1.
Donner Lake
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Donner Lake is a freshwater lake in Northeast California on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada and about 11 miles northwest of the much larger Lake Tahoe. A moraine serves as a dam for the lake. The lake is located in the town of Truckee, between Interstate 80 to the north and Schallenberger Ridge to the south, the tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad run along Schallenberger Ridge and closely follow the route of the original transcontinental railroad. The historic route of the Lincoln Highway, the first automobile road across America and US40 follows the northern shoreline, both the lake and the pass were named after the ill-fated Donner Party, which wintered unintentionally near the lake in 1846. Donner Memorial State Park is on the east end of the lake, there are also various hiking trails in the park. The lakes depth has been measured by the California State Lands Commission to be 238 feet deep at its deepest point, the deepest point is the fallen tree, just off the guard rail on the north side. High water level is 5,935.8 feet above Mean Sea Level, Donner Lake holds some of the biggest Lake Trout in the state. There is also a population of Rainbow and Brown Trout as well as Kokanee Salmon. Fisherman use downriggers and troll with plugs for Kokanee Salmon and Rainbow Trout in order to catch the trophy sized Lake Trout. During the Spring and Fall season, Lake Trout come to the top to feed, a public boat ramp operated by the Truckee Donner Recreation & Parks District is available in the northwest corner of Donner Lake. There is a fee charged for boat launching, the lake is open to both power and sail boats. Donner Memorial State Park wraps around the East and part of the South shore of the Lake, summer activities include, camping, picnicking, boating, fishing, water-skiing, wind-surfing hiking and mountain biking. Winter activities include skiing and snowshoeing. The Park features the Pioneer Monument, welcoming visitors year round, the statue itself is positioned 23 feet high, which is said to be the depth snow reached during the winter of 1846 when the Donner Party failed to make it over the pass. The North shore of the Lake hosts 1.5 miles of public docks for both swimmers and boaters, there are roughly 2.5 miles of hiking trails inside the Park. Visitors can legally park in Coldstream Canyon which contains the alignment of the primary Emigrant Trail, which leads up to U. S. Forest Service, Donner lake is roughly 8 miles around which also makes for a great hike. There are 154 sites to camp at in the park and an area along the lake. A lakeside interpretive trail has 18 panels which discuss the natural and cultural resources in the local area,1915, The Bancroft Library Change of Pace Pipeline spill of diesel fuel into Donner Lake settlement
2.
Nevada County, California
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Nevada County is a County located in the Sierra Nevada of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 98,764, the county seat is Nevada City. Nevada County comprises the Truckee-Grass Valley, CA Micropolitan Statistical Area and it is located in the Mother Lode Country. Created in 1851, from portions of Yuba County, Nevada County was named after the town of Nevada City. The word nevada is Spanish for snowy or snow-covered, Nevada City was the first to use the word Nevada in its name. In 1851 the newly formed Nevada County used the name as the county seat. The bordering state of Nevada used the name in 1861. The region came to life in the Gold Rush of 1849, many historical sites remain to mark the birth of this important region in Californias formative years. Among them are the Nevada Theatre in Nevada City, the oldest theater built in California in 1865 and it operates to this day and once hosted Mark Twain among other historical figures. The Old 5 Mile House stagecoach stop built in 1890, also operates to this day as a provider of hospitality spanning three centuries, the gold industry in Nevada County thrived into the post WWII days. The county had many firsts and historic technological moments, the first long-distance telephone in the world, built in 1877 by the Ridge Telephone Company, connected French Corral with French Lake,58 miles away. It was operated by the Milton Mining Company from a building on site that had been erected about 1853. The Pelton wheel, designed to power gold mines, still drives hydro-electric generators today, Nevada City and Grass Valley were among the first California towns with electric lights. The Olympics, NASA, and virtually every television station around the country utilizes video/broadcasting equipment designed and manufactured by Grass Valley Group, founded in Grass Valley. The Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad was built in 1876, and was the railroad in the West that was never robbed. The rail line closed in 1942 and was torn up for scrap, in Grass Valley the historic Holbrooke Hotel opened in 1851 and housed Mark Twain, Bret Harte, and four U. S. presidents. The Community of Rough and Ready seceded from the Union for a time and became the Great Republic of Rough and Ready. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 974 square miles
3.
Placer County, California
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Placer County, officially the County of Placer, is a county located in the U. S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 348,432, Placer County is included in the Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is located in both the Sacramento Valley and Sierra Nevada regions, in what is known as the Gold Country and it stretches from the suburbs of Sacramento to Lake Tahoe and the Nevada border. The discovery of gold in 1848 brought tens of thousands of miners from around the world, in addition to many more thousands intending to provide goods and services to the miners. Only three years after the discovery of gold, the county was formed from portions of Sutter. Placer County took its name from the Spanish word for sand or gravel deposits containing gold, miners washed away the gravel, leaving the heavier gold, in a process known as placer mining. Gold mining was a major industry through the 1880s, but gradually the new residents turned to farming the fertile soil, harvesting timber. Auburn was settled when Claude Chana discovered gold in Auburn Ravine in May 1848 and later became a shipping, the cornerstone of Placers beautiful and historic courthouse, which is clearly visible from Interstate 80 through Auburn, was laid on July 4,1894. The building itself was renovated during the late 1980s and continues to serve the public today with courtrooms, a sheriffs office. Loomis and Newcastle began as mining towns, but soon became centers of a booming fruit-growing industry, penryn was founded by a Welsh miner, Griffith Griffith, who turned from mining to establish a large granite quarry. Rocklin began as a town and became home to a number of granite quarries. Lincoln and Sheridan continue to support ranching and farming, Lincoln also is the home of one of the countys oldest businesses, the Gladding, McBean terra cotta clay manufacturing plant established in 1875. The 1960 Winter Olympics were hosted in Squaw Valley, which is located in Placer County. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 1,502 square miles. Watercourses in Placer County include the American River and Bunch Creek, Lake Tahoe has 40. 96% of its surface area in Placer County, more than in any of the four other counties in which it lies. El Dorado National Forest in part Tahoe National Forest in part The 2010 United States Census reported that Placer County had a population of 348,432. The racial makeup of Placer County was 290,977 White,4,751 African American,3,011 Native American,20,435 Asian,778 Pacific Islander,13,375 from other races, Hispanic or Latino of any race were 44,710 persons. As of the census of 2000, there were 248,399 people,93,382 households, the population density was 177 people per square mile
4.
Truckee, California
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Truckee is an incorporated town in Nevada County, California, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 16,180, the town’s original name was Coburn Station, commemorating a saloon keeper. It was renamed Truckee after a Paiute chief, whose assumed Paiute name was Tru-ki-zo and he was the father of Chief Winnemucca and grandfather of Sarah Winnemucca. The first Europeans who came to cross the Sierra Nevada encountered his tribe, the friendly Chief rode toward them yelling, “Tro-kay. ”, which is Paiute for “Everything is all right”. The unaware travelers assumed he was yelling his name, Chief Truckee later served as a guide for John C. Truckee is located along Interstate 80 at 39°20′32″N 120°12′13″W, Truckee has a dry-summer continental climate. Winters are extremely snowy and cold if not severe, while summers are cool-to-warm and dry, the National Weather Service reports that Truckee’s warmest month is July with an average maximum temperature of 82.7 °F and an average minimum temperature of 42.4 °F. January is the coldest month with an maximum temperature of 40.9 °F. The record maximum temperature of 104 °F was on July 6,2007, the record minimum temperature of −28 °F was on February 27,1962. Normal annual precipitation in Truckee is 30.85 inches, measurable precipitation occurs on an average of 87.0 days annually. The most precipitation in one month was 23.65 inches in December 1955, the most snow in one month was 196.0 inches in February 1938, and the most in a season 444.30 inches between July 1951 and June 1952. The maximum 24-hour snowfall was 34.0 inches on February 17,1990, the 2010 United States Census reported that Truckee had a population of 16,180. The population density was 480.8 people per square mile, the Census reported that 16,137 people lived in households,43 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 were institutionalized. There were 502 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 43 same-sex married couples or partnerships,1,382 households were made up of individuals and 275 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54, there were 4,168 families, the average family size was 2.98. The median age was 38.0 years, for every 100 females there were 108.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 111.3 males, there were 12,803 housing units at an average density of 380.4 per square mile, of which 4,326 were owner-occupied, and 2,017 were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3. 3%, the vacancy rate was 7. 8%
5.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
6.
California Department of Parks and Recreation
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The California Department of Parks and Recreation, also known as California State Parks, manages the California state parks system. Headquartered in Sacramento, park administration is divided into 25 districts, the California State Parks system is the largest state park system in the United States. Californias first state park was the Yosemite Grant, which constitutes part of Yosemite National Park. In 1864, the government set aside Yosemite Valley for preservation and ceded the land to the state. Californias oldest state park, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, was founded in 1902, until 1921, each park was managed by an independent commission or agency. In 1927, the California Legislature, with the support of Governor C. C. Young, established the State Park Commission, and its membership included, Major Frederick R. Burnham, W. F. Chandler, William E. Colby, Henry W. OMelveny. The following year, a newly established State Park Commission began gathering support for the first state park bond issue and its efforts were rewarded in 1928 when Californians voted nearly three-to-one in favor of a $6 million park bond act. With Newton B. Drury serving as officer, the new system of state parks rapidly began to grow. William Penn Mott, Jr. served as director of the agency under Governor Ronald Reagan, responsible for almost one-third of Californias scenic coastline, California State Parks manages the states finest coastal wetlands, estuaries, beaches, and dune systems. California State Parks contains the largest and most diverse natural and cultural heritage holdings of any agency in the nation. The Department employs State Park Peace Officers Law Enforcement to protect and preserve the State Parks, Parks are patrolled by sworn State Park Peace Officers, of which there are two classifications, State Park Ranger and State Park Lifeguards. In May 2008 The National Trust for Historic Preservation listed the system as a whole on their list of Americas Most Endangered Places. The Parks Forward commission issued a report in 2015 that noted the lack of maintenance for many parks along with visitors who do not reflect the diversity of Californias population. The report also said the agency is using outdated technology for managing the parks, at least $1 million of more than $14 million in total proposed cuts resulting from park closures would take place during the current budget year. The deficit reducing measure would reduce or eliminate over 100 staff positions in addition to seasonal lifeguards at many state beaches. On May 29,2009, the State of California announced that it planned to close 220 parks, examples of service reductions included some parks only being open on weekends and holidays, or closing accessibility to portions of an otherwise open park. On May 11,2011, state officials announced that seventy parks would be closed due to department budget cuts in response to Californias continuing budget crises
7.
National Register of Historic Places
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The National Register of Historic Places is the United States federal governments official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation. The passage of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966 established the National Register, of the more than one million properties on the National Register,80,000 are listed individually. The remainder are contributing resources within historic districts, each year approximately 30,000 properties are added to the National Register as part of districts or by individual listings. For most of its history the National Register has been administered by the National Park Service and its goals are to help property owners and interest groups, such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, coordinate, identify, and protect historic sites in the United States. While National Register listings are mostly symbolic, their recognition of significance provides some financial incentive to owners of listed properties, protection of the property is not guaranteed. During the nomination process, the property is evaluated in terms of the four criteria for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, the application of those criteria has been the subject of criticism by academics of history and preservation, as well as the public and politicians. Occasionally, historic sites outside the proper, but associated with the United States are also listed. Properties can be nominated in a variety of forms, including individual properties, historic districts, the Register categorizes general listings into one of five types of properties, district, site, structure, building, or object. National Register Historic Districts are defined geographical areas consisting of contributing and non-contributing properties, some properties are added automatically to the National Register when they become administered by the National Park Service. These include National Historic Landmarks, National Historic Sites, National Historical Parks, National Military Parks/Battlefields, National Memorials, on October 15,1966, the Historic Preservation Act created the National Register of Historic Places and the corresponding State Historic Preservation Offices. Initially, the National Register consisted of the National Historic Landmarks designated before the Registers creation, approval of the act, which was amended in 1980 and 1992, represented the first time the United States had a broad-based historic preservation policy. To administer the newly created National Register of Historic Places, the National Park Service of the U. S. Department of the Interior, hartzog, Jr. established an administrative division named the Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation. Hartzog charged OAHP with creating the National Register program mandated by the 1966 law, ernest Connally was the Offices first director. Within OAHP new divisions were created to deal with the National Register, the first official Keeper of the Register was William J. Murtagh, an architectural historian. During the Registers earliest years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, organization was lax and SHPOs were small, understaffed, and underfunded. A few years later in 1979, the NPS history programs affiliated with both the U. S. National Parks system and the National Register were categorized formally into two Assistant Directorates. Established were the Assistant Directorate for Archeology and Historic Preservation and the Assistant Directorate for Park Historic Preservation, from 1978 until 1981, the main agency for the National Register was the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service of the United States Department of the Interior. In February 1983, the two assistant directorates were merged to promote efficiency and recognize the interdependency of their programs, jerry L. Rogers was selected to direct this newly merged associate directorate
8.
National Historic Landmark
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A National Historic Landmark is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Of over 85,000 places listed on the countrys National Register of Historic Places, a National Historic Landmark District may include contributing properties that are buildings, structures, sites or objects, and it may include non-contributing properties. Contributing properties may or may not also be separately listed, prior to 1935, efforts to preserve cultural heritage of national importance were made by piecemeal efforts of the United States Congress. The first National Historic Site designation was made for the Salem Maritime National Historic Site on March 17,1938. In 1960, the National Park Service took on the administration of the data gathered under this legislation. Because listings often triggered local preservation laws, legislation in 1980 amended the procedures to require owner agreement to the designations. On October 9,1960,92 properties were announced as designated NHLs by Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton, more than 2,500 NHLs have been designated. Most, but not all, are in the United States, there are NHLs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Three states account for nearly 25 percent of the nations NHLs, three cities within these states all separately have more NHLs than 40 of the 50 states. In fact, New York City alone has more NHLs than all but five states, Virginia, California, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, there are 74 NHLs in the District of Columbia. Some NHLs are in U. S. commonwealths and territories, associated states, and foreign states. There are 15 in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and other U. S. commonwealths and territories,5 in U. S. -associated states such as Micronesia, over 100 ships or shipwrecks have been designated as NHLs. About half of the National Historic Landmarks are privately owned, the National Historic Landmarks Program relies on suggestions for new designations from the National Park Service, which also assists in maintaining the landmarks. A friends group of owners and managers, the National Historic Landmark Stewards Association, works to preserve, protect, if not already listed on the National Register of Historic Places, an NHL is automatically added to the Register upon designation. About three percent of Register listings are NHLs, american Water Landmark List of U. S
9.
California Historical Landmark
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California Historical Landmarks are buildings, structures, sites, or places in the state of California that have been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of the criteria listed below, The first, last, only, associated with an individual or group having a profound influence on the history of California. California Historical Landmarks of #770 and above are listed in the California Register of Historical Resources. By contrast, a site, building, feature, or event that is of local significance may be designated as a California Point of Historical Interest. List of California Historical Landmarks by county National Historic Sites National Register of Historic Places listings in California — with links to list articles by county, los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments San Francisco Designated Landmarks Johnson, Marael. A Guide to California Roadside Historical Markers, official OHP—California Office of Historic Preservation website OHP, California Historical Sites searchpage — links to lists by county
10.
State park
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State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use state as a political subdivision. State parks are established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U. S. state, some of the Mexican states, the term is also used in the Australian state of Victoria. The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa, similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies. State parks are thus similar to parks, but under state rather than federal administration. Similarly, local government entities below state level may maintain parks, in general, state parks are smaller than national parks, with a few exceptions such as the Adirondack Park in New York and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California. As of 2014, there were 10,234 state park units in the United States, there are some 739 million annual visits to the countrys state parks. The NASPD further counts over 43,000 miles of trail,217,367 campsites, many states include designations beyond state park in their state parks systems. Other designations might be state recreation areas, state beaches, some state park systems include long-distance trails and historic sites. The title of oldest state park in the United States is claimed by Niagara Falls State Park in New York, however several public parks previously or currently maintained at the state level pre-date it. Indian Springs State Park has been operated continuously by the state of Georgia as a park since 1825. In 1864 Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove were ceded by the government to California until Yosemite National Park was proclaimed in 1890. In 1878 Wisconsin set aside a vast swath of its forests as The State Park but, needing money. The first state park with the designation of state park was Mackinac Island State Park in 1895, list of U. S. state parks National Association of State Park Directors Wilderness preservation systems in the United States Ahlgren, Carol. The Civilian Conservation Corps and Wisconsin State Park Development, the State Park Movement in America, A Critical Review excerpt and text search Larson, Zeb. Silver Falls State Park and the Early Environmental Movement, oregon Historical Quarterly 112#1 pp, 34-57 in JSTOR Newton, Norman T. When Forests Trumped Parks, The Maryland Experience, 1906-1950, Maryland Historical Magazine 101#2 pp, 203-224
11.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
12.
Donner Party
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The Donner Party was a group of American pioneers led by George Donner and James F. Reed who set out for California in a wagon train in May 1846. They were delayed by a series of mishaps and mistakes, some of the pioneers resorted to cannibalism to survive. The rugged terrain and difficulties encountered while traveling along the Humboldt River in present-day Nevada resulted in the loss of cattle and wagons. By the beginning of November 1846, the settlers had reached the Sierra Nevada where they became trapped by an early, heavy snowfall near Truckee Lake and their food supplies ran extremely low and, in mid-December, some of the group set out on foot to obtain help. Rescuers from California attempted to reach the settlers, but the first relief party did not arrive until the middle of February 1847, of the 87 members of the party,48 survived to reach California, many of them having eaten the dead for survival. Historians have described the episode as one of the most bizarre and spectacular tragedies in Californian history, during the 1840s, the United States saw a dramatic increase in pioneers, people who left their homes in the east to settle in Oregon and California. Most wagon trains followed the Oregon Trail route from Independence, Missouri to the Continental Divide, the trail generally followed rivers to South Pass, a mountain pass in Wyoming, which was relatively easy for wagons to negotiate. From there, wagon trains had a choice of routes to their destination, Lansford W. Hastings, an early immigrant, went to California in 1842 and saw the promise of the undeveloped country. To encourage settlers, he published The Emigrants Guide to Oregon and he described a direct route across the Great Basin which would bring emigrants through the Wasatch Mountains and across the Great Salt Lake Desert. Hastings had not traveled any part of his proposed shortcut until early 1846 on a trip from California to Fort Bridger, the fort was a scant supply station run by Jim Bridger and his partner Pierre Louis Vasquez in Blacks Fork, Wyoming. Hastings stayed at the fort to persuade travelers to turn south on his route, as of 1846, Hastings was the second of two men documented to have crossed the southern part of the Great Salt Lake Desert, but neither had been accompanied by wagons. The most difficult part of the journey to California was the last 100 miles across the Sierra Nevada. This mountain range contains 500 distinct peaks over 12,000 feet high, the eastern side of the range is also extremely steep. In the spring of 1846, almost 500 wagons headed west from Independence, at the rear of the train, a group of nine wagons containing 32 members of the Reed and Donner families and their employees left on May 12. George Donner, born in North Carolina, had moved west to Kentucky, Indiana. In early 1846, he was about 60 years old, with him were his 44-year-old wife Tamsen and their three daughters Frances, Georgia, and Eliza, and Georges daughters from a previous marriage, Elitha and Leanna. Georges younger brother Jacob also joined the party with his wife Elizabeth, teenaged stepsons Solomon Hook and William Hook, and five children, George, Mary, Isaac, Lewis, and Samuel. Also traveling with the Donner brothers were teamsters Hiram O. Miller, Samuel Shoemaker, Noah James, Charles Burger, John Denton, James F. Reed, a 45-year-old native of present-day Northern Ireland, had settled in Illinois in 1831
13.
Cannibalism
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In zoology, cannibalism is the act of one individual of a species consuming all or part of another individual of the same species as food. To consume the same species or show cannibalism is an ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded for more than 1,500 species. It does not, as believed, occur only as a result of extreme food shortages or artificial conditions. Cannibalism seems to be prevalent in aquatic communities, in which up to approximately 90% of the organisms engage in cannibalism at some point of the life cycle. Cannibalism is also not restricted to species, but is commonly found in herbivores and detritivores. Sexual cannibalism is a case of cannibalism in which a female organism kills and consumes a conspecific male before, during. Sexual cannibalism has been recorded in the female spider, black widow spider, praying mantis. Size-structured cannibalism is cannibalism in which older, larger, more mature individuals consume smaller, younger conspecifics, in size-structured populations, cannibalism can be responsible for 8% to 95% of the total mortality, making it a significant and important factor for population and community dynamics. Size-structured cannibalism has commonly been observed in the wild for a variety of taxa, vertebrate examples include chimpanzees, where groups of adult males have been observed to attack and consume infants. Filial cannibalism is a type of size-structured cannibalism in which adults eat their own offspring. Though most often thought of as parents eating live young, filial cannibalism includes parental consumption of stillborn infants and miscarried fetuses as well as infertile, vertebrate examples include pigs, where savaging accounts for a sizable percentage of total piglet deaths, and cats. Filial cannibalism is common in teleost fishes, appearing in at least seventeen different families of teleosts. Within this diverse group of fish, there have been many, one of these is the energy-based hypothesis, which suggests that fish eat their offspring when they are low on energy as an investment in future reproductive success. In other words, when males of a species are low on energy, it might sometimes be beneficial for them to feed on their own offspring to survive. Another hypothesis as to the value of filial cannibalism in teleosts is that it increases density-dependent egg survivorship. In other words, filial cannibalism simply increases overall reproductive success by helping the other eggs make it to maturity by thinning out the numbers. Possible explanations as to why this is so include increasing oxygen availability to the eggs, the negative effects of accumulating embryo waste. In some species of wasps, such as P. chinensis
14.
Sierra Nevada (U.S.)
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The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Basin and Range Province. The vast majority of the lies in the state of California. The Sierra runs 400 miles north-to-south, and is approximately 70 miles across east-to-west, the Sierra is home to three national parks, twenty wilderness areas, and two national monuments. These areas include Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks, the character of the range is shaped by its geology and ecology. More than one hundred years ago during the Nevadan orogeny. The range started to uplift four M. A. ago, the uplift caused a wide range of elevations and climates in the Sierra Nevada, which are reflected by the presence of five life zones. Uplift continues due to faulting caused by forces, creating spectacular fault block escarpments along the eastern edge of the southern Sierra. The Sierra Nevada has a significant history, the California Gold Rush occurred in the western foothills from 1848 through 1855. Due to inaccessibility, the range was not fully explored until 1912, the Sierra Nevada lies in Central and Eastern California, with a very small but historically important spur extending into Nevada. West-to-east, the Sierra Nevadas elevation increases gradually from 1,000 feet in the Central Valley to an height of about 10,500 feet at its crest only 50–75 miles to the east. The east slope forms the steep Sierra Escarpment, unlike its surroundings, the range receives a substantial amount of snowfall and precipitation due to orographic lift. The Sierra Nevada stretches from the Susan River and Fredonyer Pass in the north to Tehachapi Pass in the south and it is bounded on the west by Californias Central Valley and on the east by the Basin and Range Province. The geographical boundary between the Sierra and the Cascades is virtually indistinguishable, with the Fredonyer Pass designation being traditional, physiographically, the Sierra is a section of the Cascade-Sierra Mountains province, which in turn is part of the larger Pacific Mountain System physiographic division. The range is drained on its western slope by the Central Valley watershed, the northern third of the western Sierra is part of the Sacramento River watershed, and the middle third is drained by the San Joaquin River. The eastern slope watershed of the Sierra is much narrower, its rivers flow out into the endorheic Great Basin of eastern California and western Nevada. Although none of the eastern rivers reach the sea, many of the streams from Mono Lake southwards are diverted into the Los Angeles Aqueduct which provides water to Southern California, the height of the mountains in the Sierra Nevada increases gradually from north to south. Between Fredonyer Pass and Lake Tahoe, the range from 5,000 feet to more than 9,000 feet. The crest near Lake Tahoe is roughly 9,000 feet high, farther south, the highest peak in Yosemite National Park is Mount Lyell
15.
Westward Expansion Trails
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In the American Old West, trails were used by immigrants from the eastern United States, between 1830 and 1870. These colonists began to settle various regions of North America west of the Interior Plains, settlers following these Westward ways were spurred by various motives, among them including persecuted Mormons seeking freedom of religion. After the end of the Mexican-American War in 1849, there were many new enticing American conquests, legislation like the Donation Land Claim Act and critical events like the California Gold Rush further incited colonists to travel overland west. There were two major networks, one based typically out of Missouri and the other out of Santa Fe de Nuevo México. Three of the Missouri-based routes were known as the Emigrant Trails, the Oregon, Mormon. The trip was arduous, fraught with risks from infectious diseases, dehydration, injury, malnutrition and these trail networks have become embedded in the folklore of the United States as one of the significant influences that have shaped the content and character of the nation. The remains of many trail ruts can be observed in scattered locations throughout arid parts of the American West, travelers may loosely follow various routes of the trail network on modern highways through the use of byway signs across the western states. Travelers across what became the Western United States in the 19th century had the choice of several routes, some of the earliest were those of the Mexicans in the southwest. American trade with Northern Mexico created the Santa Fe Trail between St. Louis and Santa Fe following an 18th-century route pioneered by the Spanish Empire. From Santa Fe, American traders followed the old El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro southward to Chihuahua by way of El Paso del Norte. Branching off from that route, some settlers southwestward on the California Trail from Fort Hall, Oregon Territory to Sutters Fort, also branching off to the south was the Mormon Trail from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah Territory. During the twenty-five years 1841–1866,250,000 to 650,000 people pulled up stakes, about one-third immigrated to Oregon, one-third to California and one-third to Utah, Colorado, and Montana. The trails from these cities converged in the mostly empty flatlands of central Nebraska near present-day Kearney, in the vicinity of Fort Kearney. The most common vehicle for Oregon and California-bound settlers was a wagon pulled by a team of oxen or mules in the dry semi-arid terrain common to the high plains in the heat of summer. In later years, following the advice of Brigham Young, many Mormon emigrants made the crossing to Utah with handcarts, in many treeless areas, buffalo chips were the most common source of fuel. It crossed what was then the northernmost part of Mexico until the 1853 Gadsden Purchase, during the California Gold Rush the routes to California used were increased by the Siskiyou Trail from Oregon. In the south the forty-niners used the Cooke Wagon Road, until some found a short cut, in 1856, as part of an improvement of the route as a military road, a cutoff was built to Cookes Spring from Mesilla. From Cookes Spring the road ran to the Yuma Crossing into California and this route became the Southern Emigrant Trail
16.
First Transcontinental Railroad
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The rail line was built by three private companies over public lands provided by extensive US land grants. Construction was financed by state and US government subsidy bonds as well as by company issued mortgage bonds. The Western Pacific Railroad Company built 132 mi of track from Oakland/Alameda to Sacramento, the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California constructed 690 mi eastward from Sacramento to Promontory Summit, Utah Territory. And the Union Pacific built 1,085 mi from the eastern terminus at Council Bluffs near Omaha. The railroad opened for traffic on May 10,1869 when CPRR President Leland Stanford ceremonially drove the gold Last Spike with a silver hammer at Promontory Summit. The coast-to-coast railroad connection revolutionized the settlement and economy of the American West and it brought the western states and territories into alignment with the northern Union states and made transporting passengers and goods coast-to-coast considerably quicker and less expensive. Paddle steamers linked Sacramento to the cities and their facilities in the San Francisco Bay until 1869. The roads rail terminus was moved two months later to the Oakland Long Wharf about a mile to the north, Service between San Francisco and Oakland Pier continued to be provided by ferry. The CPRR eventually purchased 53 miles of UPRR-built grade from Promontory Summit to Ogden, the transcontinental line was popularly known as the Overland Route after the principal passenger rail service that operated over the length of the line until 1962. In 1847 he submitted to the U. S. Congress a Proposal for a Charter to Build a Railroad from Lake Michigan to the Pacific Ocean, Congress agreed to support the idea. Under the direction of the Department of War, the Pacific Railroad Surveys were conducted from 1853 through 1855 and these included an extensive series of expeditions of the American West seeking possible routes. A report on the explorations described alternative routes and included an amount of information about the American West. It included the natural history and illustrations of reptiles, amphibians, birds. The report failed however to include detailed maps of potential routes needed to estimate the feasibility, cost. This in part motivated the United States to complete the Gadsden Purchase, the U. S. Congress was strongly divided on where the eastern terminus of the railroad should be—in a southern or northern city. Three routes were considered, A northern route roughly along the Missouri River through present-day northern Montana to Oregon Territory and this was considered impractical due to the rough terrain and extensive winter snows. A central route following the Platte River in Nebraska through to the South Pass in Wyoming, following most of the Oregon Trail, snow on this route remained a concern. A southern route across Texas, New Mexico Territory, the Sonora desert, connecting to Los Angeles, surveyors found during a 1848 survey that the best route lay south of the border between the United States and Mexico
17.
Native Sons of the Golden West
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In 1890 they placed the first historical marker in the state to honor the discovery of gold which gave rise to the state nickname Golden State and Golden West. Former U. S. President Richard M. Nixon and former U. S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren were both past presidents of the NSGW. The Native Sons of the Golden West was founded 11 July 1875 by General A. M. Winn, General Winn lived in California during the Gold Rush and was impressed with the spirit and perseverance of the Forty-Niners. Today, the Native Sons of the Golden West is open to membership from any native-born, the Native Sons of the Golden West is a charitable and fraternal organization. Organized locally into Parlors, the group is perhaps best known for the number of commemorative markers it has placed throughout the state. They have an organization, the Native Daughters of the Golden West. The term Golden West is a colloquialism for California, popularly known as the Golden State. The Native Sons began as an organization embracing only the sons of those pioneers who arrived on this coast prior to the admission of California as a state. In the 1920s, the Native Sons took two different stances, one on Japanese internment and one on rights for Native Americans. In 1920, then Grand President William P. Canbu of the Native Sons wrote that “California was given by God to a people, and with God’s strength we want to keep it as He gave it to us. ”The Native Sons openly opposed Chinese, Mexican. However, by contrast, the Native Sons actively fought for California Native American rights, the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco was looking into the matter of Indian rights under the 18 treaties as early as 1909. This resulted in a section on Indian Affairs for the purpose of making a complete study of the rights, wrongs. The Native Sons was one of the groups that was active in this area, study committees were formed and publicity as to the needs of the California Indians appeared in its magazine, the California Grizzly Bear. In 1922 and again in 1925, there were articles of importance in arousing public opinion. In Nevada City, Native Sons Hydraulic Parlor No.58 aided the American Indians, in April 1913, Indian agent C. H. Ashbury came from Reno to determine if the Indian land claims was valid and to conduct the proceedings, calling neighbors, city trustees, today, the Native Sons welcome native Californians of all races. The current organization has many Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans and African American members, sutters Fort, Sacramento, By 1888 the once proud fort built by John Sutter was abandoned and deteriorating and the City of Sacramento sought to demolish it. C. E. Grunsky of Native Sons of the Golden West Sunset Parlor #25 in Sacramento led the fight to purchase and restore this most important symbol of Californias pioneer history
18.
Boulder
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In geology, a boulder is a rock fragment with size greater than 25.6 centimetres in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles, while a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In common usage, a boulder is too large for a person to move, smaller boulders are usually just called rocks or stones. The word boulder is short for boulder stone, from Middle English bulderston or Swedish bullersten, in places covered by ice sheets during Ice Ages, such as Scandinavia, northern North America, and Siberia, glacial erratics are common. Erratics are boulders picked up by ice sheets during their advance and they are called erratic because they typically are of a different rock type than the bedrock on which they are deposited. One of them is used as the pedestal of the Bronze Horseman in Saint Petersburg, boulder sized clasts are found in some sedimentary rocks, such as coarse conglomerate and boulder clay. The climbing of large boulders is called bouldering, road debris Monolith Media related to Boulders at Wikimedia Commons
19.
Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party
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The Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party consisted of ten families who migrated from Iowa to California prior to the Mexican-American War or the California Gold Rush. The Stephens Party is significant in California history because they were the first wagon train to cross the Sierra Nevada during the expansion of the American West, in 1844, they pioneered the first route at or near what was later named Donner Pass. The crossing was a year before Fremont, two years before the Donner Party and five years before the 1848-49 Gold Rush, the 50-member Stephens group left near present-day Council Bluffs, Iowa on May 22,1844. They departed with a group of Oregon-bound settlers in a train of 40 wagons. Fifty travelers left Iowa,52 arrived in Sacramento with the Stephens party, Elisha Stephens was elected captain of the wagon train because he had spent several years as a mountain man and beaver hunter in the Pacific Northwest. He also had skills as a blacksmith and he had worked at the Potawatomi Council Bluffs US Indian Subagency before resigning to go to California. Dr. John Townsend, his wife Elizabeth, and her younger brother Moses Schallenberger, were also going west, a man of vision, Townsend wanted a chance at grand adventure and opportunity in California. He would become the first licensed physician in California, the largest family group in the party was headed by Martin Murphy, Sr. As Irish Catholics, the Murphy family, along with the Martin and Sullivan families, were seeking religious, economic, and political freedoms in the West. The group included James Miller, an Irishman, who would marry Martin Murphy, Sr. s third daughter and settle at Rancho San Pedro, the party was guided by mountain men Caleb Greenwood and Isaac Hitchcock. In Wyoming, Hitchcock, who had been trapping and trading in California in 1832, the cutoff was dangerous, as it crossed 40 miles without water for livestock, but it cut 85 miles and 7 days off the established route. The cutoff was later popularized in a book and used heavily by miners heading to the California Gold Rush. Upon reaching Truckeys Lake on November 14,1844, the party left six of their eleven wagons because of getting the wagons over the pass. Eighteen-year-old Moses Schallenberger spent the winter there watching over the wagons, instead of joining them, Dennis Martin returned to the upper Yuba with supplies for the women and children. Upon learning of the plight of Moses Schallenberger, twenty-three-year-old Martin crossed the snowbound Sierra Nevada in mid-winter to rescue Schallenberger at Donner Lake, Martin showed Schallenberger how to construct proper snowshoes and successfully the two recrossed the Sierras to the Central Valley. Elisha Stephens settled in the San Jose/Cupertino area, where Stevens Creek is named for him, in 1862, he left the area, heading to Kern County in central California. He was the first non-native settler in what is today the city of Bakersfield, a state historic plaque in that city marks the approximate site of his homestead. Stephens died in Bakersfield in 1887 and he was buried in Union Cemetery
20.
Mediterranean climate
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A Mediterranean climate /ˌmɛdɪtəˈreɪniən/ or dry summer climate, is the climate typical of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin. The Mediterranean climate is characterised by dry summers and mild, moist winters, Mediterranean climate zones are associated with the four large subtropical high pressure cells of the oceans, the Azores High, South Atlantic High, North Pacific High, and South Pacific High. These climatological high pressure cells migrate by latitude according to the angle of the Sun, shifting north-eastward in the summer. These semi-permanent high pressure systems play a role in the formation of the worlds subtropical and tropical deserts as well as the Mediterranean Basins climate. The Azores High is associated with the Mediterranean climate found in the Mediterranean Basin, the Sahara Desert, the South Atlantic High is similarly associated with the Namib Desert and Kalahari Desert, and the Mediterranean climate of the western part of South Africa. Under the Köppen climate classification, hot climates and cool dry-summer climates are often referred to as mediterranean. Under the Köppen climate system, the first letter indicates the climate group, temperate climates or C zones have an average temperature above 0 °C, but below 18 °C, in their coolest months. The second letter indicates the precipitation pattern, Köppen has defined a dry summer month as a month with less than 30 mm of precipitation and with less than one-third that of the wettest winter month. Some, however, use a 40 mm level, the third letter indicates the degree of summer heat, a represents an average temperature in the warmest month above 22 °C, while b indicates the average temperature in the warmest month below 22 °C. Under the Köppen classification, dry-summer climates usually occur on the sides of continents. Under Trewarthas system, at least eight months must have average temperatures of 10 °C or higher, during summer, regions of mediterranean climate are dominated by subtropical high pressure cells, with dry sinking air capping a surface marine layer of varying humidity and making rainfall unlikely. In many Mediterranean climates there is a strong character to daily temperatures in the warm months. The majority of the regions with mediterranean climates have relatively mild winters, however winter and summer temperatures can vary greatly between different regions with a mediterranean climate. Or to consider summer, Athens experiences rather high temperatures in that season, in contrast, San Francisco has cool summers with daily highs around. In North America, areas with Csc climate can be found in the Olympic, Cascade, Klamath and these locations are found at high altitude nearby lower altitude regions characterized by a warm-summer mediterranean climate or hot-summer mediterranean climate. A rare instance of this occurs in the tropics, on Haleakalā Summit in Hawaii. In South America, Csc regions can be found along the Andes in Chile, the town of Balmaceda is one of the few towns confirmed to have this climate. Small areas with a Csc climate can also be found at elevations in Corsica
21.
Humid continental climate
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Precipitation is usually well distributed through the year. Some climatologists prefer to use the 0 °C isotherm as it is commonly used. In addition, the location in question must not be semi-arid or arid, humid continental climates tend to be found between latitudes 40° N and 60° N, within the central and northeastern portions of North America, Europe, and Asia. They are much less commonly found in the Southern Hemisphere due to the ocean area at that latitude. More extreme humid continental climates found in southern Siberia and the American Midwest combine hotter summer maxima, climatological averages are used to determine which locations are within a certain climate regime. The World Meteorological Organization has defined this average as through a 30 year period, the version from 1936 utilized a mean temperature of the coldest month of below −3 °C and there must be at least four months whose mean temperatures are at or above 10 °C. In Europe, the −3 °C average temperature isotherm was near the extent of winter snowpack. Many climatologists in the U. S. prefer to use 0 °C as the standard because they feel it better reflects consistency in regional landscapes, the 10 °C average temperature was found to be the minimum temperature necessary for the tree growth. Large temperature ranges are common within this climate zone, in addition, the location in question must not be semi-arid or arid. This is from an update to the climate regime definition introduced by Trewartha & Horn in 1980, despite the 1980 update, climate regimes are essentially the same within the Southern Hemisphere. The largest changes are seen in North America, Europe, under Köppen, the following variants of this climate are possible. The climate regime uses a three letter code, beginning with the letter D. Otherwise, The second letter f , s , A dry summer — the driest summer month has at most 30 millimetres of rainfall and has at most 1⁄3 the precipitation of the wettest winter month. W , A dry winter — the driest winter month has at most one‑tenth of the found in the wettest summer month. The third letter a , Warmest month averages above 22 °C b , Does not meet the requirements for a, within North America, moisture within this climate regime is supplied by the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent western subtropical Atlantic. Snowfall occurs in all areas with a continental climate and in many such places is more common than rain during the height of winter. In places with sufficient wintertime precipitation, the cover is often deep. Most summer rainfall occurs during thunderstorms, and in North America, though humidity levels are often high in locations with humid continental climates, the humid designation means that the climate is not dry enough to be classified as semi-arid or arid. By definition, forests thrive within this climate, biomes within this climate regime include temperate woodlands, temperate grasslands, temperate deciduous, temperature evergreen forests, and coniferous forests
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Precipitation
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In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, graupel, Precipitation occurs when a portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor, so that the water condenses and precipitates. Thus, fog and mist are not precipitation but suspensions, because the vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate. Two processes, possibly acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated, Precipitation forms as smaller droplets coalesce via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud. Short, intense periods of rain in scattered locations are called showers, moisture that is lifted or otherwise forced to rise over a layer of sub-freezing air at the surface may be condensed into clouds and rain. This process is active when freezing rain is occurring. A stationary front is often present near the area of freezing rain, provided necessary and sufficient atmospheric moisture content, the moisture within the rising air will condense into clouds, namely stratus and cumulonimbus. Eventually, the droplets will grow large enough to form raindrops. Lake-effect snowfall can be locally heavy, thundersnow is possible within a cyclones comma head and within lake effect precipitation bands. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation, on the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating. The movement of the trough, or intertropical convergence zone. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 cubic kilometres of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 cubic kilometres of it over the oceans and 107,000 cubic kilometres over land. Given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres, Climate classification systems such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes. Precipitation may occur on celestial bodies, e. g. when it gets cold, Mars has precipitation which most likely takes the form of frost. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 km3 of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 km3 of it over the oceans, given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres. Mechanisms of producing precipitation include convective, stratiform, and orographic rainfall, Precipitation can be divided into three categories, based on whether it falls as liquid water, liquid water that freezes on contact with the surface, or ice
23.
National Park Service
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It was created on August 25,1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act and is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior. As of 2014, the NPS employs 21,651 employees who oversee 417 units, the National Park Service celebrated its centennial in 2016. National parks and national monuments in the United States were originally individually managed under the auspices of the Department of the Interior, the movement for an independent agency to oversee these federal lands was spearheaded by business magnate and conservationist Stephen Mather, as well as J. Horace McFarland. With the help of journalist Robert Sterling Yard, Mather ran a publicity campaign for the Department of the Interior and they wrote numerous articles that praised the scenic and historic qualities of the parks and their possibilities for educational, inspirational, and recreational benefits. This campaign resulted in the creation of a National Park Service, Mather became the first director of the newly formed NPS. On March 3,1933, President Herbert Hoover signed the Reorganization Act of 1933, the act would allow the President to reorganize the executive branch of the United States government. It wasnt until later that summer when the new President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Roosevelt agreed and issued two Executive orders to make it happen. In 1951, Conrad Wirth became director of the National Park Service, the demand for parks after the end of the World War II had left the parks overburdened with demands that could not be met. In 1952, with the support of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he began Mission 66, New parks were added to preserve unique resources and existing park facilities were upgraded and expanded. In 1966, as the Park Service turned 50 years old, emphasis began to turn from just saving great and wonderful scenery, Director George Hartzog began the process with the creation of the National Lakeshores and then National Recreation Areas. Since its inception in 1916, the National Park Service has managed each of the United States national parks, Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the United States. In 1872, there was no government to manage it. Yosemite National Park began as a park, the land for the park was donated by the federal government to the state of California in 1864 for perpetual conservation. Yosemite was later returned to federal ownership, at first, each national park was managed independently, with varying degrees of success. In Yellowstone, the staff was replaced by the U. S. Army in 1886. Due to the irregularities in managing these national treasures, Stephen Mather petitioned the government to improve the situation. In response, Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane challenged him to lobby for creating a new agency, Mather was successful with the ratification of the National Park Service Organic Act in 1916. Later, the agency was given authority over other protected areas, the National Park System includes all properties managed by the National Park Service
24.
Protected areas of the United States
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The protected areas of the United States are managed by an array of different federal, state, tribal and local level authorities and receive widely varying levels of protection. Some areas are managed as wilderness, while others are operated with acceptable commercial exploitation, as of 2015, the 25,800 protected areas covered 1,294,476 km2, or 14 percent of the land area of the United States. This is also one-tenth of the land area of the world. The U. S. also had a total of 787 National Marine Protected Areas, covering an additional 1,271,408 km2, some areas are managed in concert between levels of government. The Father Marquette National Memorial is an example of a park operated by a state park system. As of 2007, according to the United Nations Environment Programme, federal level protected areas are managed by a variety of agencies, most of which are a part of the National Park Service, a bureau of the United States Department of the Interior. They are often considered the jewels of the protected areas. Other areas are managed by the United States Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Army Corps of Engineers is claimed to provide 30 percent of the recreational opportunities on federal lands, mainly through lakes and waterways that they manage. The highest levels of protection, as described by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, are Level I, the United States maintains 12 percent of the Level I and II lands in the world. These lands had an area of 210,000 sq mi. A confusing system for naming protected areas results in some types being used by more than one agency, for instance, both the National Park Service and the U. S. Forest Service operate areas designated National Preserves and National Recreation Areas. The National Park Service, the U. S. Forest Service, National Wilderness Areas are designated within other protected areas, managed by various agencies and sometimes wilderness areas span areas managed by multiple agencies. States and local zoning bodies may or may not choose to protect these, the state of Colorado, for example, is very clear that it does not set any limits on owners of NRHP properties. State parks vary widely from urban parks to large parks that are on a par with national parks. Some state parks, like Adirondack Park, are similar to the National parks of England and Wales, about half the area of the park, some 3,000,000 acres, is state-owned and preserved as forever wild by the Forest Preserve of New York. Wood-Tikchik State Park in Alaska claims to be the largest state park by the amount of protected land, it is larger than many U. S. National Parks. Many states also operate game and recreation areas. S, State and tribal wilderness areas Various counties, cities, metropolitan authorities, regional parks, townships, soil conservation districts and other units manage a variety of local level parks. Some of these are more than picnic areas or playgrounds, however
25.
Channel Islands National Park
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Channel Islands National Park is a United States national park that consists of five of the eight Channel Islands off the coast of the U. S. state of California, in the Pacific Ocean. Although the islands are close to the shore of densely populated Southern California, the park covers 249,561 acres of which 79,019 acres are owned by the federal government. The Nature Conservancy owns and manages 76% of Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park is home to a wide variety of significant natural and cultural resources. It was designated a U. S. National Monument on April 26,1938, and it was promoted to a National Park on March 5,1980. Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary encompasses the waters six nautical miles around Channel Islands National Park, the Channel Islands were originally discovered in 1542 by the explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo. In 1938 the Santa Barbara and Anacapa islands were designated a national monument, San Miguel, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz islands were combined with the monument in 1980 to form modern-day Channel Islands National Park. On January 28,1969 an oil rig belonging to Union Oil experienced a blow-out 6 miles off the coast of California, the resulting spill was, at the time, the largest oil spill to occur in United States territorial waters. Following the spill, tides carried the oil onto the beaches of the Anacapa, San Miguel, Santa Rosa and this spill had a large impact on native wildlife of the Channel Islands. Much of the seabird population was affected, with over an estimated 3,600 avians killed. Meanwhile, seals, dolphins and other sea life died and washed ashore on both the islands and the mainland and this spill is the third largest oil spill in the United States, only surpassed by the Deepwater Horizon and the Exxon Valdez oil spills. It resulted in a 34,000 acres expansion of the Department of the Interior buffer zone in the channel, the islands within the park extend along the Southern California coast from Point Conception near Santa Barbara to San Pedro, a neighborhood of Los Angeles. Park headquarters and the Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center are located in the city of Ventura, however, only three mammals are endemic to the islands, one of which is the deer mouse which is known to carry the sin nombre hantavirus. The spotted skunk and Channel Islands fox also are endemic, the island fence lizard is also endemic to the Channel Islands. One hundred and forty-five of these species are unique to the islands, Marine life ranges from microscopic plankton to the endangered blue whale, the largest animal on earth. Archeological and cultural resources span a period of more than 10,000 years, the average annual visitation to the parks mainland visitor center was around 300,000 in the period from 2007 to 2016, with 364,807 visiting in 2016. The visitor center is located in the Ventura Harbor Village, the visitor center contains several exhibits that provide information regarding all five islands, native vegetation, marine life and cultural history. Also, visitors can enjoy a film, free of charge. The visitor center is open day, except Thanksgiving and Christmas, from 8, 30AM–5
26.
Death Valley National Park
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Death Valley National Park is a national park in the United States. Straddling the border of California and Nevada, located east of the Sierra Nevada, the park protects the northwest corner of the Mojave Desert and contains a diverse desert environment of salt-flats, sand dunes, badlands, valleys, canyons, and mountains. It is the largest national park in the lower 48 states and has declared an International Biosphere Reserve. Approximately 91% of the park is a wilderness area. It is the hottest, driest and lowest of the parks in the United States. The second-lowest point in the Western Hemisphere is in Badwater Basin, the park is home to many species of plants and animals that have adapted to this harsh desert environment. Some examples include creosote bush, bighorn sheep, coyote, and the Death Valley pupfish, several short-lived boom towns sprang up during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to mine gold and silver. The only long-term profitable ore to be mined was borax, which was transported out of the valley with twenty-mule teams, the valley later became the subject of books, radio programs, television series, and movies. Tourism blossomed in the 1920s, when resorts were built around Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley National Monument was declared in 1933 and the park was substantially expanded and became a national park in 1994. The natural environment of the area has been shaped largely by its geology, the valley itself is actually a graben. The oldest rocks are metamorphosed and at least 1.7 billion years old. Ancient, warm, shallow seas deposited marine sediments until rifting opened the Pacific Ocean, additional sedimentation occurred until a subduction zone formed off the coast. This uplifted the region out of the sea and created a line of volcanoes, later the crust started to pull apart, creating the current Basin and Range landform. Valleys filled with sediment and, during the wet times of glacial periods, with lakes, in 2013, Death Valley National Park was designated as a dark sky park by the International Dark-Sky Association. There are two valleys in the park, Death Valley and Panamint Valley. Both of these valleys were formed within the last few million years, the result of this shearing action is additional extension in the central part of Death Valley which causes a slight widening and more subsidence there. Uplift of surrounding mountain ranges and subsidence of the floor are both occurring. The uplift on the Black Mountains is so fast that the fans there are small
27.
Joshua Tree National Park
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Joshua Tree National Park is located in southeastern California. Declared a U. S. National Park in 1994 when the U. S. Congress passed the California Desert Protection Act and it is named for the Joshua trees native to the park. It covers a area of 790,636 acres —an area slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island. A large part of the park, some 429,690 acres, is a wilderness area. The Little San Bernardino Mountains run through the southwest edge of the park, in 1950, the size of the park was reduced by about 265,000 acres to exclude some mining property. The park was elevated to a National Park on 31 October 1994 by the Desert Protection Act, the higher and cooler Mojave Desert is the special habitat of Yucca brevifolia, the Joshua tree for which the park is named. It occurs in patterns from dense forests to distantly spaced specimens, in addition to Joshua tree forests, the western part of the park includes some of the most interesting geologic displays found in Californias deserts. The dominant geologic features of landscape are hills of bare rock. These hills are popular amongst rock climbing and scrambling enthusiasts, the flatland between these hills is sparsely forested with Joshua trees. Together with the piles and Skull Rock, the trees make the landscape otherworldly. Temperatures are most comfortable in the spring and fall, with an average high/low of 85 and 50 °F respectively, winter brings cooler days, around 60 °F, and freezing nights. It occasionally snows at higher elevations, summers are hot, over 100 °F during the day and not cooling much below 75 °F until the early hours of the morning. Joshua trees dominate the open spaces of the park, but in among the outcroppings are piñon pine, California juniper, Quercus turbinella, Quercus john-tuckeri. These communities are under stress, however, as the climate was wetter until the 1930s, with the same hot. These cycles were nothing new, but the vegetation did not prosper when wetter cycles returned. The difference may have been human development, cattle grazing took out some of the natural cover and made it less resistant to the changes. But the bigger problem seems to be invasive species, such as cheatgrass, in drier times, they die back, but do not quickly decompose. This makes wildfires hotter and more destructive, which some of the trees that would have otherwise survived
28.
Kings Canyon National Park
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Kings Canyon National Park is a national park in the southern Sierra Nevada, east of Fresno, California. The park was established in 1940 and covers 461,901 acres and it incorporated General Grant National Park, established in 1890 to protect the General Grant Grove of giant sequoias. The park is north of and contiguous with Sequoia National Park and they were designated the UNESCO Sequoia-Kings Canyon Biosphere Reserve in 1976. Humans have inhabited the area for thousands of years, the first Native Americans in the area were Paiute peoples, who moved into the region from their ancestral home east of Mono Lake. The Paiute Nation people used deer and other animals for food. They created trade routes that extended down the slope of the Sierra into the Owens Valley. Kings Canyon had been known to white settlers since the mid-19th century, then United States Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes fought to create the Kings Canyon National Park. He hired Ansel Adams to photograph and document this among other parks, the bill combined the General Grant Grove with the backcountry beyond Zumwalt Meadow. Kings Canyons future was in doubt for nearly fifty years, some wanted to build a dam at the western end of the valley, while others wanted to preserve it as a park. The debate was settled in 1965, when the valley, along with Tehipite Valley, was added to the park, Kings Canyon National Park consists of two sections. The parks Giant Sequoia forests are part of 202,430 acres of old-growth forests shared by Sequoia and this section of the park is mostly mixed conifer forest, and is readily accessible via paved highways. Both the South and Middle Forks of the Kings Rivers have extensive glacial canyons, one portion of the South Fork canyon, known as the Kings Canyon, gives the entire park its name. Kings Canyon, with a depth of 8,200 feet, is one of the deepest canyons in the United States. The canyon was carved by glaciers out of granite, the Kings Canyon, and its developed area, Cedar Grove, is the only portion of the main part of the park that is accessible by motor vehicle. Both the Kings Canyon and its Middle Fork twin, Tehipite Valley, are deeply incised, U-shaped glacial gorges with relatively flat floors and towering granite cliffs thousands of feet high. In addition, the canyon has several systems, one of which is Boyden Cave. To the east of the canyons are the peaks of the Sierra Crest, which attain an elevation of 14,248 feet NAVD88 at the summit of North Palisade. This is classic high Sierra country, barren ridges and glacially scoured lake-filled basins
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Lassen Volcanic National Park
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Lassen Volcanic National Park is a United States National Park in northeastern California. The dominant feature of the park is Lassen Peak, the largest plug dome volcano in the world, Lassen Volcanic National Park started as two separate national monuments designated by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1907, Cinder Cone National Monument and Lassen Peak National Monument. The source of heat for volcanism in the Lassen area is subduction off the Northern California coast of the Gorda Plate diving below the North American Plate, the area surrounding Lassen Peak is still active with boiling mud pots, stinking fumaroles, and churning hot springs. Lassen Volcanic National Park is one of the few areas in the world where all four types of volcano can be found, the park is accessible via State Routes SR89 and SR44. SR89 passes north-south through the park, beginning at SR36 to the south, SR89 passes immediately adjacent the base of Lassen Peak. A large lodge with concession facilities was located near the south-west entrance, a new, full-service visitor center was constructed in the same location, and opened to the public in 2008. Near the old location was also located Lassen Ski Area. Native Americans have inhabited the area long before white settlers first saw Lassen. The natives knew that the peak was full of fire and water, White immigrants in the mid-19th century used Lassen Peak as a landmark on their trek to the fertile Sacramento Valley. One of the guides to these immigrants was a Danish blacksmith named Peter Lassen, Lassen Peak was named after him. Nobles Emigrant Trail was later cut through the area and passed Cinder Cone. Inconsistent newspaper accounts reported by witnesses from 1850 to 1851 described seeing fire thrown to a terrible height, as late as 1859, a witness reported seeing fire in the sky from a distance, attributing it to an eruption. Early geologists and volcanologists who studied the Cinder Cone concluded the last eruption occurred between 1675 and 1700, after the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, the United States Geological Survey began reassessing the potential risk of other active volcanic areas in the Cascade Range. Further study of Cinder Cone estimated the last eruption occurred between 1630 and 1670, recent tree-ring analysis has placed the date at 1666. The Lassen area was first protected by being designated as the Lassen Peak Forest Preserve, Lassen Peak and Cinder Cone were later declared as U. S. National Monuments in May 1907 by President Theodore Roosevelt. Starting in May 1914 and lasting until 1921, a series of minor to major eruptions occurred on Lassen and these events created a new crater, and released lava and a great deal of ash. Fortunately, because of warnings, no one was killed, because of the eruptive activity, which continued through 1917, and the areas stark volcanic beauty, Lassen Peak, Cinder Cone and the area surrounding were declared a National Park on August 9,1916. The 29-mile Main Park Road was constructed between 1925 and 1931, just 10 years after Lassen Peak erupted, near Lassen Peak the road reaches 8,512 feet, making it the highest road in the Cascade Mountains
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Pinnacles National Park
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Pinnacles is managed by the National Park Service and the majority of the park is protected as wilderness. The national park is divided by the formations into East and West Divisions, connected by foot trails. The east side has shade and water, the west has high walls, the rock formations provide for spectacular pinnacles that attract rock climbers. The park features unusual talus caves that house at least thirteen species of bat, Pinnacles is most often visited in spring or fall because of the intense heat during the summer months. Park lands are prime habitat for prairie falcons, and are a site for California condors that have been hatched in captivity. Pinnacles National Monument was established in 1908 by U. S. President Theodore Roosevelt, Pinnacles National Park was created from the former Pinnacles National Monument by legislation passed by Congress in late 2012 and signed into law by President Barack Obama on January 10,2013. Native Americans in the Pinnacles region comprised the Chalon and Mutsun groups of the Ohlone people and these native people declined with the arrival of the Spanish in the 18th century, who brought novel diseases and changes to the natives way of life. The last Chalon had died or departed from the area by 1810, from 1810 to 1865, when the first Anglo-American settlers arrived, the Pinnacles region was a wilderness without human use or habitation. The establishment of a Spanish mission at Soledad hastened the areas native depopulation through disease, archaeological surveys have found thirteen sites inhabited by Native Americans, twelve of which post-date the establishment of the missions. One site is believed to be about 2000 years old, by the 1880s the Pinnacles, then known as the Palisades, were visited by picnickers from the surrounding communities who would explore the caves and camp. The first account of the Pinnacles region appeared in print in 1881, between 1889 and 1891, newspaper articles shifted from describing excursions to the Palisades to calling them the Pinnacles. Interest in the rose to the point that the Hollister Free Lance sent a reporter to the Pinnacles. Investors came from San Francisco to consider placing a hotel there. In 1894 a post office was established in Bear Valley, since there was at least one other Bear Valley in California, the post office was named Cook after Mrs. Hains maiden name. In 1924 the post office was renamed Pinnacles, Schuyler Hain was a homesteader who arrived in the Pinnacles area in 1891 from Michigan, following his parents and eight siblings to Bear Valley. White, was a student at Stanford University, and White brought one of his professors to see the Pinnacles in 1893, dr. Gilbert was impressed by the scenery, and his comments inspired Hain to publicize the region. Hain led tours to Bear Valley and through the caves, advocating the preservation of the Pinnacles, Hains efforts resulted in a 1904 visit by Stanford president David Starr Jordan, who contacted Fresno Congressman James C. Jordan and Needham in turn influenced Gifford Pinchot to advocate the establishment of the Pinnacles Forest Reserve to President Theodore Roosevelt, Roosevelt proclaimed the establishment on July 8,1906
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Redwood National and State Parks
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The Redwood National and State Parks are old-growth temperate rainforests located in the United States, along the coast of northern California. Comprising Redwood National Park and Californias Del Norte Coast, Jedediah Smith, and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Parks, the combined RNSP contain 139,000 acres. Located entirely within Del Norte and Humboldt Counties, the four parks, together, protect 45% of all remaining coast redwood old-growth forests and these trees are the tallest and one of the most massive tree species on Earth. In addition to the forests, the parks preserve other indigenous flora, fauna, grassland prairie, cultural resources, portions of rivers and other streams. In 1850, old-growth redwood forest covered more than 2,000,000 acres of the California coast, the northern portion of that area, originally inhabited by Native Americans, attracted many lumbermen and others turned gold miners when a minor gold rush brought them to the region. Failing in efforts to strike it rich in gold, these men turned toward harvesting the giant trees for booming development in San Francisco, after many decades of unrestricted clear-cut logging, serious efforts toward conservation began. Redwood National Park was created in 1968, by which time nearly 90% of the redwood trees had been logged. The ecosystem of the RNSP preserves a number of threatened species such as the tidewater goby, Chinook salmon, northern spotted owl. Modern day native groups such as the Yurok, Tolowa, Karok, Chilula, and Wiyot all have ties to the region. Archaeological study shows they arrived in the area as far back as 3,000 years ago, an 1852 census determined that the Yurok were the most numerous, with 55 villages and an estimated population of 2,500. They used the abundant redwood, which with its grain was easily split into planks, as a building material for boats, houses. For buildings, the planks would be erected side by side in a trench, with the upper portions bound with leather strapping. Redwood boards were used to form a sloping roof. Previous to Jedediah Smith in 1828, no other explorer of European descent is known to have investigated the inland region away from the immediate coast. The discovery of gold along the Trinity River in 1850 led to a secondary rush in California. This brought miners into the area and many stayed on at the coast after failing to strike it rich and this quickly led to conflicts wherein native peoples were placed under great strain, if not forcibly removed or massacred. By 1895, only one third of the Yurok in one group of villages remained, by 1919, the miners logged redwoods for building, when this minor gold rush ended, some of them turned again to logging, cutting down the giant redwood trees. Representative John E. Raker, of California, became the first politician to introduce legislation for the creation of a national park
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Sequoia National Park
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Sequoia National Park is a national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California, in the United States. It was established on September 25,1890, the park is south of and contiguous with Kings Canyon National Park, the two are administered by the National Park Service together as the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. They were designated the UNESCO Sequoia-Kings Canyon Biosphere Reserve in 1976, the park is famous for its giant sequoia trees, including the General Sherman tree, the largest tree on Earth. The General Sherman tree grows in the Giant Forest, which five out of the ten largest trees in the world. The Giant Forest is connected by the Generals Highway to Kings Canyon National Parks General Grant Grove, the parks giant sequoia forests are part of 202,430 acres of old-growth forests shared by Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Indeed, the preserve a landscape that still resembles the southern Sierra Nevada before Euro-American settlement. Many park visitors enter Sequoia National Park through its entrance near the town of Three Rivers at Ash Mountain at 1,700 ft elevation. The last California grizzly was killed in this park in 1922, the California Black Oak is a key transition species between the chaparral and higher elevation conifer forest. At higher elevations in the front country, between 5,500 and 9,000 feet in elevation, the landscape becomes montane forest-dominated coniferous belt, found here are Ponderosa, Jeffrey, sugar, and lodgepole pine trees, as well as abundant white and red fir. Found here too are the giant sequoia trees, the most massive living single-stem trees on earth, between the trees, spring and summer snowmelts sometimes fan out to form lush, though delicate, meadows. In this region, visitors often see deer, Douglas squirrels, and American black bears. There are plans to reintroduce the bighorn sheep to this park, the vast majority of the park is roadless wilderness, no road crosses the Sierra Nevada within the parks boundaries. 84 percent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks is designated wilderness and is only by foot or by horseback. Sequoias backcountry offers a vast expanse of high-alpine wonders, covering the highest-elevation region of the High Sierra, the backcountry includes Mount Whitney on the eastern border of the park, accessible from the Giant Forest via the High Sierra Trail. On the floor of canyon, at least two days hike from the nearest road, is the Kern Canyon hot spring, a popular resting point for weary backpackers. From the floor of Kern Canyon, the trail ascends again over 8,000 ft to the summit of Mount Whitney, in the summertime, Native Americans would travel over the high mountain passes to trade with tribes to the East. By the time the first European settlers arrived in the area, smallpox had spread to the region. The first European settler to homestead in the area was Hale Tharp, Tharp allowed his cattle to graze the meadow, but at the same time had a respect for the grandeur of the forest and led early battles against logging in the area
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Yosemite National Park
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Yosemite National Park is a national park spanning portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in Northern California. The park, which is managed by the National Park Service, on average, about 4 million people visit Yosemite each year, and most spend the majority of their time in the seven square miles of Yosemite Valley. The park set a record in 2016, surpassing 5 million visitors for the first time in its history. Almost 95% of the park is designated wilderness, Yosemite was central to the development of the national park idea. First, Galen Clark and others lobbied to protect Yosemite Valley from development, Yosemite is one of the largest and least fragmented habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada, and the park supports a diversity of plants and animals. The park has a range from 2,127 to 13,114 feet and contains five major vegetation zones, chaparral/oak woodland, lower montane forest, upper montane forest, subalpine zone. Of Californias 7,000 plant species, about 50% occur in the Sierra Nevada, there is suitable habitat for more than 160 rare plants in the park, with rare local geologic formations and unique soils characterizing the restricted ranges many of these plants occupy. The geology of the Yosemite area is characterized by granitic rocks, about 10 million years ago, the Sierra Nevada was uplifted and then tilted to form its relatively gentle western slopes and the more dramatic eastern slopes. The uplift increased the steepness of stream and river beds, resulting in formation of deep, about one million years ago, snow and ice accumulated, forming glaciers at the higher alpine meadows that moved down the river valleys. Ice thickness in Yosemite Valley may have reached 4,000 feet during the early glacial episode, the downslope movement of the ice masses cut and sculpted the U-shaped valley that attracts so many visitors to its scenic vistas today. The name Yosemite originally referred to the name of a tribe which was driven out of the area by the Mariposa Battalion. Before then the area was called Ahwahnee by indigenous people, as revealed by archeological finds, the Yosemite Valley has been inhabited for nearly 3,000 years, though humans may have first visited the area as long as 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. The indigenous natives called themselves the Ahwahneechee, meaning dwellers in Ahwahnee and they are related to the Northern Paiute and Mono tribes. Many tribes visited the area to trade, including nearby Central Sierra Miwoks, a major trading route went over Mono Pass and through Bloody Canyon to Mono Lake, just to the east of the Yosemite area. Vegetation and game in the region were similar to that present today, acorns were a staple to their diet, as well as seeds and plants, salmon. In 1851 as part of the Mariposa Wars intended to suppress Native American resistance and he was pursuing forces of around 200 Ahwahneechee led by Chief Tenaya. Accounts from this battalion were the first well-documented reports of ethnic Europeans entering Yosemite Valley, attached to Savages unit was Dr. Lafayette Bunnell, the company physician, who later wrote about his awestruck impressions of the valley in The Discovery of the Yosemite. Bunnell is credited with naming Yosemite Valley, based on his interviews with Chief Tenaya, Bunnell wrote that Chief Tenaya was the founder of the Pai-Ute Colony of Ah-wah-nee
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Mojave National Preserve
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Mojave National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, USA, between Interstate 15 and Interstate 40. The preserve was established October 31,1994 with the passage of the California Desert Protection Act by the US Congress, previously, it was the East Mojave National Scenic Area, under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management. At 1,600,000 acres, it is the third largest unit of the National Park System in the contiguous United States. Natural features include the Kelso Dunes, the Marl Mountains and the Cima Dome, as well as volcanic formations such as Hole-in-the-Wall, the preserve encloses Providence Mountains State Recreation Area and Mitchell Caverns Natural Preserve, which are both managed by the California Department of Parks and Recreation. Impressive Joshua Tree forests cover parts of the preserve, the Cima Dome and Shadow Valley forests are the largest in the world. The defunct railroad depot and ghost town of Kelso are also found there, the depot is now the visitor center. The preserve is commonly traversed by 4 wheel drive vehicles traveling on the historic Mojave Road, summer temperatures average 90 °F, with highs exceeding 105 °F. Elevations in the Preserve range from 7,929 feet at Clark Mountain to 880 feet near Baker. Annual precipitation varies from 3.37 inches near Baker, to almost 9 inches in the mountains, at least 25% of precipitation comes from summer thunderstorms. Snow is often found in the mountains during the winter, the California Desert Protection Act of 1994 designated a wilderness area within Mojave National Preserve of approximately 695,200 acres. The National Park Service manages the wilderness in accordance with the Wilderness Act, the CDPA, the following climate data is for a higher elevation area in the preserve. See also Climate of the Mojave Desert, Mojave Memorial Cross Official website Photo tour of Mojave National Preserve - from USGS
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Cabrillo National Monument
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Cabrillo National Monument is at the southern tip of the Point Loma Peninsula in San Diego, California. It commemorates the landing of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo at San Diego Bay on September 28,1542 and this event marked the first time a European expedition had set foot on what later became the West Coast of the United States. The site was designated as California Historical Landmark #56 in 1932, as with all historical units of the National Park Service, Cabrillo was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15,1966. The annual Cabrillo Festival Open House is held on a Sunday each October and it commemorates Cabrillo with a reenactment of his landing at Ballast Point, in San Diego Bay. The park offers a view of San Diegos harbor and skyline, as well as Coronado, on clear days, a wide expanse of the Pacific Ocean, Tijuana, and Mexicos Coronado Islands are also visible. A visitor center screens a film about Cabrillos voyage and has exhibits about the expedition, the Old Point Loma Lighthouse is the highest point in the park and has been a San Diego icon since 1855. The lighthouse was closed in 1891, and a new one opened at an elevation, because fog. The old lighthouse is now a museum, and visitors may enter it, the area encompassed by the national monument includes various former military installations, such as coastal artillery batteries, built to protect the harbor of San Diego from enemy warships. Many of these installations can be seen walking around the area. A former army building hosts an exhibit that tells the story of history at Point Loma. The area near the monument entrance was used for gliding activities in 1929-1935. Even Charles Lindbergh soared in a Bowlus sailplane along the cliffs of Point Loma in 1930, markers for these accomplishments can be found near the entrance, and the site is recognized as a National Soaring Landmark by the National Soaring Museum. On October 14,1913, by proclamation, Woodrow Wilson reserved 0.5 acres of Fort Rosecrans for The Order of Panama. To construct a statue of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. In 1939 the Portuguese government commissioned a statue of Cabrillo. The sandstone statue, executed by sculptor Alvaro de Bree, is 14 feet tall, the statue was intended for the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco but arrived too late and was stored in an Oakland, California garage. Then-State Senator Ed Fletcher managed to obtain the statue in 1940 over the objections of Bay Area officials and it was stored for several years on the grounds of the Naval Training Center San Diego, out of public view, and was finally installed at Cabrillo Monument in 1949. The sandstone statue suffered severe weathering because of its position and was replaced in 1988 by a replica made of limestone
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Cesar E. Chavez National Monument
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Cesar E. Chavez National Monument is a 116-acre U. S. National Monument in Keene, Kern County, California. The property was the headquarters of the United Farm Workers, and home to César Chávez from the early 1970s until his death in 1993, cesar E. Chavez National Monument was established by President Barack Obama on October 8,2012 by proclamation under authority of the Antiquities Act. The monument is located among the Tehachapi Mountains in Keene, California, the property is known as Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz, which was designated as a National Historic Landmark along with the monument on October 8,2012. The monument is the 398th unit the National Park System and is managed collaboratively by the National Park Service, the Center and members of the Chávez family offered to donate properties at La Paz to the federal government to establish the national monument. Initial funding was provided by the National Park Foundations America Latino Heritage Fund, some of the monuments services and programs are still in development, but a visitor center and memorial garden where Chavez is buried are open to the public. In October 2013, the site was identified as one of several to be part of a proposed new National Historical Park to commemorate the life and work of Chavez and the farm worker movement
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Devils Postpile National Monument
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Devils Postpile National Monument is located near Mammoth Mountain in eastern California. The national monument protects Devils Postpile, a rock formation of columnar basalt. In addition, the John Muir Trail and Pacific Crest Trail merge into one trail as they pass through the monument, excluding a small developed area containing the monument headquarters, visitor center and a campground, the National Monument lies within the borders of the Ansel Adams Wilderness. The monument was once part of Yosemite National Park, but discovery of gold in 1905 near Mammoth Lakes prompted a change that left the Postpile on adjacent public land. Later, a proposal to build a dam called for blasting the Postpile into the river. Influential Californians, including John Muir, persuaded the government to stop the demolition and, in 1911. The flora and fauna at Devils Postpile are typical of the Sierra Nevada, dark-eyed juncos and white-crowned sparrows are common in the summer. The name Devils Postpile refers to a cliff of columnar basalt. Radiometric dating indicates the formation was created by a flow at some time less than 100,000 years ago. Estimates of the thickness range from 400 feet to 600 feet. The lava that now makes up the Postpile was near the bottom of this mass, because of its great thickness, much of the mass of pooled lava cooled slowly and evenly, which is why the columns are so long and so symmetrical. Columnar jointing occurs when certain types of contract while cooling. A glacier later removed much of this mass of rock and left a surface on top of the columns with very noticeable glacial striations. The Postpiles columns average 2 feet in diameter, the largest being 3.5 feet, together they look like tall posts stacked in a pile, hence the features name. If the lava had cooled perfectly evenly, all of the columns would be expected to be hexagonal, but some of the columns have different polygonal cross-sections due to variations in cooling. A survey of 400 of the Postpiles columns found that 44. 5% were 6-sided,37. 5% 5-sided,9. 5% 4-sided,8. 0% 7-sided, compared with other examples of columnar jointing, the Postpile has more hexagonal columns. Another feature that places the Postpile in a category is the lack of horizontal jointing. Several stones from the Devils Postpile can be seen at the entrance to the United States Geological Survey headquarters lot in Reston, although the basaltic columns are impressive, they are not unique
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Lava Beds National Monument
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Lava Beds National Monument is located in northeastern California, in Siskiyou and Modoc counties. The Monument lies on the flank of the Medicine Lake Volcano. The region in and around Lava Beds Monument lies at the junction of the Sierra-Klamath, Cascade, the Monument was established as a United States National Monument on November 21,1925, and includes more than 46,000 acres. Lava Beds National Monument has numerous lava tube caves, with twenty-five having marked entrances and developed trails for public access, the monument also offers trails through the high Great Basin xeric shrubland desert landscape and the volcanic field. 1872–1873, this area was the site of the Modoc War, the area of Captain Jacks Stronghold was named in his honor. Volcanic eruptions on the Medicine Lake shield volcano have created a rugged landscape punctuated by these many landforms of volcanism. Cinder cones are formed when magma is under great pressure and it is released in a fountain of lava, blown into the air from a central vent. The lava cools as it falls, forming cinders that pile up around the vent, when the pressure has been relieved, the rest of the lava flows from the base of the cone. Cinder cones typically only erupt once, the cinder cones of Hippo Butte, Three Sisters, Juniper Butte, and Crescent Butte are all older than the Mammoth and Modoc Crater flows, more than 30, 000–40,000 years old. Eagle Nest Butte and Bearpaw Butte are 114,000 years old, Schonchin Butte cinder cone and the andesitic flow from its base were formed around 62,000 years ago. The flow that formed Valentine Cave erupted 10,850 years ago, an eruption that formed The Castles is younger than the Mammoth Crater flows. Even younger were eruptions from Fleener Chimneys, such as the Devils Homestead flow,10,500 years ago, about 1,110 years ago, plus or minus 60 years, the Callahan flow was produced by an eruption from Cinder Butte. Though Cinder Butte is just outside the boundary of the monument, spatter cones are built out of thicker lava. The lava is thrown out of the vent and builds, layer by layer, Fleener Chimneys and Black Crater are examples of spatter cones. Roughly ninety percent of the lava in the Lava Beds Monument is basaltic, there are primarily two kinds of basaltic lava flows, pahoehoe and aa. Pahoehoe is smooth, often ropy and is the most common type of lava in Lava Beds, aa is formed when pahoehoe cools and loses some of its gases. Aa is rough, sharp, and jagged, an excellent example is the Devils Homestead lava flow, most of the rest of the lava in the monument is andesitic. Pumice, a type of lava, also is found covering the monument
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Muir Woods National Monument
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Muir Woods National Monument is a unit of the National Park Service on Mount Tamalpais near the Pacific coast, in southwestern Marin County, California. It is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and is 12 miles north of San Francisco and it protects 554 acres, of which 240 acres are old growth coast redwood forests, one of a few such stands remaining in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Muir Woods National Monument is an old-growth coastal redwood forest, due to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, the forest is regularly shrouded in a coastal marine layer fog, contributing to a wet environment that encourages vigorous plant growth. The fog is also vital for the growth of the redwoods as they use moisture from the fog during droughty seasons, the monument is cool and moist year round with average daytime temperatures between 40 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Rainfall is heavy during the winter and summers are almost completely dry with the exception of fog drip caused by the fog passing through the trees. Annual precipitation in the ranges from 39.4 inches in the lower valley to 47.2 inches higher up in the mountain slopes. The redwoods grow on brown humus-rich loam which may be gravelly and this soil has been assigned to the Centissima series, which is always found on sloping ground. It is well drained, moderately deep, and slightly to moderately acidic and it has developed from a mélange in the Franciscan Formation. More open areas of the park have shallow gravelly loam of the Barnabe series, one hundred and fifty million years ago ancestors of redwood and sequoia trees grew throughout the United States. Today, the Sequoia sempervirens can be only in a narrow, cool coastal belt from Monterey, California. Before the logging industry came to California, there were an estimated 2 million acres of old growth forest containing redwoods growing in a strip along the coast. By the early 20th century, most of these forests had been cut down, just north of the San Francisco Bay, one valley named Redwood Canyon remained uncut, mainly due to its relative inaccessibility. He and his wife, Elizabeth Thacher Kent, purchased 611 acres of land from the Tamalpais Land and Water Company for $45,000 with the goal of protecting the redwoods and the mountain above them. In 1907, a company in nearby Sausalito planned to dam Redwood Creek. When Kent objected to the plan, the company threatened to use eminent domain. Kent sidestepped the water companys plot by donating 295 acres of the redwood forest to the federal government, on January 9,1908, President Theodore Roosevelt declared the land a National Monument, the first to be created from land donated by a private individual. President Roosevelt agreed, writing back, MY DEAR MR, and, responding to some photographs of Muir Woods that Mr. Kent had sent him, Those are awfully good photos. Kent and Muir had become friends over shared views of wilderness preservation, in December 1928, the Kent Memorial was erected at the Kent Tree in Fern Canyon
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Point Reyes National Seashore
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Point Reyes National Seashore is a 71, 028-acre park preserve located on the Point Reyes Peninsula in Marin County, California. As a national seashore, it is maintained by the US National Park Service as an important nature preserve, some existing agricultural uses are allowed to continue within the park. All of the beaches were listed as the cleanest in the state in 2010. The fact that the peninsula is on a different tectonic plate than the east shore of Tomales Bay produces a difference in soils and therefore to some extent a noticeable difference in vegetation. The even smaller town of Olema, about 3 miles south of Point Reyes Station, serves as the gateway to the Seashore and its visitor center, the peninsula includes wild coastal beaches and headlands, estuaries, and uplands. The Seashore also administers the parts of the Golden Gate National Recreation area, such as the Olema Valley, the northernmost part of the peninsula is maintained as a reserve for Tule Elk, which are readily seen there. The preserve is very rich in raptors and shorebirds. The Point Reyes Lighthouse attracts whale-watchers looking for the Gray Whale migrating south in mid-January, the Point Reyes Lifeboat Station is a National Historic Landmark. It is the last remaining example of a rail launched lifeboat station that was common on the Pacific coast and this encompasses 5,965 acres along the coast of Drakes Bay. Kule Loklo, a recreated Coast Miwok village, is a walk from the visitor center. The Point Reyes National Seashore attracts 2.5 million visitors annually, hostelling International USA maintains a 45-bed youth hostel at the Seashore. Point Reyes National Seashore Association, formed in 1964, collaborates with the Seashore on maintenance, restoration, like underwater parks, these marine protected areas help conserve ocean wildlife and marine ecosystems. A large shellfish farm raising Japanese oysters, Crassostrea gigas, was located in Drakes Estero until, under court order, Court appeals to keep the operation in place were dropped in December,2014. The farm was purchased by the National Park Service in 1972, a federal law enacted in 2009 authorized, but did not require, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to renew the permit. The NPS and conservation groups viewed the farm as an inappropriate and environmentally-insensitive use of the estero, the farms supporters argued that it was not ecologically harmful and was important to the local economy. Salazar visited the farm the previous week and later phoned the farms owner to give him the news. The oyster farm closure was challenged in U. S. District Court on January 25,2013, the challenge was rejected by a federal court judge, who ruled that the law gave Salazar unfettered discretion to approve or deny a renewal of the permit. The California Coastal Commission voted on February 7,2013 to unanimously approve cease and desist, an attempt to have the appeals court rehear the case was rejected on January 14,2014 and a petition to the United States Supreme Court was denied on June 30,2014
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San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
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The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is located in San Francisco, California, United States. The park includes a fleet of vessels, a visitor center, a maritime museum. The park is referred to as the San Francisco Maritime Museum. Todays San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park was authorized in 1988, the park also incorporates the Aquatic Park Historic District, bounded by Van Ness Avenue, Polk Street, and Hyde Street. The historic fleet of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is moored at the parks Hyde Street Pier, the fleet consists of the following major vessels, Balclutha, an 1886 built square rigged sailing ship. Eureka, an 1890 built steam ferryboat, alma, an 1891 built scow schooner. Hercules, a 1907 built steam tug, eppleton Hall, a 1914 built paddlewheel tug. The fleet also includes one hundred small craft. The Visitor Center is housed in the parks 1909 waterfront warehouse, located at the corner of Hyde, the City of San Francisco declared the four-story brick structure an historic landmark in 1974, and the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. Inside, exhibits tell the story of San Francisco’s colorful and diverse maritime heritage, the visitor center also contains a theater and a ranger-staffed information desk. The building was built by the WPA as a public bathhouse. The architects were William Mooser Jr. and William Mooser III, the third-floor gallery is used for visiting exhibitions and in 2005 exhibited Sparks, an exhibition of shipboard radio, radiotelephone, and radioteletype technology. The Maritime Museum has re-opened after a series of renovations, the Maritime Research Center is the premier resource for San Francisco and Pacific Coast maritime history. Originating in 1939, the collections have become the largest maritime collection on the West Coast, one of these is the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association. The Visitors Center, Hyde Street Pier and Maritime Museum are all situated adjacent to the foot of Hyde Street, the park headquarters and Maritime Research Center are located in Fort Mason, some 10 minutes walk to the west of the other sites. Opening times and fees for the sites can be found on the parks website. Aquatic Park is a place for open water swimming, both for recreation and training. The South End Rowing Club and Dolphin Club are located in Aquatic Park, WPA murals and sculpture at Aquatic Park — The New Deal Art Registry
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Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site
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The Eugene ONeill National Historic Site, located in Danville, California, preserves Tao House, the Monterey Colonial hillside home of Americas only Nobel Prize-winning playwright, Eugene ONeill. Eugene ONeill had won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936, ONeill and his wife lived in the home from 1937 to 1944. At this home, ONeill wrote his plays, The Iceman Cometh, Long Days Journey Into Night, Hughie. Due to a condition in his hand, he was unable to complete another play after 1943. ONeill and his wife, actress Carlotta Monterey, showed their interest in Asian art, decor, and thought in preparing the home. The ceilings were dark blue to mimic the sky with dark wood floors representing the earth, as well as Noh masks, Chinese guardian statues, outside, Carlotta installed a garden in a zigzag pattern which Chinese tradition indicated would keep away evil spirits. They also planted trees, including pine, almond. The ONeills moved to Boston after World War II, the house was saved from demolition in the early 1970s. They did so through several fundraising projects, including performances of Eugene O’Neill’s play Hughie featuring Jason Robards. Through their efforts, Tao House was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971, a National Historic Site in 1976, the Foundation maintains an archive of Eugene ONeill-related material at Tao House and sponsors events such as productions of ONeill plays, staged in the adjacent barn. The National Park Service does not publish the address of the property, a locked gate prevents unauthorized vehicles from reaching the site. The Site occupies 13 acres accessible via car only by private road, transportation to the site is provided by a twice-daily free shuttle from Danville at 10am and noon on Wednesdays to Sundays and also at 2pm on Saturdays. Reservations are required except on Saturdays when tours are self-guided, trails from Las Trampas Regional Wilderness also lead to the site. Reservations are also recommended for those arriving for a tour via horseback or on foot, National Register of Historic Places listings in Contra Costa County, California NPS, official Eugene ONeill Historic Site website Eugene ONeill Foundation, website Eugene ONeill House
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Fort Point, San Francisco
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Fort Point is a masonry seacoast fortification located at the southern side of the Golden Gate at the entrance to San Francisco Bay. This fort was completed just before the American Civil War by the United States Army, the fort is now protected as Fort Point National Historic Site, a United States National Historic Site administered by the National Park Service as a unit of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. In 1769 Spain occupied the San Francisco area and by 1776 had established the areas first European settlement, with a mission and a presidio. To protect against encroachment by the British and Russians, Spain fortified the high white cliff at the narrowest part of the bays entrance, the Castillo de San Joaquin, built in 1794, was an adobe structure housing nine to thirteen cannons. Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821, gaining control of the region and the fort, following the United States victory in 1848, California was annexed by the U. S. and became a state in 1850. The gold rush of 1849 had caused rapid settlement of the area, military officials soon recommended a series of fortifications to secure San Francisco Bay. Coastal defenses were built at Alcatraz Island, Fort Mason, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers began work on Fort Point in 1853. Plans specified that the lowest tier of artillery be as close as possible to water level so cannonballs could ricochet across the surface to hit enemy ships at the water-line. Workers blasted the 90-foot cliff down to 15 feet above sea level, the structure featured seven-foot-thick walls and multi-tiered casemated construction typical of Third System forts. It was sited to defend the maximum amount of harbor area, while there were more than 30 such forts on the East Coast, Fort Point was the only one on the West Coast. In 1854 Inspector General Joseph K. Mansfield declared this point as the key to the whole Pacific Coast. a crew of 200, many unemployed miners, labored for eight years on the fort. In 1861, with war looming, the army mounted the forts first cannon, colonel Albert Sidney Johnston, commander of the Department of the Pacific, prepared Bay Area defenses and ordered in the first troops to the fort. Kentucky-born Johnston then resigned his commission to join the Confederate Army, throughout the Civil War, artillerymen at Fort Point stood guard for an enemy that never came. Troops soon moved out of Fort Point, and it was never again occupied by the army. The fort was important enough to receive protection from the elements. In 1869 a granite seawall was completed, the following year, some of the forts cannon were moved to Battery East on the bluffs nearby, where they were more protected. In 1882 Fort Point was officially named Fort Winfield Scott after the hero from the war against Mexico. The name never caught on and was applied to an artillery post at the Presidio
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John Muir National Historic Site
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The John Muir National Historic Site is located in the San Francisco Bay Area, in Martinez, Contra Costa County, California. The main site is on the edge of town, in the shadow of State Route 4, the mansion was built in 1883 by Dr. John Strentzel, Muirs father-in-law, with whom Muir went into partnership, managing his 2, 600-acre fruit ranch. Muir and his wife, Louisa, moved into the house in 1890, the home contains Muir’s scribble den, as he called his study, and his original desk, where he wrote about many of the ideas that are the bedrock of the modern conservation movement. The Muir house was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1960 and it became a National Historic Site in 1964, is a California Historical Landmark #312 and National Historic Landmark, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1988 nearby Mount Wanda Nature Preserve was added to the Historic Site, the John Muir National Historic Site offers a biographical film, tours of the house and nature walks on Mount Wanda. CA-1890, John Muir House, Alhambra Boulevard, Martinez, Contra Costa County, CA John Muir National Historic Site
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Manzanar
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Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in Californias Owens Valley between the towns of Lone Pine to the south and Independence to the north, it is approximately 230 miles north of Los Angeles. Long before the first incarcerees arrived in March 1942, Manzanar was home to Native Americans, ranchers and miners formally established the town of Manzanar in 1910, but abandoned the town by 1929 after the City of Los Angeles purchased the water rights to virtually the entire area. As different as these groups were, their histories displayed a common thread of forced relocation, the primary focus is the Japanese American incarceration era, as specified in the legislation that created the Manzanar National Historic Site. The site also interprets the former town of Manzanar, the days, the settlement by the Owens Valley Paiute. Let us review the main points of the debate, over 120,000 residents of the U. S. A. two thirds of whom were American citizens, were incarcerated under armed guard. There were no crimes committed, no trials, and no convictions, to detain American citizens in a site under armed guard surely constitutes a concentration camp. But what were the used by the government officials who were involved in the process. Raymond Okamura provides us with a detailed list of terms, lets consider three such euphemisms, evacuation, relocation, and non-aliens. Earthquake and flood victims are evacuated and relocated, the words refer to moving people in order to rescue and protect them from danger. The official government policy makers consistently used evacuation to refer to the removal of the Japanese Americans. These are euphemisms as the terms do not imply forced removal nor incarceration in enclosures patrolled by armed guards. Hirabayashi went on to describe the harm done by the use of such euphemisms, the harm in continuing to use the governments euphemisms is that it disguises or softens the reality which subsequently has been legally recognized as a grave error. The actions abrogated some fundamental principles underlying the Constitution, the document under which we govern ourselves. This erosion of fundamental rights has consequences for all citizens of our society, some have argued that the Nazi Germany camps during the Holocaust were concentration camps and to refer to the Japanese American camps likewise would be an affront to the Jews. It is certainly true that the Japanese Americans did not suffer the fate of the Jews in the terrible concentration camps or death camps where Nazi Germany practiced a policy of genocide. Although the loss of life was minimal in Americas concentration camps, michi and Walter Weglyns research concerning Nazi Germanys euphemisms for their concentration camps revealed such phrases as protective custody camps, reception centers, and transit camps. Ironically, two Nazi euphemisms were identical to our governments usage, assembly centers and relocation centers and it might be well to point out, also, that the Nazis were not operating under the U. S. Constitution. Comparisons usually neglect to point out that Hitler was operating under the rules of the Third Reich
