The Petrified Forest National Park is suitably named as it is full of petrified wood from ancient forests. Originally a national monument in 1906 to try and stop people from taking and destroying the “wood” or keeping it as a souvenir, Petrified Forest National Monument became a national park on December 9, 1962 (Petrified Forest National Park). Before becoming a national monument, people would be “digging, dynamiting, hauling away petrified wood in large quantities” (Muench, 1977, pp.85). The most targeted location in the area is what is now called Crystal Forest because the petrified logs within the area had quartz crystal. The final straw that broke the camel’s back causing the area to be federally protected was that a mill was built specifically to crush the logs (Muench, 1977, pp.85). Within the …show more content…
Drought escapers are the plants that “take advantage of favorable growing conditions when they exist but go dormant when those conditions disappear,” (NPS, Plants). These plants tend to be annuals, and if they have seeds produced within the favorable growing conditions, then these seeds can be dormant for multiple years. Most grasses and wildflowers within the area are normally drought escapers. Drought resistors, however, have processes and mechanisms to compensate for the drought (NPS, Plants). Some will “drop their leaves if water is unavailable” (NPS, Plants). A lot of drought resistors tend to have much smaller leaves to combat dehydration by decreasing the amount of direct sunlight and air exposure. Yuccas and mosses are two examples of drought resistors. In order to gather as much water as possible in a short amount of time, yuccas have large root systems that lie close to the surface. Mosses have tolerability to complete dehydration, and after rainfall, mosses will green up again (NPS,
In The Dull Knifes of Pine Ridge by Joe Starita, Starita focuses on five generations of the Dull Knife family which goes from the 1870s until the present. He starts by asking the reader to visualize the history of the Dull Knife family and how they had to adapt and were able to survive after the Northern Cheyenne were forcefully removed from the northern plains to Oklahoma Indian Territory and 3 back to the northern plains again. The story started with Guy Dull Knife Sr. living in a convalescent home in Colorado and would start to trace his ancestry back to the original Chief Dull Knife. George Dull Knife, his son, was born in 1875, most likely came north to the Pine Ridge reservation many years after and found his identity with the Lakota rather than the Northern Cheyenne. George
...c structures and other objects of historic or scientific interest in federal ownership as national monuments. National parks were established together with National Forest Service throughout U.S. for conservation and recreation purposes. These actions faced opposition from Western settlers and Congress members who had plans of using the land that was set aside but also the Indians who were forced to stop hunting and fishing. However, settlers were happy with 1902 Reclamation Act that put aside funds to irrigate unlivable chunks of land and previously dry.
The Great Basin of North America and Wyoming specifically, is known for its arid and semi-arid environment, as well as prolonged and sometimes severe droughts. Drought is the prolonged and abnormal deficiency of moisture with the concomitant decline in runoff to a level significantly lower than usual (Guldin 1989). The history of droughts in Wyoming has been uncertain in the past, but recent studies of tree rings in the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming have given insight to droughts as far back as 1260A.D. (Gray et al. 2004). Looking at tree ring records in Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and limber pine (Pinus flexilis) trees, Stephen Gray and his colleagues discovered that droughts which have been experienced in Wyoming since the 1750's, are weak in severity and length when compared to those since. The most severe drought period in Wyoming’s history occurred from 1262 to 1281. The droughts of the 1930’s and 1950’s, which have been used as benchmarks for all other droughts in the United States in recent times (Woodhouse et al. 2002), are ranked 149th and 28th respectively in comparison (Gray et al. 2004). The five top ranking droughts for 10, 15, and 20 year periods are all prior to the 1800’s, with the four driest single years being 1263, 1274, 1278, and 1280 (Gray et al. 2004). This indicates a change in precipitation patterns in the Big Horn Basin area of Wyoming since the 18th century, as all recent droughts have been mild when compared to those of Wyoming’s past.
The Little Missouri River eroding the mountain range is the reason that the park is as it looks today. The park is believed to be <60 million years old. Over 60 million years ago volcanos all over the west were erupting and spitting out amounts of ash. The rivers near the volcanos were gathering. The rivers began to dry out, leveeing the ash behind. The ash was being dried in layers and turned into sandstone, siltstone and mudstone while the ash layers became bentonite clay. This Bentonite clay is dangerous because it gets people stuck, like quick sand it is located throughout the park. It can pull the car tires un...
Petrified Forest National Park is located in the Painted Desert in northeastern Arizona taking up 93,532.57 acres of its land. Before the national park was established, it was founded as a National Monument on December 8, 1906 when President Theodore Roosevelt signed the proclamation. Years later, the Congress passed a bill and established it as a national park on December 9, 1962. Centuries before Petrified Forest National Park was preserved as a national park, the land was preoccupied by the Paleo people. At the onset of the end of the last Ice Age, hunter-gatherers, people who lived by hunting game and only gathering edible plants, roamed the Southwest from 13,500 to 8000 B.C. Although these people enjoy meals consisting of meat and vegetables, they don’t raise livestock and grow crops. During these years of hunting and gathering, the region was cooler with a grassland environment, and people gathered wild plants for food and hunted bison and other large herd of animals. The types of bison these people hunted are now extinct. Nomads used a device called an atlatl to throw their weapons, such as spears and darts, to hunt. By 4000 B.C., during the archaic culture, the climate had changed and became similar to the one of the present. This period of hunting, gathering, and farming had lasted from 8000 to 500 B.C. In contrast to the time of the Paleo people, the climate was warmer, people extended their access to different types of food, and people began to farm and grow their crops. Due to the extinction of animals of the past, people had to expand their source of food, and they had to include many different species of plants and animals into their meals. Two hundred twenty-five million years ago, trees fell and were washe...
Bragg, Don C. 2011. Cypress Lumbering in Antebellum Arkansas. Arkansas Review: A Journal of Delta Studies 42(3):185-196.
My first impression of this movie was the simplicity of the settings that were utilized to create the atmosphere. Even though it is a black and white movie there have been major productions with elaborate sets to provide more depth to the overall plot. This however was not the case for The Petrified Forest. To its credit though the lack of scenery was not a factor because of the depth and range of all of the characters.
Americans today tend to believe that the Colorado River drought has been a recent occurrence, although drought relief strategies have been implemented since early 1997. To summarize, in the book The Colorado River Basin Drought Planning and Organizations, Colorado is named as the original state to acquire a drought relief plan. For instance, various assume water levels are diminutive in the Colorado and blame is due to the previous ten years of drought throughout the United States. Although it is true that water levels are at a record low, initial plans in the early 1920’s to introduce manufactured structures into the water basin is the original reason Colorado’s water system began to be compromised. It follows, then the supplementary natural
The Carboniferous Period was a time period in the Geological Time Scale that came after the Devonian Period and ended at the beginning of the Permian Period. It lasted from 359 to 298 million years ago. The Carboniferous got its name from the large amount of coal deposits that were found during this time scale. In North America, the period is often separated into two, the Mississippian and the Pennsylvanian.
Extreme weather events, such as drought, are tremendously important when considering stressors to water resources. History of drought has been documented in Paleoclimate studies using long lived tree species indigenous to Texas. Tree-ring proxies are especially useful when reconstructing histories of climate change across a large region like Texas, since many can be sampled from different areas. Annual tree ring data can give a precise year-to-year temperature and precipitation records. Tree ring data has shown droughts lasting a decade or more staggered throughout the state happening randomly since the 1600’s. (why this is important to water supply) [Brenner]
A drought means there is not enough precipitation. It is a period of unusually dry weather that keeps on long enough to cause environment or economic problems which result in a water shortage and destroy vegetation, animals and crops. Drought can happen even if there is some rainfall. Bushfires and heat waves will occur because of drought. (Francesca.F, 2000)
and the importance of their history. It is the first monument to be added to the National Park
While this was most likely not his intention, his rhetoric would lay the foundation of what the average American expected to experience, and see, when out in nature. Muir’s definition of wilderness was grounded in the most aesthetically pleasing a specific environment could be, not human presence; although humans do have a habit of natural destruction. While discussing the found in Black Hills Reserve he includes arnica as one of plants, which, “Give abundance of color and make all the woods a garden” (Muir). Interestingly, Arnica, also known as Wolfsbane, is an invasive species brought over from Northern Europe. To Muir the components of a wilderness, “as pure as paradise” do not necessarily have to be traditionally native as long as it is beautiful. By placing this emphasis on beauty in the wilderness the American people expected to see a beautiful wilderness, although in reality these two are not mutually exclusive. Muir supported a form of natural improvement in which alterations to the natural world are made, but not with any economic value in mind. Interestingly, Muir suggests that our wildness is a commodity to which, we are glad to see how much of even the most destructible kind is still unspoiled”. (Muir) By the time the National Park Service was founded in 1916 the American people wanted to be entertained by, and in, nature
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 east (Canyonlands National Park Information Guide). “Island in the Sky” serves as Canyonlands’ observation tower; it allows tourists to see overwhelming vistas of the rest of the land. “The Maze,” as hinted at by the name has been described as a “30 square mile puzzle in sandstone” (NPS: Nature & Science» Geology Resources Division). This section of the park often ranks as one of the most remote and inaccessible areas of the United States. Lastly, “The Needles” is known for its diversity in rock features. Throughout this land, features such as sculptured rock spires, arches, canyons, grabens, and potholes can be seen. The varying names hint at the diversity of the land as a whole. As said by The National Park Service’s Geology Resources Division, “Traces of the Anasazi can be found in almost every canyon in the Needles. Many of their stone and mud dwellings and storehouses are remarkably well-preserved. Tower Ruins, built high on a cliff ledge in a side canyon of Horse Canyon, is an outstanding ex...
The controversy over logging, and more specifically clearcutting, is not a new issue in America. Ever since the 1920's and 1930's, when this nation started to become conscious of conservation, citizens have weighed the consequences of logging. Critics have questioned whether the increase in jobs, tax dollars, and economic growth was worth the destruction of forest lands. Regardless of what they believe today, the logging industry had become so efficient that by the late 1980's nearly 100,000 acres of federal land had been clearcut since the industry began. Logging technology has advanced rapidly in terms of speed, to meet the increasing demands for lumber, paper, and other products derived from trees. This in turn has greatly impacted the environment by severely degrading watersheds, leading to increased soil erosion, the diminution in the quality of drinking water, and the decline of fish stocks, among many other consequences. In this essay I will examine the progression of logging equipment throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and discuss how these changes in technology have not only changed the relationship of those who work in the industry, but also haw this has changed the wider relationship of society and nature.