Our midday activity was visiting Jewel Cave National Monument.
Jewel Cave is very different than Wind Cave. It's wetter. It's also bigger. It's the second longest cave in the world. (It's got a long way to go before it overtakes Mammoth Cave in Kentucky as the longest cave in the world. It's not even half its size.)
Jewel Cave is about twenty miles away from Wind Cave as the crow flies. Many people have asked if they're connected. They haven't ruled out a connection, but so far they haven't found one.
What's the difference between a National Monument and a National Park? In order to qualify for National Park status, a feature must be a "scenic feature or natural phenomena" that is "sufficiently large to yield to effective administration and broad use". Size is immaterial for National Monuments. They can be large or small. The type of appeal is also inconsequential for National Monuments. They do not need to be scenic or natural. They can be historic, cultural, inspirational, scientific, or even man-made. The Statue of Liberty and the birthplace of Booker T. Washington are National Monuments. But they would never qualify for National Park status. National Monuments are established by order of the President. National Parks require an act of Congress.
National Parks and National Monuments are both owned and protected by the federal government (unlike National Landmarks which can be privately owned, such as Thomas Jefferson's Monticello plantation). National Parks are always managed by the National Park Service (NPS). National Monuments could be protected by NPS or by some other agency, depending on the type of feature.
Fun fact: More than a quarter of the land in the United States is protected by the federal government (roughly 27%)
OK, enough of my civics lesson. Back to Jewel Cave...
Jewel Cave is very different than Wind Cave. It's wetter. It's also bigger. It's the second longest cave in the world. (It's got a long way to go before it overtakes Mammoth Cave in Kentucky as the longest cave in the world. It's not even half its size.)
Jewel Cave is about twenty miles away from Wind Cave as the crow flies. Many people have asked if they're connected. They haven't ruled out a connection, but so far they haven't found one.
What's the difference between a National Monument and a National Park? In order to qualify for National Park status, a feature must be a "scenic feature or natural phenomena" that is "sufficiently large to yield to effective administration and broad use". Size is immaterial for National Monuments. They can be large or small. The type of appeal is also inconsequential for National Monuments. They do not need to be scenic or natural. They can be historic, cultural, inspirational, scientific, or even man-made. The Statue of Liberty and the birthplace of Booker T. Washington are National Monuments. But they would never qualify for National Park status. National Monuments are established by order of the President. National Parks require an act of Congress.
National Parks and National Monuments are both owned and protected by the federal government (unlike National Landmarks which can be privately owned, such as Thomas Jefferson's Monticello plantation). National Parks are always managed by the National Park Service (NPS). National Monuments could be protected by NPS or by some other agency, depending on the type of feature.
Fun fact: More than a quarter of the land in the United States is protected by the federal government (roughly 27%)
OK, enough of my civics lesson. Back to Jewel Cave...
We took the brief "Discovery Tour". The elevator takes you down into the massive Target Room. The walls are almost entirely covered in a formation called "dogtooth spar". Yesterday, we saw delicate and feathery calcite crystals called frostwork. Dogtooth spar is very similar except with large, dull crystals. This picture shows both formations.
The floor and ceiling are covered with stalactites and stalagmites. It's a very typical wet cave.
While we waited for our tour to start we listened in on a presentation by one of the park rangers about a massive fire eleven years ago. The so-called "Jasper Fire of 2000" was started by arson. The woman responsible was apprehended and sentenced to 35 years in prison.
The fire spread to an incredible 83,508 acres, including 1,150 acres of Jewel Cave National Monument (about 90% of its total land area). The historic cabin and the Visitor Center were saved by spraying them with fire-resistant foam.
More than a decade later, the forest hasn't really rebounded. The natural cycle of regrowth is taking longer than expected.
***
We're halfway through our trip. Tomorrow we leave the Black Hills and enter Wyoming.
