Lake Clark National Park and Preserve Environmental Factors

Earth's deep time and raw newness live side by side at Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. Coastal cliffs on Cook Inlet hold fossil remnants of 150 million years of sea life. But, 10,000 feet above them two active, snow-clad volcanoes, Iliamna and Redoubt, can spew out recycled Earth crust as new land surface. Mountain glaciers daily pluck and etch the spectacular scenery here where mountains of the Alaska and Aleutian ranges join. An awesome, jagged array, the park's Chigmit Mountains record centuries and millennia of crustal uplift, intrusion, earthquakes, volcanism, and glacial gouging, scouring, and mounding.

Weather, climate change, and geologic processes are constantly changing Lake Clark. Air and water pollution are two impacts that may alter the unit. Increased visitors and changing use of the area are also a major concern for Lake Clark. Park staff have begun to monitor changes in environmental factors to better identify upcoming issues and in turn will be better able to preserve those resources.