{"id":20668,"date":"2024-03-20T00:40:11","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T06:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=20668"},"modified":"2024-03-18T16:42:05","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T22:42:05","slug":"happy-100th-to-craters-of-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/20\/happy-100th-to-craters-of-the-moon\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy 100th to Craters of the Moon!"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MIKE MCKENNA<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"Craters of the Moon is getting ready to celebrate a pretty big birthday.
\nThe National Monument and Preserve turns 100 on May 2, 2024, and the Centennial will be honored with special events from May through September.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s a bit of awe and a bit of wonder in a landscape that\u2019s pretty much unlike any other place on earth,\u201d said Wade Vagias.
\nWade is the superintendent for Craters of the Moon as well as the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument and Minidoka National Historic Site. Wade\u2019s career with the National Park Service includes time working in Washington, D.C., and at Yellowstone and Bryce Canyon national parks before landing in the Snake River Plain. But since taking over Craters in 2015, it\u2019s clear that southern Idaho\u2019s beloved\u2014and often overlooked\u2014National Monument has become a magical place for him.
\n\u201cIt looks like a barren wasteland at first glance,\u201d Wade said. \u201cBut it\u2019s really a vibrant landscape that\u2019s in perpetual change.\u201d
\nThe Monument covers over 750,000 acres, having been expanded by four different Presidents over the last century. The core of the Monument was created by eight major lava eruptions over the last 15,000 years. Craters\u2019 central feature is the \u201cGreat Rift,\u201d a 52-mile-long crack in the earth\u2019s crust. Although the terrain looks barren and brutal to navigate, it\u2019s actually teeming with life.
\nMore than 750 types of plants can be found at Craters as well as a wide variety of wildlife\u2014from bats to bobcats, coyotes to cottontails, skunks, snakes and all kinds of birds. There are even a couple species that can only be found at Craters of the Moon. A subspecies of the Great Basin pocket mouse and yellow pine chipmunk (as well as possibly a unique population of pikas and lava tube beetles) are found nowhere else on the planet.
\nWith a landscape that literally looks out of this world, NASA has used Craters to help prepare for space exploration for over 50 years. This includes training for the Apollo 14 crew, whose successful mission to the Moon involved the first golf balls ever hit in space.
\nFor what it\u2019s worth, Native American legend has it that Craters of the Moon was created by a huge serpent that crushed a mountain and that its ribs and bones can still be seen in the lava rocks.
\nNo matter the season, there\u2019s always something cool to see at Craters of the Moon.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s quite unlike any other place in the lower 48 states,\u201d Wade said, noting that in the spring, the contrast of dark lava, snow-capped peaks in the background and swaths of colorful flora popping up is stunning.
\n\u201cIn the spring, the landscape is like an emerald,\u201d he said.
\nThe Craters of the Moon Centennial celebration schedule revolves around monthly themes: May is Rich Cultural History; June is Tranquil Wilderness; July is Robust Research; August is Explosive Geology; and September is Expansive Night Sky.
\nIf you\u2019ve never been to Craters, or haven\u2019t been in a while, this year is the perfect time to \u201cTake a trip to the Moon!\u201d
\nThe Monument is open every day of the year.<\/p>\n

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By MIKE MCKENNA Craters of the Moon is getting ready to celebrate a pretty big birthday. The National Monument and Preserve turns 100 on May 2, 2024, and the Centennial will be honored with special events from May through September. \u201cThere\u2019s a bit of awe and a bit of wonder in a landscape that\u2019s pretty […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10323,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,38],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-20668","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chamber-corner","8":"category-sponsored"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20668"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20670,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20668\/revisions\/20670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}