Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve

Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve ( German Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve ) is a standing under the administration of the National Park Service National Monument of the United States of America, which protects in a hard to reach area on the volcano Aniakchak Alaska Peninsula in the Aleutian Island chain.

It is a chain of protected areas on the peninsula that includes the Katmai National Park, Becharof National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge, Aniakchak National Monument and Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

The main attraction of National Monuments is the caldera of 1931 the last time active Aniakchak. In it is the crater lake Surprise Lake, the source of the Aniakchak River, which winds its way to the Pacific Ocean through a 600 meter deep gorge. On 1 December 1978, the region was declared around the crater, which belongs to the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire National Monument and covered an area of 555 km ². Two years later, on 2 December 1980 was followed under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the extension to a 1885 km ² large nature reserve ( Preserve ). The regions differ in that in the Preserve hunting within the legal rules of the State of Alaska is still permitted.

The protected area

The Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve has no visitor center and is almost exclusively achieved by chartered float plane from King Salmon. The machines land on the Surprise Lake, because no runway is available. The part belonging to Preserve coastal strip can also be reached by boat. In addition, there is no organized camp sites, nor any other facilities or services. With only 26 registered visitors the region around the Aniakchak Volcano in 2007 under the accessible for visitors units of the National Park Service was the least visited area.