Capulin Volcano National Monument Marks Third IDSP Anniversary Aug. 9

Summary: New Mexico’s Capulin Volcano National Monument marks its third IDSP anniversary Aug. 9, 2019.

Capulin Volcano National Monument's designation Aug. 9, 2016, as a Gold-Tier International Dark Sky Park coincided with the park's centennial; photo of Milky Way and Capulin Volcano by astrophotographer Kenneth Forbes: Capulin Volcano National Monument @CapulinVolcanoNPS, via Facebook Oct. 24, 2016

On Friday, Aug. 9, 2019, Capulin Volcano National Monument marks its third IDSP anniversary and the 103rd anniversary of the park’s founding.

The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) officially designated Capulin Volcano National Monument as a Gold-Tier International Dark Sky Park (IDSP) on Aug. 9, 2016, the centennial of the park’s founding. The IDA awards certification as an IDA International Dark Sky Park to privately or publicly owned land “possessing an exceptional or distinguished quality of starry nights and a nocturnal environment that is specifically protected for its scientific, natural, educational, cultural heritage, and/or public enjoyment.”

The IDA’s press release announcing Capulin Volcano National Monument’s certification noted the park’s “nearly pristine night sky conditions.” Administered by the United States Department of the Interior’s National Park Service, Capulin Volcano National Monument encourages public access via interpretive dark-sky programs. Interpretive dark-sky events allow visitors to access a 14-inch Dobsonian Reflector Telescope, an 8-inch Sirius Reflector Telescope, two night sky viewing binoculars and park tablets installed with the Night Sky application.

Capulin Volcano National Monument’s IDA Report 2018 emphasized the importance of the park as a cultural treasure. “There is current research being done to explore the connection of Capulin’s night sky with the 17 Native American tribes affiliated with the monument.”

The park’s lighting is 100 percent compliant with the IDA’s Lightscape Management Plan (LMP). Exterior lighting uses LED bulbs and has downward shields. The IDA’s press release pointed to the park’s lighting compliance as “eliminating 12,722 unnecessary lumens from exterior and interior lighting directly impacting the nighttime environment.”

Capulin Volcano National Monument protects a symmetrical cinder cone volcano in northeastern New Mexico’s Union County. The volcano’s environment comprises the rolling grasslands of the Great Plains and the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo (“Blood of Christ”) Mountains, the southernmost subrange of the Rocky Mountains.

The well-preserved, extinct volcano belongs to a group of volcanoes known as the Raton-Clayton volcanic field (RCVF). A volcanic field is a region of localized volcanic activity tapping one magma source. The RCVF stretches over a distance of nearly 8,000 square miles, from Trinidad, Las Animas County, southeastern Colorado, to Clayton, Union County, northeastern New Mexico. The National Park Service places Capulin’s last eruption at 56,00o to 62,000 years ago.

The volcano measures an elevation of 8,182 feet (2,495 meters) above sea level. It rises steeply to a height of 1,300 feet (396 meters) above the surrounding grasslands of the Raton Basin section of the Great Plains. The National Park Service notes that Capulin Volcano’s highest point overlooks parts of five states: New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and Colorado.

The circumference at the volcano’s base is 4 miles (6.4 kilometers). The circumference of the crater’s irregular rim is about a mile (1.6 kilometers).

The volcano’s crater plunges to a depth of 415 feet (125 meters). The crater’s diameter measures 1,450 feet (442 meters).

Capulin Volcano’s name derives from capulín, Mexican-Spanish for chokecherry. Chokecherry trees (Prunus serotina var. virens) grow natively along the volcano’s hiking trails.

Thomas Woodrow Wilson (Dec. 28, 1856-Feb. 3, 1924), the 28th President of the United States, designated Capulin as a U.S. National Monument. His Presidential Proclamation No. 1340, dated Aug. 9, 1916, declared that Capulin Mountain “. . . is a striking example of recent extinct volcanoes and is of great scientific and especially geologic interest.” Citing Section 2 of An Act for the Preservation of American Antiquities (34 Stat., 225) as his authority, President Wilson reserved the area as the Capulin Mountain National Monument and gave warning “to all unauthorized persons not to appropriate, injure, remove or destroy any features of this Monument, or to locate or settle upon any of the lands reserved by this proclamation.”

The takeaway for Capulin Volcano National Monument’s marking its third IDSP anniversary Aug. 9, 2019, is that the date also celebrates the 103rd anniversary of the park’s Aug. 9, 1916, founding.

Contact details:
Capulin Volcano National Monument
Capulin NM 88414

Mailing address:
Capulin Volcano National Monument
P.O. Box 40
Des Moines NM 88418

Event phone: (575) 278-2201

Website: https://www.nps.gov/cavo

Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Capulin Volcano rises 1,300 feet (396 meters) above the surrounding grasslands of the Raton Basin section of the Great Plains; photo by R.D. Miller/U.S. Geological Survey in D.E. Trimble's The Geologic Story of the Great Plains (1980), page 24: U.S. Geological Survey, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Capulin Volcano National Monument's designation Aug. 9, 2016, as a Gold-Tier International Dark Sky Park coincided with the park's centennial; photo of Milky Way and Capulin Volcano by astrophotographer Kenneth Forbes: Capulin Volcano National Monument @CapulinVolcanoNPS, via Facebook Oct. 24, 2016, @ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1524655434228270

Capulin Volcano rises 1,300 feet (396 meters) above the surrounding grasslands of the Raton Basin section of the Great Plains; photo by R.D. Miller/U.S. Geological Survey in D.E. Trimble's The Geologic Story of the Great Plains (1980), page 24: U.S. Geological Survey, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Capulin_1980_tde00005.jpg

For further information:

Capulin Volcano National Monument @CapulinVolcanoNPS. “Capulin Volcano is a dark sky designation, this means one can enjoy gorgeous views of the night sky with very limited light pollution. . . .” Facebook. Oct. 24, 2016.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1524655434228270

Marriner, Derdriu. “2017 Big Cypress National Preserve Night Sky Outing, Saturday, March 25.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 22, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/03/2017-big-cypress-national-preserve.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Australia and Eurasia Have 11 International Dark Sky Parks for Starers.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/australia-and-eurasia-have-11.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Gabriela Mistral Dark Sky Sanctuary Marks First IDSS Anniversary.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/08/gabriela-mistral-dark-sky-sanctuary.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Star-Filled Four Corners States Claim 16 International Dark Sky Parks.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/star-filled-four-corners-states-claim.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Stephen C. Foster State Park Offers Darkened Southern Georgia Skies.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 29, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/03/stephen-c-foster-state-park-offers.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “United States Has 30 International Dark Sky Parks as of October 2016.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/united-states-has-30-international-dark.html

National Park Service. "Natural Features & Ecosystems." NPS.gov > Capulin Volcano National Monument > Learn About the Park > Nature. Last updated Feb. 24, 2015.
Available @ https://www.nps.gov/cavo/learn/nature/naturalfeaturesandecosystems.htm

Trimble, Donald E. The Geologic Story of the Great Plains: A Nontechnical Description of the Origin and Evolution of the Landscape of the Great Plains. Geological Survey Bulletin 1493. Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1980.
Available via U.S. Geological Survey @ https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/b1493