Where The Grand Canyon And Lake Mead Collide

Canyonlands National Park, immense amounts of wilderness and rock, is located at the heart of the Colorado Plateau (Canyonlands National Park-Geology). Millions of years have formed specific features to the rock and surrounding wilderness that make it so special. Throughout the park, you will find that the sedimentary rock has formed many features such as hundreds of colorful canyons, mesas, buttes, fins, arches, and spires. The Green and Colorado rivers have played a major role in the formation of many of these features. These rivers cut through the park forming two massive canyons. This further splits the park into three distinct zones. “Island in the Sky” sits to the north while “The Maze” sits off to the west and “The Needles” to the

In 1935 the Hoover Dam was completed forming Lake Mead, providing flood control, reservoir storage, power generation and regulates the downstream flow to the Lower Basin States. [footnoteRef:20] In 1963, the Glen Canyon Dam was completed forming Lake Powell, providing the Upper Basin States with enough reserve capacity to allow them to meet their annual obligation of 7.5 Million Acre Feet (MAF) to the Lower Basin States, allowing the Lower Basin States to use the allocation.[footnoteRef:21] As a consequence of the construction of the Hoover Dam and the Glen Canyon Dam, the Colorado?s flow often evaporated in Mexican sands close to the Delta.[footnoteRef:22] Around the 1970s, the Cienega de Santa Clara had shrunken by 500 acres. Nevertheless, due to the following wet decades, the Cienega was resuscitated to about 10% of its original acreage in the 80?s and 90?s.[footnoteRef:23] Currently, the Cienega is a 40,000 acre wetland that exists due to the return flows from the Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District near Yuma, Arizona.[footnoteRef:24] This Cienega is the home of less than 100 members of the Cucapa tribe and is the habitat of several endangered fish and birds, including Desert Pupfish and Yuma Clapper Rail.[footnoteRef:25] [19: D.F.

The Grand Canyon is one of the greatest natural creations our planet has to offer. Have you ever been mesmerized by the giant cliffs, massive ridges, or the wide array of beautiful colors? If you answered yes, this paper is just for you! After reading this, you will be well educated about the Grand Canyon.

My husband and I grew up together in Apache Junction, Arizona, a small town built on a legend. It’s believed that the Superstition Mountains hold one of the country’s largest hidden treasure. Jacob Waltz, the legendary Prospector, claims to have found the gold and revealed its location on his death bed however, it has never been found. The legend lives at the heart of this town and in the hearts of the people. Namely, many of the town’s attractions revolve around the legend such as the Mining Camp Restaurant, Goldfield Ghost Town and the Lost Dutchman Days. These mysterious mountains and the dirt we grew up on have become a part of our story.

“Change in the timing and amount of stream flows and spring and seep discharges will affect a wide range of wildlife species, livestock, and wild horses and burros. Water availability from these sources could dry up earlier in the summer as a result of the early melt of the snowpack causing increased competition for water and forage across the landscape. Pipelines and troughs installed by BLM and livestock permits that provide water for livestock, wild horses, and wildlife species over tens of millions of acres may have a reduced capacity to meet these needs” (Pellant). “The Great Basin Desert is home to more than 77,000 mountainous acres of land, 5 distinctive habitats, 71 different kinds of mammals, 18 types of reptiles, and 800 different plant species” (Grange). With all this changing it will be difficult for the desert’s water to meet animal and nature’s needs for life. One animal this has an effect on is the Bull Trout an endangered fish and facing extinction in this desert

Our hike will start here, at the north rim of the Grand Canyon. We will go all the way to the bottom of the canyon. But first, a description of this area. The Grand Canyon is one on the most visited and studies sites for geologists on Earth. There are almost forty major sedimentary rock layers exposed in the Grand Canyon. Some of these rocks layers are two hundred million years old or two billion years old. Most of the sediment that makes up the rocks was deposited by oceans and seas, which now, are long gone. We know this because there are many fossils and and other records on large bodies of water in the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is found in the Colorado Plateau. The Colorado Plateau is lifted almost two miles, or four and a fifth kilometers. It started to lift up seventy-five million years ago. This started a mountain-building period of time called the Laramide orogeny. During this period, the Rocky Mountains were created. The main types of rocks found in the Grand Canyon are limestone, siltstone, shale, and sandstone. Many of the layers are made up of limestone. Some examples of these are the Kaibab Limestone, the Redwall Limestone the Temple Butte Limestone, and the Muav

In his book, Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Marc Reisner’s main thesis is to show the inefficiency, greed, and inherent difficulty in the American West’s never-ending struggle to turn its unwelcoming desert into a lush garden. One of his main sub-points is that the West is not meant to support millions of people. It has a wide range of geographic challenges throughout the entire region. Its inconsistency and diversity is a primary cause of its water problems. For example, Reisner notes that the West consists of “plains so arid that they could barely support bunchgrass; deserts that were fiercely hot and fiercely cold; streams that flooded a few weeks each year and went dry the rest; forests with trees so large it might take days to bring one down; . . . hail followed by drought followed by hail;” (23).

The Grand Canyon, an immense monument of pure beauty, the distinct feature of an American desert, the timeline of the Earth’s history, and the Pormosa for García López de Cárdenas. Percy spoke of a Bostonian man that travelled to the canyon, but was never truly there. He didn’t have the same experience of the Spaniard centuries ago, (Percy 462-463). The Grand Canyon may have changed in form from the erosion and corrosion, yet he didn’t take the same actions of Cárdenas. The man knew about the canyon before even seeing it for the first time, due to previously seen postcards and pictures, he couldn’t have the full feeling of awe at the tremendous depth and vibrant colors in something that is just more than a big, long rock. The author continued on by stating, “At the

Traditionally the Western Shoshone Nation’s ancestral land covers an area spanning from southern California, clear through Nevada, and barely touching southern Idaho. Within this scope of land is the previously mentioned Yucca Mountain, but also Mount Tenabo, a mountain in the Cortez Range of Northern Nevada, which is currently subject to mining. This large area of land is know as the Great Basin, where the habitat is dependent on the rain and snow melt water which comes off the high mountains, feeding the creeks which keep the living, living. Mount Tenabo is one such mountain; however it also holds a place in Shoshone creation stories, and is the site of ancient burials causing it to be of great importance to the entire nation of the Western Shoshone. The people of the Western Shoshone Nation still use the mountain to gather medical plants from these sacred places of their ancestors, and hold ceremonies.

In the providence canyon you can see things you don't see everyday, for example the rare plumleaf azalea. The plumleaf azalea is a flower that is found only in soutwest Georgia and eastern Aladama. During July and August the canyon floor is filled with the flowers, it is the largest colony known in the world. Wildlife is also something that the people can see while at little grand canyon. The canyon has lots of wildlife with in it, many of the people who visit can see animals in the wild for them selves. People who hunt and send time in the woods much see lots of animals, as for others who work or don't have time little grand canyon would be a great vacation. Red foxes are not a comman animal to see in the time of day everyday. The little grand canyon offers the opertunity to see woodpeckers, white-tail deer, and red foxes, as you stroll through the canyon. Little grand canyon has cliffs that are more than 150 feet into the earth, with different varieties of sand. The cliffs have many types of sand, like sediment. silt, etc. The sand had been compacted for millions of years, to form what it is

Generally when one thinks of the American west their mind jumps to an image of untouched, unspoiled land, such as the land that is represented by America’s national parks. These tourist destinations in the West showcase the history of our nation’s land in a way that many people assume is and has always been the reality, but although the natural beauty of these lands is represented perhaps the beauty of the cultures that used to inhabit them is not.

Bear Butte, is still one of the most sacred places for both the Cheyenne and the Oceti Sakowin peoples. There are many people who are trying to reconnect their culture back to the mountain’s spiritualness. Sadly, this sacred site is constantly being threatened by outside forces, potentially destroying the sacredness of the mountain. Today, there are many people, both native and non native, who are fighting against these incroaching forces on Bear Butte. Many people are working togather to get rid of the problems surrounding the sacred mountain.

In the book The Great Smokies From Natural Habitat to National Park, one can see the true passion and application that the author, Daniel S. Pierce, holds for one of the United States most prized possession, the Great Smoky Mountains. Like most, he is intrigued by the incomparable beauty and thrill of the wilderness, with his main goal being to show that the propose of this national park isn’t just to protect undeveloped land but more to reclaim the wildness and all it stands for. He looks in-depth to the different land use of the smokies over time and the people who have called it home for centuries with his lager focus on the movement to turn the Great Smokies in to the national park it is today.

The BLB was a response to the violation of the Sioux treaty of 1868. Both, the Sioux tribes and the U.S. Government (USG) signed a treaty in 1868, guaranteeing the Indians ownership of the Black Hills and hunting rights (Staff, 2009). However, General Custer led an expedition of miners into the Black Hills that discovered gold in 1874. According to Corbin (2000), the Black Hills stretch across western South Dakota, northeast Wyoming and southeast Montana. Indians consider the Black Hills a sacred landscape because it is the spiritual center of the Sioux nation. The discovery of gold in the Black Hills attracted gold hunters who crossed into Indian lands, not caring of the significance of the land. According to the History Channel, this betrayal and breach of the treaty led many Sioux and Cheyenne tribesmen to leave their reservations and joined Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse (Famous Sioux warrior leaders) in Montana. By spring of 1876, more than 10,000 Native Americans gathered in a camp along the Little Bighorn River (UNK, 2009). The USG offered to buy the Black Hills for $6

After all, the Native Americans who had been living in these Great Plains had survived solely off their surrounding natural amenities. Bounteous grasslands, valuable gold deposits, silver deposits, copper deposits, oil reserves, fertile ground, water supply, and adequate lumber permeated the region (Berkin 440-444). Particularly, the Gold Rush of 1849 led to a bulging population growth specifically in California that therefore assisted in improving economic conditions for the United States and stirring development of new mining technologies (Berkin 437). In fact, the government strongly encouraged the investment in such manufacturing of raw materials by willing entrepreneurs and investors. Essentially, agricultural innovations like irrigation systems, drought-resistant wheat seed, dry farming methods, steel plows, barbed wire, reapers, and much more changed the lifestyle of the entire population (Berkin