and exploration.

National Geographic has retail stores in Washington, D.C., London, Sydney, and Panama. The locations outside of the United States are operated by Worldwide Retail Store S.L., a Spanish holding company. 

The Society's media arm is National Geographic Partners, a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the Society, which publishes a journal, National Geographic in English and nearly 40 local-language editions. It also publishes other magazines, books, school products, maps, and Web and film products in numerous languages and countries. National Geographic's various media properties reach more than 280 million people monthly.

History

The 33 original founders of the National Geographic Society in 1888:
	Cleveland Abbe Frank Baker Marcus Baker John Russell Bartlett Charles J. Bell Rogers Birnie William Dall Arthur Powell Davis Clarence Dutton Henry Gannett Samuel Gannett Grove Karl Gilbert George Brown Goode James Howard Gore Adolphus Washington Greely Edward Everett Hayden Henry Wetherbee Henshaw Gardiner Greene Hubbard Willard Drake Johnson George Kennan George Wallace Melville Clinton Hart Merriam Henry Mitchell Robert Muldrow II Herbert Gouverneur Ogden John Wesley Powell William Bramwell Powell Israel Russell Winfield Scott Schley Almon Harris Thompson Gilbert Thompson Otto Hilgard Tittmann James Clarke Welling
Although Alexander Graham Bell is sometimes discussed as a founder, he was actually the second president, elected on January 7, 1898, and serving until 1903.

Historical emblem of the National Geographic Society

 

The National Geographic Society began as a club for an elite group of academics and wealthy patrons interested in travel and exploration. On January 13, 1888, 33 explorers and scientists gathered at the Cosmos Club, a private club then located on Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., to organize "a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge." After preparing a constitution and a plan of organization, the National Geographic Society was incorporated two weeks later on January 27. Gardiner Greene Hubbard became its first president and his son-in-law, Alexander Graham Bell, succeeded him in 1897.

In 1899, Bell's son-in-law Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor was named the first full-time editor of National Geographic magazine and served the organization for fifty-five years (until 1954), and members of the Grosvenor family have played important roles in the organization since. Bell and Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor devised the successful marketing notion of Society membership and the first major use of photographs to tell stories in magazines.

The chairman of the National Geographic Society is Jean Case. Michael Ulica is interim president and chief executive. The editor-in-chief of National Geographic magazine is Susan Goldberg. Gilbert Melville Grosvenor, a former chairman, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 for his leadership in geography education.

In 2004, the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., was one of the first buildings to receive a "Green" certification from Global Green USA. The National Geographic received the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities in October 2006 in Oviedo, Spain. 

In 2013 the society was investigated for possible violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act relating to their close association with an Egyptian government official responsible for antiquities.

On September 9, 2015, the Society announced that it would re-organize its media properties and publications into a new company known as National Geographic Partners, which would be majority-owned by 21st Century Fox (21CF) with a 73% stake. This new, for-profit corporation, would own National Geographic and other magazines, as well as its affiliated television networks—most of which were already owned in joint ventures with 21CF. As a consequence, the Society and 21st Century Fox announced on November 2, 2015, that 9 percent of National Geographic's 2,000 employees, approximately 180 people, would be laid off, constituting the biggest staff reduction in the Society's history. Later, The Walt Disney Company assumed 21CF's share in National Geographic Partners, following the completion of Disney's acquisition of most of 21CF assets on March 20, 2019.

Activities

Support for research and projects

National Geographic Society's Administration Building in Washington, D.C.

 

The Society has helped sponsor many expeditions and research projects over the years.

Awards

Hubbard Medal

Anne Morrow Lindbergh's customized medal detailing her flight route

 

The Hubbard Medal is awarded by the National Geographic Society for distinction in exploration, discovery, and research. The medal is named for Gardiner Greene Hubbard, the first National Geographic Society president. The Hubbard Medal has been presented 44 times as of 2018, the most recent award going to Peter H. Raven.

Alexander Graham Bell Medal

Not to be confused with IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal.

 

The National Geographic Society also awards, rarely, the Alexander Graham Bell Medal, for exceptional contributions to geographic research. The award is named after Alexander Graham Bell, scientist, inventor and the second president of the NGS. Up to mid-2011, the medal has been twice presented:

• 1980: Bradford Washburn and wife Barbara Washburn
• 2010: Roger Tomlinson and Jack Dangermond

National Geographic Museum

The Society operates the National Geographic Museum, located at 1145 17th Street, NW (17th and M), in Washington, D.C. The museum features changing exhibitions featuring the work of National Geographic explorers, photographers, and scientists. There are also changing exhibits related to natural history, culture, history or society. Permanent exhibits include artifacts like the camera Robert Peary used at the North Pole and pottery that Jacques Cousteau recovered from a shipwreck.

• 

  Courtyard entrance to the National Geographic Museum
  

Commercial ventures

National Geographic Partners, a for-profit joint venture between 21st Century Fox (which owns a 73% stake) and the Society (which owns 27%), was established in 2015 to handle commercial activities of the Society, including television channels worldwide (which were already co-owned by the Society and Fox) and magazine publications. The Walt Disney Company assumed 21CF’s share of National Geographic Partners in March 2019.

Most of National Geographic Partners' businesses predate the establishment in 2015, and even the launch of National Geographic Channel in Asia and Europe by the original News Corporation (of which 21st Century Fox is one of the successors) in the late 1990s.

Publications

National Geographic

Cover of January 1915 The National Geographic Magazine

The National Geographic Magazine, later shortened to National Geographic, published its first issue in October 1888, nine months after the Society was founded, as the Society's official journal, a benefit for joining the tax-exempt National Geographic Society. Starting with the February 1910 (Vol XXI, No. 2) issue, the magazine began using its now famous trademarked yellow border around the edge of its covers.

There are 12 monthly issues of National Geographic per year. The magazine contains articles about geography, popular science, world history, culture, current events and photography of places and things all over the world and universe. National Geographic magazine is currently published in 40 local-language editions in many countries around the world. Combined English and other language circulation is around 6.8 million monthly, with some 60 million readers.

Other publications

In addition to its flagship magazine, the Society publishes several other periodicals:

• National Geographic Explorer: Classroom magazine. The National Geographic School Bulletin was launched in 1919 and was replaced by the children's magazine National Geographic World in 1975. NG World was separated into the current National Geographic Explorer and National Geographic Kids in 2001.
• National Geographic History: Launched in Spring 2015.
• National Geographic Kids: A version of National Geographic Magazine for children, launched in 1975 under the name National Geographic World. It has a U.S. circulation of over 1.5 million. There are also currently 18 local-language editions of NG Kids, with another half million in circulation. An Arabic edition of the children's magazine was launched in Egypt in early 2007, and more than 42,000 copies are distributed to all the public schools in Egypt, in addition to another 15,000 single copy sales. More recently, an Albanian and Polish edition were launched.
• National Geographic Little Kids: For younger children aged 3–6
• National Geographic Traveler: Launched in 1984. There are 18 local-language editions of NG Traveler.

The Society also ran an online daily news outlet called National Geographic News.

Additionally, the Society publishes atlases, books, and maps. It previously published and co-published other magazines, including National Geographic Adventure, National Geographic Research (a scientific journal), and others, and continues to publish special issues of various magazines.

The Society publishes a series of books about natural remedies and medicinal herbs. Titles include Guide to Medicinal Herbs, Complete Guide to Natural Home Remedies, Nature's Best Remedies, Healing Remedies, and Natural Home Remedies. The books make claims to describe, among other things, plants, herbs, and essential oils purported to help treat diseases and ailments. While giving some appropriate warnings about such concerns as anecdotal evidence and side effects are given, the books have been criticized from a medical perspective for a number of reasons. These include making recommendations that lack scientific evidence, inconsistent claims from one book to the next as well as internal contradictions, and failure to mention effective and safe alternatives.

Films and television

National Geographic Films

National Geographic Films is a wholly owned taxable subsidiary of the National Geographic Society. Films it has produced include:

• K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), a feature film, submarine thriller based on the diary of a Russian submarine commander, starring Harrison Ford.
• March of the Penguins (2005), a French-made documentary for U.S. distribution with a new score and script, narrated by Morgan Freeman; it received an Academy Award for the Best Documentary in 2006. After a record $77 million theatrical gross in the United States, over four million DVD copies of March of the Penguins have been sold.
• Arctic Tale (2007), a feature film documenting the story of two families of walrus and polar bears, narrated by Queen Latifah.
• Sea Monsters (2007), inspired by a National Geographic Magazine article, is a 3-D large format and reality film, with a musical score by Peter Gabriel.
• The Last Lions (2011)
• Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West, a co-production for HBO by National Geographic Films, Edward Norton, and Brad Pitt, is a 10-hour mini-series of Steven Ambrose's award-winning book. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West for HBO.

In 2005, the National Geographic Society acquired the film distribution arm of Destination Cinema and entered the film distribution business.

Television programs

Television programs produced by the National Geographic Society are also broadcast on television. National Geographic television specials and series have been aired on PBS and other networks in the United States and globally for many years. The Geographic series in the U.S. started on CBS in 1964, moved to ABC in 1973, shifted to PBS (produced by WQED, Pittsburgh) in 1975, shifted to NBC in 1995, and returned to PBS in 2000. It moved to National Geographic Channel in 2005.

It has featured stories on numerous scientific figures such as Jacques Cousteau, Jane Goodall, and Louis Leakey that not only featured their work but as well helped make them world-famous and accessible to millions. Most of the specials were narrated by various actors, including Glenn Close, Linda Hunt, Stacy Keach, Richard Kiley, Burgess Meredith, Susan Sarandon, Alexander Scourby, Martin Sheen, and Peter Strauss. The specials' theme music, by Elmer Bernstein, was also adopted by the National Geographic Channel. 

Another long-running show is National Geographic Explorer.

Television channels

The original News Corporation launched National Geographic Channel in Asia and Europe in the late 1990s, in partnership with the Society. The Society provides programming to the National Geographic-branded channels worldwide, while, as of March 2019, The Walt Disney Company's subsidiaries (Walt Disney Television in the United States and Fox Networks Group outside the United States) handle distribution of the channels and advertisement sales. The National Geographic Channel has begun to launch a number of sub-branded channels in international markets, such as Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo People and Nat Geo Kids.

The U.S. domestic version of National Geographic Channel was launched in January 2001 as a joint venture of National Geographic and Fox Cable Networks.

Music and Radio

National Geographic Music and Radio (NGMR) is the music and radio division of National Geographic Ventures. The scope of the division includes National Geographic Live! events, digital music distribution, music publishing, radio content, Nat Geo Music TV channel (available in parts of Asia and Europe) and film and TV music. Clear Channel, Salem Communications and NPR were distribution partners.

In early August 2007, National Geographic Ventures announced the existence of the then-recently formed division. The division was already creating music for its feature film and kids units. Initially hired to run the division were Mark Bauman, executive vice president of radio and video production, and David Beal, head of music labels, publishing and radio operations.

Katmai National Park and Preserve

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katmai_National_Park_and_Preserve

 

Katmai National Park and Preserve
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
The summit crater lake of Mount Katmai
Location in Alaska Show map of AlaskaShow map of North AmericaShow all
Location	Lake and Peninsula, Kodiak Island, Kenai Peninsula, and Bristol Bay boroughs, Alaska, United States
Nearest city	King Salmon
Coordinates	58.5°N 155°WCoordinates: 58.5°N 155°W
Area	4,093,077 acres (16,564.09 km2)
Established	December 2, 1980
Visitors	37,818 (in 2015 – latest count)
Governing body	National Park Service
Website	Official website

Katmai National Park and Preserve is an American national park and preserve in southern Alaska, notable for the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and for its brown bears. The park and preserve encompass 4,093,077 acres (6,395.43 sq mi; 16,564.09 km²), which is between the sizes of Connecticut and New Jersey. Most of the national park is a designated wilderness area where all hunting is banned. The park is named after Mount Katmai, its centerpiece stratovolcano. The park is located on the Alaska Peninsula, across from Kodiak Island, with headquarters in nearby King Salmon, about 290 miles (470 km) southwest of Anchorage. The area was first designated a national monument in 1918 to protect the area around the major 1912 volcanic eruption of Novarupta, which formed the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, a 40-square-mile (100 km²), 100-to-700-foot-deep (30 to 213 m) pyroclastic flow. The park includes as many as 18 individual volcanoes, seven of which have been active since 1900.

Initially designated because of its volcanic history, the monument was left undeveloped and largely unvisited until the 1950s. The monument and surrounding lands became appreciated for their wide variety of wildlife, including an abundance of sockeye salmon and the brown bears that feed upon them. After a series of boundary expansions, the present national park and preserve were established in 1980 under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.

Geography

3D image of the park created via Landsat data overlaid on a digital elevation model

 

Map of Katmai National Park and Preserve

 

Map of Katmai National Park and surrounding area

 

Katmai occupies the Pacific Ocean side of the Alaska Peninsula, opposite Kodiak Island on the Shelikof Strait. The park's chief features are its coast, the Aleutian Range with a chain of fifteen volcanic mountains across the coastal southeastern part of the park, and a series of large lakes in the flatter western part of the park. The closest significant town to the park is King Salmon, where the park's headquarters is located, about 5 miles (8.0 km) down the Naknek River from the park entrance. The Alaska Peninsula Highway connects Naknek Lake near the entrance to King Salmon, continuing to the mouth of the river at Naknek. The road is not connected to the Alaska road system. Access to the park's interior is by boat on Naknek Lake. Another road runs from Brooks Camp to Three Forks, which overlooks the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. The 497-mile (800 km) long coastline is deeply indented, running from the entrance to the Cook Inlet at Kamishak Bay south to Cape Kubugakli. The mountains run from southwest to northeast, about 15 miles (24 km) inland.

The park includes McNeil River State Game Sanctuary and Refuge on Kamishak Bay. The Alagnak River, designated a wild river, originates within the preserve at Kukaklek Lake. The Naknek River, which empties into Bristol Bay, originates within the park. The park adjoins Becharof National Wildlife Refuge to the south. Of the park and preserve's acres, 3,922,529 acres (1,587,391 ha) are in the national park where all sport and subsistence hunting is prohibited. 418,548 acres (169,380 ha) are preserve lands, where both sport and subsistence hunting are permitted. The most commonly hunted species in the preserve includes the brown bear, which has led to some problems about bear hunting due to small preserve population sizes and stalking bears to close limits.

The foundation rocks on the Alaska Peninsula are divided by the Bruin Bay Fault into fossiliferous sedimentary rocks of Jurassic and Cretaceous age to the east and metamorphic and igneous rocks to the west. The granite Aleutian Range batholith has intruded through these rocks. The majority of the higher mountains in the park are of volcanic origin. The park has been extensively altered by glaciation, both in the high lands where the mountains have been sculpted by glaciers, and in the lowlands where lakes have been excavated. Outwash plains and terminal moraines are also featured in the park. Soil types vary from rock or volcanic ash of vary depth to deep, wet soils overlain with peat. Although permafrost exists at higher elevations, it is not present in the lowlands.

Two physiographic provinces cover the park. The Aleutian Range province is composed of the Shelikof Strait coastline, about 10 miles (16 km) deep along the coast, the Aleutian Mountain zone, and the lake, or Hudsonian zone. Farther west the Nushagak-Bristol Bay Lowlands province is separated from the Aleutian zone by the Bruin Bay Fault, occupying a small corner of the park.

Volcanoes

Fourpeaked Mountain and Mount Douglas

 

The active volcanoes in the park are Mount Katmai, Novarupta, Trident Volcano, Mount Mageik, Mount Martin and Fourpeaked Mountain. Other volcanoes that have erupted in recent times in geological terms, but not in historical times, are Mount Douglas, Mount Griggs, Snowy Mountain, Mount Denison, Mount Kukak, Devils Desk, Mount Kaguyak, Mount Cerberus, Falling Mountain and Mount Kejulik. Martin and Mageik produce steam that can be seen from King Salmon, while Trident was active in 1957–1965 and 1968.

Novarupta lava dome

 

The most significant volcanic event in historical times was the simultaneous eruption of Mount Katmai and Novarupta in June 1912. Novarupta's eruption produced a pyroclastic flow that covered a nearby valley with ash as much as 300 feet (91 m) thick. At the same time the summit of Katmai collapsed into a caldera. As the valley deposits cooled, they emitted steam from fissures and fumaroles, earning the name "Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes." As heat has dissipated from the deposits the steam vents have subsided and the valley has been eroded. At present streams have cut canyons as much as 100 feet (30 m) deep, but only 5 to 10 feet (1.5 to 3.0 m) wide. Katmai is a stratovolcano, 6,716 feet (2,047 m) in height, with a large summit caldera. Several glaciers originate from the mountain, and one in the caldera is the only glacier known to have formed in historical times. The caldera floor is about 250 metres (820 ft) below the rim. The mountain stands on Jurassic sedimentary rocks, and its volcanic components are less than 1,500 feet (460 m) thick. Apart from the 1912 eruption, no significant activity has occurred in historical times. Novarupta is described as a Plinian pyroclastic vent with a plug dome, a 2,000-metre (6,600 ft) diameter crater with a 65-metre (213 ft), 400-metre (1,300 ft) diameter dome in the middle. Its only historical activity was the 1912 eruption.

Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes

 

Trident is a complex of three stratovolcanoes, the highest of which is 3,599 feet (1,097 m) tall, standing up to 1,894 feet (577 m) above their base. Trident has been intermittently active in historical times, primarily between 1953 and 1974. During that time about 0.7 cubic kilometers of material was erupted to form a new peak called Southwest Trident from the former site of a large fumarolic pit. Mount Martin is 6,102 feet (1,860 m) high, standing on a 1,400-metre (4,600 ft) high ridge near Mount Mageik, partly overlapping the much older Alagogshak volcano. The summit has a 300-metre (980 ft) diameter crater, containing fumaroles and sometimes a crater lake. A large lava flow extends from the mountain to fill the upper part of Angle Creek's valley with about five cubic kilometers of material. There have been no significant eruptions from Martin, but the summit emits steam and the volcano is the site of earthquake swarms. Mageik stands on the same sedimentary rocks as Martin. The composite structure has four vents, the highest at 7,103 feet (2,165 m) and three subsidiary vent cones. A small crater hold a lake and fumaroles on the highest cone's flank. Apart from steaming there has been no recent activity, but there was a large debris avalanche in 1912, probably associated with the eruption of Katmai, amounting to between 0.05 and 0.10 cubic kilometer in volume. Fourpeaked Mountain is a stratovolcano with a probable vent at the summit. Much of the 6,903-foot (2,104 m) mountain is covered by Fourpeaked Glacier. Fourpeaked produced phreatic eruptions in September 2006.

Trident volcano

 

Mount Griggs is a 7,602-foot (2,317 m) stratovolcano near Novarupta, and somewhat to the northwest of the otherwise straight line of volcanoes in Katmai. The flat-topped mountain has three concentric craters, the largest 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) wide. The mountain's geochemistry differs from its neighbors. Griggs has active sulfurous fumaroles. Snowy Mountain is a small volcano 7,090 feet (2,160 m) tall, with ten significant glaciers covering almost all of the mountain. Roughly a third to half of the mountain has been eroded by glacial action. The volcano has two vents about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) apart, and active fumaroles at the tallest summit. Mount Denison is a 7,605-foot (2,318 m) peak with four related vents at the head of three glaciers, the tallest point in the park. Mount Kukak is another ice-covered volcano, 6,693 feet (2,040 m) tall. It has a strong fumarole field near the summit. Devils Desk is a heavily eroded stratovolcano, 6,411 feet (1,954 m) high. Kaguyak is a stratovolcano truncated by a caldera, like Katmai. The highest peak is 2,956 feet (901 m), with a 2.5-kilometre (1.6 mi) diameter crater lake. There are two large domes within the caldera and two on the flanks. Mount Douglas is a 7,021-foot (2,140 m) stratovolcano, extensively eroded by ice, with a small acidic crater lake at its summit. 7,454-foot (2,272 m) Mount Steller is located between Kukak and Denison, with an unknown number of vents in ice-covered terrain. Kejulik is a 4,977-foot (1,517 m) eroded volcanic remnant. None of these volcanoes have exhibited significant behavior in historic times.

Activities

A brown bear in Hallo Bay, Katmai National Park, Alaska

Activities at Katmai include hiking, backpacking, camping, backcountry skiing, fishing, kayaking, boat tours, and interpretive programs.

Katmai is also well known for Alaskan brown bears and the sockeye salmon that attract both bears and people. Katmai contains the world's largest protected brown bear population, estimated to number about 2,200. Bears are especially likely to congregate at the Brooks Falls viewing platform when the salmon are spawning, and many well known photographs of Alaskan brown bears have been taken there. The salmon arrive early at Brooks Falls compared to other streams, and between 43 and 70 individual bears have been documented at the falls in July and an equal number of bears are seen in the lower river in September. The coastal areas such as Hallo Bay, Kukak Bay, Kuliak Bay, Kaflia Bay, Geographic Harbor and Chiniak Bay also host very high population densities of bears year-round, due to the availability of clams and edible coastal sedge as well as salmon and other fish. Other hotspots include Swikshak Lagoon, American Creek, and in the preserve, Moraine Creek and Funnel Creek.

Grizzly bear fishing for salmon at Brooks Falls, Alaska

 

The vast majority of Katmai visitors come to Brooks Camp, one of the only developed areas of the park, and few venture further than the bear viewing platforms and the adjacent Brooks Camp area. Rangers at the park are extremely careful not to allow bears to obtain human food or get into confrontations with humans. As a result, bears in Katmai Park are uniquely unafraid of and uninterested in humans, and will allow people to approach (and photograph) much more closely than bears elsewhere. The bears of Brooks Camp can be seen on computers and smartphones via webcams pioneered by the National Park Service. July and September are by far the best months for viewing brown bears in the Brooks Camp area.

Lodging is available in the park at Brooks Camp and Grosvenor Lodge and at several other lodges scattered around the park on inholdings.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Katmai National Park and Preserve has a Subarctic climate (Dfc) with cool summers and year around precipitation. Dfc climates are defined by their coldest month averaging below 32 °F (0 °C), 1–3 months averaging above 50 °F (10 °C), all months with average temperatures below 71.6 °F (22 °C) and no significant precipitation difference between seasons. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the Plant Hardiness zone at Brooks Falls at 92 ft (28 m) elevation is 3b with an average annual extreme minimum temperature of -30.9 °F (-34.9 °C). 

Ecosystems

Bear catches salmon at Brooks Falls

 

Weather at Katmai is variable, though reliably rainy or drizzly. Summer high temperatures average about 63 °F (17 °C) and winter lows are between −4 and 40 °F (−20 and 4 °C). Fall is somewhat drier than the rest of the year, and warm days can occur year-round. Rainfall is heaviest near the coast, with up to 60 inches (150 cm), and lighter to the west. The park supports 29 mammal species, 137 bird species, 24 freshwater fish species and four anadromous fish species.

Mammal species that inhabit Katmai include snowshoe hare, moose, timber wolf, brown bear, coyote, beaver, lynx, wolverine, river otter, mink, red fox, weasel, porcupine, and marten. Marine mammals include the harbor seal, sea lion, sea otter, beluga whale, killer whale and gray whale. Caribou are occasionally within the park during winter seasons.

The most important fish in the park are sockeye salmon, who feed bears, bald eagles and others during their spawning runs in the park's rivers. Salmon enter the Naknek River drainage from Bristol Bay in June and July and spawn from August to October.

History

Precontact period and archaeology

Prehistoric artifacts have been found dating to about 6,000 years before the present near the old Katmai village on the park's south coast. A number of other sites have been found along the coast, notably those of Kaguyak and Kukak, with occupation into historic times. Some of these, including sites "49 AF 3" near Kanatak and "49 MK 10", present clear evidence of habitation up to the 1912 eruption, but have not been investigated in detail. The Amalik Bay Archeological District is a major area containing evidence of some of the earliest human activity in the area, with finds dating back more than 7,000 years. 

Inland, Brooks Camp is a significant archaeological site dating to about 4500 BP, listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1977 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993. A village abandoned after the 1912 eruption at the mouth of the Savonoski River is documented as the "Old Savonoski Site", while a more extensive district of sites is located near the mouth of the Grosvenor River. The "DIL-161 Site" is located in the watershed of the Alagnak River, and shows evidence of habitation in the first millennium.

Russians and Americans

Russians were the first Europeans to arrive in the area in significant numbers, trading in furs. They encountered the Aglegmuit Eskimos on the Bristol Bay side of the peninsula and the Koniag Eskino on the Shelikov Strait side. Katmai Village was the only location within the park where Europeans lived through the mid-19th century, though their numbers were always few. In the latter part of the 19th century a few villages were established inland at Severnosky and along the coast at Douglas and Kukak. American traders operating for the Alaska Commercial Company took the place of the Russians. As sea otters became scarce the trade dried up, and Katmai and Douglas were abandoned in the early 20th century. In the 1890s the region was a route for travelers going to Nome for Nome's short-lived gold rush. Writer Rex Beach was one of these, writing about life on Bristol Bay during the salmon run in The Silver Horde. Prospects for oil, gold and coal received brief attention, then died out by 1912.

Pyroclastic flow deposits in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes

By 1898 there were reports of frequent earthquakes in the vicinity of Katmai Pass. These intensified around June 1, 1912, inducing the few local residents to leave. Katmai and Novarupta erupted on June 6 with a noise heard in Fairbanks, 500 miles (800 km) away, and Juneau, 750 miles (1,210 km) distant. Heavy eruptions continued through June 7, then gradually declined from June 8 onwards. Ash fell 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 cm) deep in Kodiak, and ash fell on the Alaskan mainland and eastwards as far as Puget Sound. Atmospheric haze was noted worldwide, and temperatures were depressed in the northern hemisphere during the second half of 1912. Initial reports pinpointed Mount Katmai as the center of eruption. Later reports cast doubt on Katmai's primary role, and it was not until 1954 that Novarupta was found to be the primary volcanic center. The region around the mountains, which had received heavy ashfall, was devastated.

Satellite image of the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and surrounding area

 

The National Geographic Society backed five expeditions to Katmai, beginning in 1915 with a trip to Kodiak Island and a short stay on the mainland. The expedition, led by Robert Fiske Griggs, a botanist who was initially interested in the study of plant recolonization. Griggs' follow-up expedition in 1916 discovered and named the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and found Novarupta. The National Geographic Society, delighted with the discoveries, funded a larger expedition in 1917 to make a survey of the region. The subsequent articles published in National Geographic magazine brought the region to prominence in the public, and Griggs began to advocate for the protection of the area in the national park system, backed by the National Geographic Society. At this time legislation to establish Mount McKinley National Park (later renamed Denali National Park) was pending, and the idea of making Katmai a national park was discussed by National Park Service acting director Horace M. Albright and National Geographic Society president Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor. Albright advised that national park legislation was unlikely to pass, suggesting instead that the region be protected as a national monument by the President, using the Antiquities Act of 1906. After some negotiation, and after a 1918 expedition opined that the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes was a permanent feature, a proclamation was prepared to protect 1,080,000 acres (440,000 ha) around Mount Katmai, the valley, and the most of Iliuk Arm of Naknek Lake. Although only a third the area of the present park and preserve, the monument was nevertheless half the size of Yellowstone National Park from the outset. President Woodrow Wilson signed the proclamation of Katmai National Monument on September 24, 1918.

National monument

The proclamation had little immediate effect, other than grumbling from territorial officials. A 1923 expedition found that the region had little exploitable mineral potential. Tourists in the early 1920s amounted to a few dozen. No National Park Service staff were assigned to the site, which was in theory administered by Mount McKinley. By 1928 more visitors arrived. The most prominent among them was Father Bernard R. Hubbard, an explorer of Alaska who gained fame as "The Glacier Priest." Hubbard documented the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes in movies that he showed at lectures until the 1950s. At the same time, the Park Service became aware that Katmai was among the best habitat for grizzlies in Alaska, and that the monument should be expanded to protect them and the prolific salmon spawning grounds. In 1931 President Herbert Hoover issued a proclamation expanding the monument under the Antiquities Act to 2,697,590 acres (1,091,680 ha), more than doubling it in size and creating the largest single Park Service unit. Crucially, the expanded monument included the falls at Brooks Camp, while avoiding lands along the coast thought to have potential oil deposits.

In 1937 a ranger was finally assigned to Katmai, seconded to the monument from Mount McKinley, spending most of June trying to get there and one day in the monument before returning to Mount McKinley. In 1939 the United States Bureau of Fisheries established an encampment at the Brooks Lake outlet, having previously blasted out part of the falls in 1921. At about the same time the Park Service became concerned about illegal trapping in the monument, asking the Alaska Fish and Game Commission to send wardens to patrol the area. Several trappers were apprehended, and Park Service personnel visited the monument, sending back positive reports on the scenery and wildlife. These reports, and efforts to make poaching more difficult, led to another boundary adjustment that included the islands in the Shelikof Strait and Cook Inlet within 5 miles (8.0 km) of the old boundary, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 4, 1941, which increased the monument's area by several thousand acres.

Mountains of the Aleutian Range from a floatplane flying to Brooks Camp

 

Poaching increased after World War II. At the same time, Alaskan territorial interests sought to have the monument disestablished or reduced in size to allow mining and fishing, because the activity at the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes had declined, and because the Park Service had made no effort to develop the monument for visitors. These proposals were turned aside, and in 1950 a seasonal ranger was assigned to Katmai. William Nancarrow built a small camp at Brooks River. By the mid-1950s the Park Service embarked on its Mission 66 program to expand visitor services. Katmai was to receive a headquarters at King Salmon, a visitor center at Valley Junction in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, ranger stations, campgrounds, modest roads and dock facilities on the lakes. An airstrip was also proposed for Brooks Camp. The airstrip was not built, but a road from Brooks Camp to the valley was built. In the early 1960s a road was proposed that would run across the peninsula through the park, connecting to King Salmon. The Park Service was opposed. The 1964 Alaska earthquake stalled the proposal for several years, resurfacing in 1968 with local support. However, the Park Service opposed the plans and the road project was set aside. In the meantime headquarters facilities were developed at King Salmon. In 1967 the state of Alaska set aside the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary with 85,000 acres (34,000 ha) under protection to safeguard the bear fishing grounds on the river, adjacent to Katmai. McNeil River was declared a National Natural Landmark in 1968. In the 1990s a state game refuge, with 120,000 acres (49,000 ha) was established to the north of the sanctuary to protect Chenik Lake, which supported a smaller fish run, attracting bears. The refuge and the expanded 128,000 acres (52,000 ha) sanctuary have remained closed to hunting, despite an unsuccessful 2005 attempt by Governor Frank Murkowski and again in 2007 by Sarah Palin's Board of Game. Recently there have been proposals to merge the sanctuary and refuge into Katmai.

When George B. Hartzog Jr. became director of the National Park Service in 1964 he commissioned a report on Alaskan public lands, entitled Operation Great Land. The study identified 39 site that might become preserves or recreation lands, and it recommended that Katmai be expanded somewhat to the west and substantially to the north. The boundary adjustments were amended to a westward expansion of 94,547 acres (38,262 ha) that President Lyndon B. Johnson signed in 1968, producing anger in Alaska. In 1971 Katmai finally gained a full-time, on-site park superintendent. Also in 1971, Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), which established a framework to divide up Alaska's federal lands. ANCSA established a timetable for claims, withdrawals and designations, requiring the Park Service to come up with a plan for future park units. The Park Service proposed 33,000,000 acres (13,000,000 ha) of new park lands, among them a 1,218,490-acre (493,110 ha) expansion of Katmai. Through the mid-1970s a variety of proposals were circulated for expansion and wilderness designation. At the same time, concerns were raised about the withdrawal of game lands from sport hunting, and the ability of local residents to continue to practice subsistence hunting. To address these concerns, legislation was proposed to create national preserve lands that would confer protection while allowing regulated sport hunting. Early versions of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) proposed Katmai National Park and Preserve as a combination of park and preserve lands. This legislation was stalled in Congress by 1978. Because a deadline was approaching for state selection of public lands, President Jimmy Carter used his authority under the Antiquities Act to expand Katmai by 1,370,000 acres (550,000 ha) on December 1, 1978, mainly on the northern side of the monument.

National park and preserve

Katmai National Park Geologic map, where nig is the Episode I valley-filling ignimbrite of 6-7 June 1912., and nrd is the Novarupta rhyolite dome

 

It took two more years for Congress to act on a final ANILCA bill. On December 2, 1980, the final bill established Katmai National Park and Preserve with 1,037,000 acres (420,000 ha) of additional park, bringing it to 3,674,529.33 acres (1,487,029.26 ha) and 308,000 acres (125,000 ha) of preserve, with 3,384,358 acres (1,369,601 ha) of wilderness lands within the national park where all hunting is prohibited. Unlike most ANILCA parks, the legislation for Katmai did not grant subsistence hunting access to national park lands, only to the preserve. Sport and subsistence hunting is prohibited in Katmai National Park but allowed in the preserve.

Exxon Valdez oil spill

The grounding of the oil tanker Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989, produced extensive contamination of the Katmai coastline. By early April, oil had reached Kenai Fjords National Park. Oil reached Cape Douglas in Katmai on April 26 and points southwards in the following week. In early May, a variety of dredges and skimmer vessels were working in the Shelikof Strait, but 90% of the Katmai coastline was oiled. The worst-hit areas were Cape Chiniak and Chiniak Lagoon, Hallo Bay Beach and its lagoon, Cape Gull and Kaflia Bay, and Cape Douglas. Casualties in birds alone were estimated at 8,400 dead birds. Work resumed in 1990, with smaller efforts in 1991 to catch the last oil.