1.
North America
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North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers, about 16. 5% of the land area. North America is the third largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 565 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7. 5% of the worlds population, North America was reached by its first human populations during the last glacial period, via crossing the Bering land bridge. The so-called Paleo-Indian period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago, the Classic stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ended with the migrations and the arrival of European settlers during the Age of Discovery. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect different kind of interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants, European influences are strongest in the northern parts of the continent while indigenous and African influences are relatively stronger in the south. Because of the history of colonialism, most North Americans speak English, Spanish or French, the Americas are usually accepted as having been named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann. Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a map, in which he placed the word America on the continent of South America. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio, for Waldseemüller, no one should object to the naming of the land after its discoverer. He used the Latinized version of Vespuccis name, but in its feminine form America, following the examples of Europa, Asia and Africa. Later, other mapmakers extended the name America to the continent, In 1538. Some argue that the convention is to use the surname for naming discoveries except in the case of royalty, a minutely explored belief that has been advanced is that America was named for a Spanish sailor bearing the ancient Visigothic name of Amairick. Another is that the name is rooted in a Native American language, the term North America maintains various definitions in accordance with location and context. In Canadian English, North America may be used to refer to the United States, alternatively, usage sometimes includes Greenland and Mexico, as well as offshore islands
2.
Rocky Mountains
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The Rocky Mountains, commonly known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 3,000 miles from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the Southwestern United States. Within the North American Cordillera, the Rockies are somewhat distinct from the Pacific Coast Ranges, the Rocky Mountains were initially formed from 80 million to 55 million years ago during the Laramide orogeny, in which a number of plates began to slide underneath the North American plate. The angle of subduction was shallow, resulting in a belt of mountains running down western North America. Since then, further tectonic activity and erosion by glaciers have sculpted the Rockies into dramatic peaks, at the end of the last ice age, humans started to inhabit the mountain range. The first mention of their present name by a European was in the journal of Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre in 1752, the Rocky Mountains are commonly defined as stretching from the Liard River in British Columbia south to the Rio Grande in New Mexico. The United States definition of the Rockies includes the Cabinet and Salish Mountains of Idaho and their counterparts north of the Kootenai River, the Columbia Mountains, are considered a separate system in Canada, lying to the west of the huge Rocky Mountain Trench. This runs the length of British Columbia from its beginnings in the middle Flathead River valley in western Montana to the bank of the Liard River. The Rockies vary in width from 70 to 300 miles, also west of the Rocky Mountain Trench, farther north and facing the Muskwa Range across the trench, are the Stikine Ranges and Omineca Mountains of the Interior Mountains system of British Columbia. A small area east of Prince George, British Columbia on the side of the Trench. In Canada geographers define three main groups of ranges, the Continental Ranges, Hart Ranges and Muskwa Ranges, the Muskwa and Hart Ranges together comprise what is known as the Northern Rockies. The western edge of the Rockies includes ranges such as the Wasatch near Salt Lake City, the Great Basin and Columbia River Plateau separate these sub-ranges from distinct ranges further to the west, most prominent among which are the Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range and Coast Mountains. The Rocky Mountain System within the United States is a United States physiographic region, the Rocky Mountains are notable for containing the highest peaks in central North America. The ranges highest peak is Mount Elbert located in Colorado at 14,440 feet above sea level, Mount Robson in British Columbia, at 12,972 feet, is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. The Continental Divide of the Americas is located in the Rocky Mountains, triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park is so named because water that falls on the mountain reaches not only the Atlantic and Pacific, but Hudson Bay as well. Farther north in Alberta, the Athabasca and other rivers feed the basin of the Mackenzie River, see Rivers of the Rocky Mountains for a list of rivers. Human population is not very dense in the Rocky Mountains, with an average of four people per square kilometer, however, the human population grew rapidly in the Rocky Mountain states between 1950 and 1990. The 40-year statewide increases in range from 35% in Montana to about 150% in Utah
3.
Plain
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In geography, a plain is a flat, sweeping landmass that generally does not change much in elevation. Plains occur as lowlands along the bottoms of valleys or on the doorsteps of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands. In a valley, a plain is enclosed on two sides but in other cases a plain may be delineated by a complete or partial ring of hills, where a geological region contains more than one plain, they may be connected by a pass. Coastal plains would mostly rise from sea level until they run into elevated features such as mountains or plateaus, plains are one of the major landforms on earth, where they are present on all continents, and would cover more than one-third of the world’s land area. Plains may have formed from flowing lava, deposited by water, ice, wind, or formed by erosion by these agents from hills. Plains would generally be under the grassland, steppe, savannah or tundra biomes, in a few instances, deserts and rainforests can also be plains. Structural plains are relatively undisturbed horizontal surfaces of the Earth and they are structurally depressed areas of the world that make up some of the most extensive natural lowlands on the Earths surface. Erosional plains have been leveled by various agents of such as running water, rivers, wind and glacier which wear out the rugged surface. Plain resulting from the action of these agents of denudation are called peneplains while plains formed from wind action are called pediplains, depositional plains formed by the deposition of materials brought by various agents of transportation such as rivers, wind, waves, and glaciers. Their fertility and economic relevance depend greatly on the types of sediments that are laid down, flood plain, adjacent to a stream, river, lake or wetland that experiences occasional or periodic flooding. Scroll plain, a plain through which a river meanders with a low gradient. Lacustrine plain, a plain that originally formed in a lacustrine environment, lava plain, formed by sheets of flowing lava. Glacial plains, formed by the movement of glaciers under the force of gravity, Sandur, sandar consist mainly of stratified gravel and sand. Till plain, a plain of glacial till that forms when a sheet of ice becomes detached from the body of a glacier. Till plains are composed of unsorted material of all sizes, abyssal plain, a flat or very gently sloping area of the deep ocean basin. Planitia, the Latin word for plain, is used in the naming of plains on extraterrestrial objects, such as Hellas Planitia on Mars or Sedna Planitia on Venus
4.
Bureau of Land Management
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President Harry S. Truman created the BLM in 1946 by combining two existing agencies, the General Land Office and the Grazing Service. Most BLM public lands are located in these 12 western states, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. The mission of the BLM is to sustain the health, diversity, originally BLM holdings were described as land nobody wanted because homesteaders had passed them by. All the same, ranchers hold nearly 18,000 permits, the agency manages 221 wilderness areas,23 national monuments and some 636 other protected areas as part of the National Landscape Conservation System totaling about 30 million acres. There are more than 63,000 oil and gas wells on BLM public lands, total energy leases generated approximately $5.4 billion in 2013, an amount divided among the Treasury, the states, and Native American groups. The BLMs roots go back to the Land Ordinance of 1785 and these laws provided for the survey and settlement of the lands that the original 13 colonies ceded to the federal government after the American Revolution. As additional lands were acquired by the United States from Spain, France and other countries, the United States Congress directed that they be explored, surveyed, during the Revolutionary War, military bounty land was promised to soldiers who fought for the colonies. After the war, the Treaty of Paris of 1783, signed by the United States, England, France, in the 1780s, other states relinquished their own claims to land in modern-day Ohio. By this time, the United States needed revenue to function, Land was sold so that the government would have money to survive. In order to sell the land, surveys needed to be conducted, the Land Ordinance of 1785 instructed a geographer to oversee this work as undertaken by a group of surveyors. The first years of surveying were completed by trial and error, once the territory of Ohio had been surveyed, in 1812, Congress established the General Land Office as part of the Department of the Treasury to oversee the disposition of these federal lands. By the early 1800s, promised bounty land claims were finally fulfilled, over the years, other bounty land and homestead laws were enacted to dispose of federal land. Several different types of patents existed and these include cash entry, credit, homestead, Indian, military warrants, mineral certificates, private land claims, railroads, state selections, swamps, town sites, and town lots. A system of land offices spread throughout the territories, patenting land that was surveyed via the corresponding Office of the Surveyor General of a particular territory. This pattern gradually spread across the entire United States, the laws that spurred this system with the exception of the General Mining Law of 1872 and the Desert Land Act of 1877 have since been repealed or superseded. The Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 allowed leasing, exploration, and production of selected commodities, such as coal, oil, gas, the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 established the United States Grazing Service to manage the public rangelands by establishment of advisory boards that set grazing fees. The Oregon and California Revested Lands Sustained Yield Management Act of 1937, commonly referred as the O&C Act, in 1946, the Grazing Service was merged with the General Land Office to form the Bureau of Land Management within the Department of the Interior. It took several years for new agency to integrate and reorganize
5.
Montana
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Montana /mɒnˈtænə/ is a state in the Western region of the United States. The states name is derived from the Spanish word montaña, Montana has several nicknames, although none official, including Big Sky Country and The Treasure State, and slogans that include Land of the Shining Mountains and more recently The Last Best Place. Montana has a 545-mile border with three Canadian provinces, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, the state to do so. It also borders North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, Montana is ranked 4th in size, but 44th in population and 48th in population density of the 50 United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges, smaller island ranges are found throughout the state. In total,77 named ranges are part of the Rocky Mountains, the eastern half of Montana is characterized by western prairie terrain and badlands. The economy is based on agriculture, including ranching and cereal grain farming. Other significant economic activities include oil, gas, coal and hard rock mining, lumber, the health care, service, and government sectors also are significant to the states economy. Millions of tourists annually visit Glacier National Park, the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, the name Montana comes from the Spanish word Montaña and the Latin word Montana, meaning mountain, or more broadly, mountainous country. Montaña del Norte was the name given by early Spanish explorers to the mountainous region of the west. The name was changed by Representatives Henry Wilson and Benjamin F. Harding, when Ashley presented a bill to establish a temporary government in 1864 for a new territory to be carved out of Idaho, he again chose Montana Territory. This time Rep. Samuel Cox, also of Ohio, objected to the name, Cox complained that the name was a misnomer given most of the territory was not mountainous and that a Native American name would be more appropriate than a Spanish one. Other names such as Shoshone were suggested, but it was decided that the Committee on Territories could name it whatever they wanted, with an area of 147,040 square miles, Montana is slightly larger than Japan. It is the fourth largest state in the United States after Alaska, Texas, and California, the largest landlocked U. S. state, and the worlds 56th largest national state/province subdivision. To the north, Montana shares a 545-mile border with three Canadian provinces, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, the state to do so. It borders North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, the states topography is roughly defined by the Continental Divide, which splits much of the state into distinct eastern and western regions. Most of Montanas 100 or more named mountain ranges are in the western half. The Absaroka and Beartooth ranges in the states south-central part are part of the Central Rocky Mountains
6.
Gulf of Mexico
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The Gulf of Mexico is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. The U. S. states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas border the Gulf on the north, Atlantic and Pacific coasts, or sometimes the south coast, in juxtaposition to the Great Lakes region being the north coast. One of the seven main areas is the Gulf of Mexico basin. The Gulf of Mexico formed approximately 300 million years ago as a result of plate tectonics, the Gulfs basin is roughly oval and is approximately 810 nautical miles wide and floored by sedimentary rocks and recent sediments. It is connected to part of the Atlantic Ocean through the Florida Straits between the U. S. and Cuba, and with the Caribbean Sea via the Yucatan Channel between Mexico and Cuba, with the narrow connection to the Atlantic, the Gulf experiences very small tidal ranges. The size of the Gulf basin is approximately 1.6 million km2, almost half of the basin is shallow continental shelf waters. The basin contains a volume of roughly 2,500 quadrillion liters, the consensus among geologists who have studied the geology of the Gulf of Mexico, is that prior to the Late Triassic, the Gulf of Mexico did not exist. It was created by the collision of plates that formed Pangea. As interpreted by Roy Van Arsdale and Randel T. Cox, geologists and other Earth scientists agree in general that the present Gulf of Mexico basin originated in Late Triassic time as the result of rifting within Pangea. The rifting was associated with zones of weakness within Pangea, including sutures where the Laurentia, South American, first, there was a Late Triassic-Early Jurassic phase of rifting during which rift valleys formed and filled with continental red beds. Second, as rifting progressed through Early and Middle Jurassic time and it was at this time that tectonics first created a connection to the Pacific Ocean across central Mexico and later eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. This flooded the basin created by rifting and crustal thinning to create the Gulf of Mexico. While the Gulf of Mexico was a basin, the subsiding transitional crust was blanketed by the widespread deposition of Louann Salt. Initially, during the Late Jurassic, continued rifting widened the Gulf of Mexico and progressed to the point that sea-floor spreading, at this point, sufficient circulation with the Atlantic Ocean was established that the deposition of Louann Salt ceased. During the Late Jurassic through Early Cretaceous, the occupied by the Gulf of Mexico experienced a period of cooling. The subsidence was the result of a combination of stretching, cooling. Initially, the combination of stretching and cooling caused about 5–7 km of tectonic subsidence of the central thin transitional
7.
Hail
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Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets, though the two are often confused and it consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets falls generally in cold weather while hail growth is inhibited during cold surface temperatures. Unlike graupel, which is made of rime, and ice pellets, the METAR reporting code for hail 5 mm or greater is GR, while smaller hailstones and graupel are coded GS. Hail is possible within most thunderstorms as it is produced by cumulonimbus, Hail formation requires environments of strong, upward motion of air with the parent thunderstorm and lowered heights of the freezing level. In the mid-latitudes, hail forms near the interiors of continents, while in the tropics, there are methods available to detect hail-producing thunderstorms using weather satellites and weather radar imagery. Severe weather warnings are issued for hail when the stones reach a size, as it can cause serious damage to human-made structures and, most commonly. Any thunderstorm which produces hail that reaches the ground is known as a hailstorm, Hail has a diameter of 5 millimetres or more. Hailstones can grow to 15 centimetres and weigh more than 0.5 kilograms, unlike ice pellets, hailstones are layered and can be irregular and clumped together. Although the diameter of hail is varied, in the United States, stones larger than 2 cm are usually considered large enough to cause damage. The Meteorological Service of Canada issues severe thunderstorm warnings when hail that size or above is expected, the US National Weather Service has a 2.5 cm or greater in diameter threshold, effective January 2010, an increase over the previous threshold of ¾-inch hail. Other countries have different thresholds according local sensitivity to hail, for grape growing areas could be adversely impacted by smaller hailstones. Hailstones can be large or very small, depending on how strong the updraft is. These types of strong updrafts can also indicate the presence of a tornado, the growth rate is maximized where air is near a temperature of −13 °C. Like other precipitation in clouds, hail begins as water droplets. As the droplets rise and the temperature goes below freezing, they become supercooled water, a cross-section through a large hailstone shows an onion-like structure. This means the hailstone is made of thick and translucent layers, alternating layers that are thin, white. Former theory suggested that hailstones were subjected to multiple descents and ascents, falling into a zone of humidity and this up and down motion was thought to be responsible for the successive layers of the hailstone
8.
Thunderstorm
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Thunderstorms occur in association with a type of cloud known as a cumulonimbus. They are usually accompanied by winds, heavy rain, and sometimes snow, sleet, hail, or, in contrast. Thunderstorms may line up in a series or become a rainband, strong or severe thunderstorms, known as supercells, rotate as do cyclones. Thunderstorms result from the upward movement of warm, moist air. As the warm, moist air moves upward, it cools, condenses, as the rising air reaches its dew point temperature, water vapor condenses into water droplets or ice, reducing pressure locally within the thunderstorm cell. Any precipitation falls the long distance through the clouds towards the Earths surface, as the droplets fall, they collide with other droplets and become larger. Thunderstorms can form and develop in any location but most frequently within the mid-latitude. Thunderstorms are responsible for the development and formation of many weather phenomena. Thunderstorms, and the phenomena that occur along them, pose great hazards. Damage that results from thunderstorms is mainly inflicted by downburst winds, large hailstones, stronger thunderstorm cells are capable of producing tornadoes and waterspouts. There are four types of thunderstorms, single-cell, multi-cell cluster, multi-cell lines, supercell thunderstorms are the strongest and the most associated with severe weather phenomena. Mesoscale convective systems formed by vertical wind shear within the tropics and subtropics can be responsible for the development of hurricanes. Dry thunderstorms, with no precipitation, can cause the outbreak of wildfires from the heat generated from the lightning that accompanies them. Several means are used to study thunderstorms, weather radar, weather stations, past civilizations held various myths concerning thunderstorms and their development as late as the 18th century. Beyond the Earths atmosphere, thunderstorms have also observed on the planets of Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune. Warm air has a lower density than air, so warmer air rises upwards. Clouds form as relatively warmer air, carrying moisture, rises within cooler air, the moist air rises, and, as it does so, it cools and some of the water vapor in that rising air condenses. If enough instability is present in the atmosphere, this process will continue long enough for cumulonimbus clouds to form and produce lightning, Meteorological indices such as convective available potential energy and the lifted index can be used to assist in determining potential upward vertical development of clouds
9.
Tornado
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A tornado is a rapidly rotating column of air that spins while in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. Most tornadoes have wind speeds less than 110 miles per hour, are about 250 feet across, the most extreme tornadoes can attain wind speeds of more than 300 miles per hour, are more than two miles in diameter, and stay on the ground for dozens of miles. Various types of tornadoes include the multiple vortex tornado, landspout and waterspout, waterspouts are characterized by a spiraling funnel-shaped wind current, connecting to a large cumulus or cumulonimbus cloud. They are generally classified as non-supercellular tornadoes that develop over bodies of water and these spiraling columns of air frequently develop in tropical areas close to the equator, and are less common at high latitudes. Other tornado-like phenomena that exist in nature include the gustnado, dust devil, fire whirls, downbursts are frequently confused with tornadoes, though their action is dissimilar. Tornadoes have been observed and documented on every continent except Antarctica, however, the vast majority of tornadoes occur in the Tornado Alley region of the United States, although they can occur nearly anywhere in North America. There are several scales for rating the strength of tornadoes, the Fujita scale rates tornadoes by damage caused and has been replaced in some countries by the updated Enhanced Fujita Scale. An F0 or EF0 tornado, the weakest category, damages trees, an F5 or EF5 tornado, the strongest category, rips buildings off their foundations and can deform large skyscrapers. The similar TORRO scale ranges from a T0 for extremely weak tornadoes to T11 for the most powerful known tornadoes, Doppler radar data, photogrammetry, and ground swirl patterns may also be analyzed to determine intensity and assign a rating. The word tornado is a form of the Spanish word tronada. This in turn was taken from the Latin tonare, meaning to thunder and it most likely reached its present form through a combination of the Spanish tronada and tornar, however, this may be a folk etymology. A tornado is also referred to as a twister, and is also sometimes referred to by the old-fashioned colloquial term cyclone. The term cyclone is used as a synonym for tornado in the often-aired 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, the term twister is also used in that film, along with being the title of the 1996 tornado-related film Twister. A tornado is a rotating column of air, in contact with the ground, either pendant from a cumuliform cloud or underneath a cumuliform cloud. For a vortex to be classified as a tornado, it must be in contact with both the ground and the cloud base. Scientists have not yet created a definition of the word, for example. Tornado refers to the vortex of wind, not the condensation cloud and this results in the formation of a visible funnel cloud or condensation funnel. There is some disagreement over the definition of cloud and condensation funnel
10.
Tornado Alley
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Tornado Alley is a colloquial term for the area of the United States where tornadoes are most frequent. It is largely a media-driven term although tornado climatologists distinguish peaks in activity in certain areas, although the official boundaries of Tornado Alley are not clearly defined, its core extends from northern Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, into Nebraska. Some research suggests that tornadoes are becoming frequent in the northern parts of Tornado Alley where it reaches the Canadian prairies. The Pampas has a consistency of tornadoes, whereas Bangladesh and adjacent East India have the highest frequency of violent tornadoes outside the central. Over the years, the location of Tornado Alley have not been clearly defined, no definition of tornado alley has ever been officially designated by the National Weather Service. Thus, differences in location are the result of the different criteria used, according to the National Severe Storms Laboratory FAQ, Tornado Alley is a term used by the media as a reference to areas that have higher numbers of tornadoes. A study of 1921–1995 tornadoes concluded almost one-fourth of all significant tornadoes occur in this area, no state is entirely free of tornadoes, however, they occur more frequently in the Central United States, between the Rocky Mountains and Appalachian Mountains. Texas reports the most tornadoes of any due to its large size. Kansas and Oklahoma rank first and second respectively in the number of tornadoes per area, florida also reports a high number and density of tornado occurrences, though tornadoes there rarely reach the strength of those that sometimes occur in the southern plains. Regionally, the frequency of tornadoes in the United States is closely tied with the progression of the season when warm. Another criterion for the location of Tornado Alley can be where the strongest tornadoes occur more frequently, Tornado Alley can also be defined as an area reaching from central Texas to the Canadian prairies and from eastern Colorado to western Pennsylvania. It has also asserted that there are numerous Tornado Alleys. In addition to the Texas/Oklahoma/Kansas core, such include the Upper Midwest, the lower Ohio Valley, the Tennessee Valley. Some studies suggest that there are also smaller tornado alleys located across the United States, the tornado alleys in the southeastern U. S. In Tornado Alley, warm, humid air from the equator meets cool, dry air from Canada and this creates an ideal environment for tornadoes to form within developed thunderstorms and super cells. One particular tornado-afflicted town, Moore, Oklahoma, managed to increase its building requirements in 2014, other common precautionary measures include the construction of storm cellars, and the installation of tornado sirens. Tornado awareness, preparedness, and media coverage are also high. The southeastern United States is particularly prone to violent, long track tornadoes, much of the housing in this region is less robust compared to other areas in the United States, and many people live in mobile homes
11.
Chief Mountain
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Chief Mountain is located in the U. S. state of Montana on the eastern border of Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The peak is seen from Montana and Alberta due to the rapid 5,000 foot altitude gain over the Great Plains which are immediately east of the mountain. Hence, many businesses in the area have Chief Mountain in their name, Chief Mountain is one of the most photographed mountains in the region due to its unique nature. Chief Mountain is an example of a klippe and it consists of a Precambrian block which rests directly above much younger Cretaceous gray shales. Having an older layer pushed up to the top is typical of thrust faults, the surrounding portion of the thrust sheet has been removed by erosion leaving behind this isolated block of Proterozoic rock. Chief Mountain has been a mountain to Native American tribes for hundreds of years. The Blackfoot name for the mountain is Nínaiistáko, the mountain was seen by white explorers in the late 18th century and was known as Kings Peak on maps produced in the United Kingdom in 1795. Meriwether Lewis, co-leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, saw the mountain in 1805, the name was changed in the late 19th century in reflection of Blackfeet naming of the mountain which was Great Chief. When Glacier National Park was created in 1910, the summit and most prominent eastern slopes of the mountain were located within the park, the northwestern enemy of the Blackfoot, the Nakoda, called it also Hũga Baha. Chief Mountain remains sacred to many First Nations peoples from both the US and Canada, natives from all over North America travel to the base of the mountain for sweet grass ceremonies, placing of prayer flags and other religious rites. In the early 1900s as white came to the area. The eastern face of the mountain rises over 1,500 vertical feet, the rock is also primarily sedimentary and provides poor anchor points, which in turn is a contributing factor to the difficulty rating. Henry Stimson and two other explorers, including a Blackfeet Indian, climbed the eastern face on September 8,1892. Upon the summit, Stimsons party observed ceremonial remains including bison skulls that had left behind by Native Americans. The eastern face of the peak wasnt successfully climbed again until 1951, though the summit can be gained by approaching from the west, the easiest access is from the east, and the Blackfeet tribe may issue access permits to cross reservation lands. This entire area is sacred to the Blackfeet and utmost respect should be shown, National Park Service visitor centers at St. Mary, Montana and at Many Glacier have additional information available. Rocky Mountains Ninaki Mountain Mountains and mountain ranges of Glacier National Park
12.
Glacier National Park (U.S.)
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Glacier National Park is a national park located in the U. S. state of Montana, on the Canada–United States border with the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. The park encompasses over 1 million acres and includes parts of two ranges, over 130 named lakes, more than 1,000 different species of plants. This vast pristine ecosystem is the centerpiece of what has been referred to as the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem, the region that became Glacier National Park was first inhabited by Native Americans. Upon the arrival of European explorers, it was dominated by the Blackfeet in the east, under pressure the Blackfoot ceded the mountainous parts of their treaty lands in 1895 to the federal government, it later became part of the park. Soon after the establishment of the park on May 11,1910 and these historic hotels and chalets are listed as National Historic Landmarks and a total of 350 locations are on the National Register of Historic Places. The mountains of Glacier National Park began forming 170 million years ago when ancient rocks were forced eastward up, known as the Lewis Overthrust, these sedimentary rocks are considered to have some of the finest fossilized examples of extremely early life found anywhere on Earth. Of the estimated 150 glaciers which existed in the park in the mid-19th century, scientists studying the glaciers in the park have estimated that all the glaciers may disappear by 2030 if the current climate patterns persist. Glacier National Park has almost all its native plant and animal species. Large mammals such as Grizzly bears, moose, and mountain goats, as well as rare or endangered species like wolverines and Canadian lynxes, hundreds of species of birds, more than a dozen fish species, and a few reptile and amphibian species have been documented. The park has numerous ecosystems ranging from prairie to tundra, notably, the easternmost forests of western redcedar and hemlock grow in the southwest portion of the park. Large forest fires are uncommon in the park, however, in 2003 over 13% of the park burned. Both parks were designated by the United Nations as Biosphere Reserves in 1976, according to archeological evidence, Native Americans first arrived in the Glacier area some 10,000 years ago. The earliest occupants with lineage to current tribes were the Flathead and Kootenai, Shoshone, the Blackfeet arrived around the beginning of the 18th century and soon dominated the eastern slopes of what later became the park, as well as the Great Plains immediately to the east. The park region provided the Blackfeet shelter from the winter winds of the plains. Today, the Blackfeet Indian Reservation borders the park in the east, while the Flathead Indian Reservation is located west, when the Blackfeet Reservation was first established in 1855 by the Lame Bull Treaty, it included the eastern area of the current park up to the Continental Divide. This established the current boundary between the park and the reservation, while exploring the Marias River in 1806, the Lewis and Clark Expedition came within 50 miles of the area that is now the park. A series of explorations after 1850 helped to shape the understanding of the area later became the park. In 1885 George Bird Grinnell hired noted explorer James Willard Schultz to guide him on an expedition into what would later become the park
13.
Alberta
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Alberta is a western province of Canada. With an estimated population of 4,196,457 as of July 1,2015, it is Canadas fourth-most populous province and its area is about 660,000 square kilometres. Alberta and its neighbour Saskatchewan were districts of the Northwest Territories until they were established as provinces on September 1,1905, the premier has been Rachel Notley since May 2015. Alberta is bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the U. S. state of Montana to the south. Alberta is one of three Canadian provinces and territories to only a single U. S. state and one of only two landlocked provinces. About 290 km south of the capital is Calgary, the largest city in Alberta, Calgary and Edmonton centre Albertas two census metropolitan areas, both of which have populations exceeding one million, while the province has 16 census agglomerations. Tourist destinations in the province include Banff, Canmore, Drumheller, Jasper, Alberta is named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth daughter of Victoria, Queen of Canada, and Albert, Prince Consort. Princess Louise was the wife of John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, Lake Louise and Mount Alberta were also named in her honour. Alberta, with an area of 661,848 km2, is the fourth largest province after Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia. To the south, the borders on the 49th parallel north, separating it from the US state of Montana. The province extends 1,223 km north to south and 660 km east to west at its maximum width, with the exception of the semi-arid steppe of the south-eastern section, the province has adequate water resources. There are numerous rivers and lakes used for swimming, fishing, there are three large lakes, Lake Claire in Wood Buffalo National Park, Lesser Slave Lake, and Lake Athabasca which lies in both Alberta and Saskatchewan. The longest river in the province is the Athabasca River which travels 1,538 km from the Columbia Icefield in the Rocky Mountains to Lake Athabasca, the largest river is the Peace River with an average flow of 2161 m3/s. The Peace River originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows through northern Alberta and into the Slave River, Albertas capital city, Edmonton, is located approximately in the geographic centre of the province. It is the most northerly city in Canada, and serves as a gateway. The region, with its proximity to Canadas largest oil fields, has most of western Canadas oil refinery capacity, Calgary is located approximately 280 km south of Edmonton and 240 km north of Montana, surrounded by extensive ranching country. Almost 75% of the population lives in the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. The land grant policy to the served as a means to populate the province in its early years
14.
Royal Dutch Shell
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Royal Dutch Shell plc, commonly known as Shell, is a British–Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in the Netherlands and incorporated in the United Kingdom. It is one of the six oil and gas supermajors and the sixth-largest company in the world measured by 2016 revenues. Shell was first in the 2013 Fortune Global 500 list of the worlds largest companies and it also has renewable energy activities in the form of biofuels and wind. Shell has operations in over 70 countries, produces around 3.7 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and has 44,000 service stations worldwide, as of 31 December 2014, Shell had total proved reserves of 13.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Shell Oil Company, its subsidiary in the United States, is one of its largest businesses. Shell holds 50% of Raízen, a joint venture with Cosan, which is the third-largest Brazil-based energy company by revenues, Shell was formed in 1907 through the amalgamation of the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company of the Netherlands and the Shell Transport and Trading Company of the United Kingdom. Shell first entered the industry in 1929. In 1970 Shell acquired the mining company Billiton, which it sold in 1994. In recent decades gas exploration and production has become an important part of Shells business. Shell acquired BG Group in 2016, making it the worlds largest producer of liquefied natural gas, Shell has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE100 Index. It has secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange, as of January 2013, Shells largest shareholder was Capital Research Global Investors with 9. 85% ahead of BlackRock in second with 6. 89%. Shells logo, known as the pecten, is one of the most familiar commercial symbols in the world and it was a move largely driven by the need to compete globally with Standard Oil. The Shell Transport and Trading Company was a British company, founded in 1897 by Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted, and his brother Samuel Samuel. Their father had owned a company in Houndsditch, London. For various reasons, the new firm operated as a company, whereby the merging companies maintained their legal existence. The terms of the merger gave 60 percent ownership of the new group to the Dutch arm and 40 percent to the British, national patriotic sensibilities would not permit a full-scale merger or takeover of either of the two companies. The Dutch company, Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij at The Hague, was in charge of production, the British Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company was based in London, to direct the transport and storage of the products. During the First World War, Shell was the supplier of fuel to the British Expeditionary Force
15.
Waterton Lakes National Park
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Waterton Lakes National Park is a national park located in the southwest corner of Alberta, Canada, and borders Glacier National Park in Montana, United States. Waterton was Canadas fourth national park, formed in 1895 and named after Waterton Lake, the park contains 505 km2 of rugged mountains and wilderness. Operated by Parks Canada, Waterton is open all year, but the main tourist season is during July, the only commercial facilities available within the park are located at the Waterton Park townsite. The park ranges in elevation from 1,290 metres at the townsite to 2,910 m at Mount Blakiston and it offers many scenic trails, including Crypt Lake trail. In 2012/2013, Waterton Lakes National Park had 402,542 visitors, the park was the subject of a short film in 2011s National Parks Project, directed by Peter Lynch and scored by Cadence Weapon, Laura Barrett and Mark Hamilton. In 1932, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park was formed from Waterton and it was dedicated to world peace by Sir Charles Arthur Mander on behalf of Rotary International. In 1979, Waterton and bordering Glacier National park in the US were designated as World Biosphere reserves, preserving mountains, prairie, lakes and freshwater wetlands ecosystems. Habitats represented in the range include, prairie grasslands, aspen grove forests, alpine tundra/high meadows, lower subalpine forests. They are areas of significant scenic values with abundant and diverse flora and fauna
16.
Alaska Highway
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The Alaska Highway was constructed during World War II for the purpose of connecting the contiguous United States to Alaska across Canada. It begins at the junction with several Canadian highways in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, completed in 1942 at a length of approximately 1,700 miles, as of 2012 it is 1,387 mi long. The difference in distance is due to constant reconstruction of the highway, the highway was opened to the public in 1948. Legendary over many decades for being a rough, challenging drive and it is at this point that the Alaska Highway meets the Richardson Highway, which continues 96 mi to the city of Fairbanks. This is often regarded, though unofficially, as the portion of the Alaska Highway. Mileposts on this stretch of highway are measured from Valdez, rather than the Alaska Highway, the Alaska Highway is popularly considered part of the Pan-American Highway, which extends south to Argentina. Proposals for a highway to Alaska originated in the 1920s, thomas MacDonald, director of the U. S. Bureau of Public Roads, dreamed of an international highway spanning the United States and Canada. In order to promote the highway, Slim Williams originally traveled the route by dogsled. Since much of the route would pass through Canada, support from the Canadian government was crucial, however, some route consideration was given. The preferred route would pass through the Rocky Mountain Trench from Prince George, British Columbia to Dawson City before turning west to Fairbanks, in 1929 the British Columbia government proposed a highway to Alaska to encourage economic development and tourism. American President Herbert Hoover appointed a board with American and three Canadian members to evaluate the idea, when the United States approached Canada again in February 1936, the Canadian government refused to commit to spending money on a road connecting the United States. The Canadians also worried about the implications, fearing that in a war between Japan and North America, the United States would use the road to prevent Canadian neutrality. Roosevelt became the first American to publicly discuss the benefits of a highway in an August speech in Chautauqua. Roosevelt remained a supporter of the highway, telling Cordell Hull in August 1937 that he wanted a road built as soon as possible. Canada agreed to construction as long as the United States bore the full cost. During construction the road was nicknamed the oil can highway by the crews due to the large number of discarded oil cans. The needs of war dictated the route, intended to link the airfields of the Northwest Staging Route that conveyed lend-lease aircraft from the United States to the Soviet Union. Thus the long, impractical route over difficult terrain was chosen, the road was originally built mostly by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers as a supply route during World War II
17.
The Nature Conservancy
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The Nature Conservancy is a charitable environmental organization, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. Its mission is to conserve the lands and waters on all life depends. The Conservancys work focuses on the priorities of Lands, Water, Climate, Oceans. Founded in Arlington, Virginia, in 1951, The Nature Conservancy now impacts conservation in 69 countries, the Conservancy has over one million members, and has protected more than 119,000,000 acres of land and thousands of miles of rivers worldwide. The Nature Conservancy also operates more than 100 marine conservation projects globally, the organizations assets total $6.71 billion as of 2015. The Nature Conservancy is the largest environmental nonprofit by assets and by revenue in the Americas, the Nature Conservancy rates as one of the most trusted national organizations in Harris Interactive polls every year since 2005. Forbes magazine rated The Nature Conservancys fundraising efficiency at 88 percent in its 2005 survey of the largest U. S. charities, the Nature Conservancy is led by President and CEO Mark Tercek, a former managing director at Goldman Sachs. He is the author of the Washington Post and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling book Nature’s Fortune, How Business, the Nature Conservancys Chief Scientist is Australian Hugh Possingham, who was named to this position in 2016. The current board chairman is Craig McCaw, the Chairman & CEO of Eagle River Inc, other current members include former U. S. Senator Bill Frist, chairman of the Alibaba Group Jack Ma, the Nature Conservancy developed out of an older organization known as the Ecological Society of America. The latter society was founded in 1915 and two later formed a Committee on Preservation of Natural Areas for Ecological Study, headed by Victor Shelford. The divide in viewpoints led the society to dissolve the committee, the latter group eventually took the name The Nature Conservancy, in emulation of the British agency of that name, which pursued a mission of conserving open space and wildlife preserves. The Nature Conservancy was incorporated in the United States as an organization on October 22,1951. The Nature Conservancy takes an approach to conservation, setting goals that describe the results it wants to achieve for biodiversity. The Nature Conservancy sets both long-term and near-term goals for conserving the abundance and geographic distribution of species and ecological systems. The organizations overall goal is to ensure the survival of all biodiversity on Earth. The Nature Conservancy works with all sectors of society including businesses, individuals, communities, partner organizations, the Nature Conservancy has pioneered new land preservation techniques such as the conservation easement and debt for nature swaps. A conservation easement is a way for owners to ensure that their land remains in its natural state while capitalizing on some of the lands potential development value
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Easement
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An easement is a non-possessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another and it is similar to real covenants and equitable servitudes, in the United States, the Restatement of Property takes steps to merge these concepts as servitudes. An easement is considered as a property right in itself at common law and is treated as a type of property in most jurisdictions. The rights of an easement holder vary substantially among jurisdictions, for example, an affirmative easement might allow land owner A to drive their cattle over the land of B. A has an easement from B. Conversely, a negative easement might restrict A from blocking Bs mountain view by putting up a wall of trees, a has a negative easement from B. As defined by Evershed MR in Re Ellenborough Park Ch 131, the party gaining the benefit of the easement is the dominant estate, while the party granting the benefit or suffering the burden is the servient estate. For example, the owner of parcel A holds an easement to use a driveway on parcel B to gain access to As house. Here, parcel A is the dominant estate, receiving the benefit, a private easement is held by private individuals or entities. A public easement grants an easement for a use, for example. Conversely, an easement in gross benefits an individual or a legal entity, the easement can be for a personal use or a commercial use. Historically, an easement in gross was neither assignable nor inheritable and they are divisible, but must be exclusive and all holders of the easement must agree to divide. If subdivided, each subdivided parcel enjoys the easement, a floating easement exists when there is no fixed location, route, method, or limit to the right of way. For example, a right of way may cross a field, without any visible path, a floating easement may be public or private, appurtenant or in gross. One case defined it as, easement defined in general terms, furthermore, a floating easement becomes fixed after construction and cannot thereafter be changed. Some legal scholars classify structural encroachments as a type of easement, similar to a license or profit-à-prendre, Wayleave is normally a temporary arrangement and does not automatically transfer to a new owner or occupier. More generally, an agreement can be used for any service provider. In the United States, an easement in gross is used for such needs, easements are most often created by express language in binding documents
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Grizzly bear
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The grizzly bear, less commonly known as the silvertip bear, is a large subspecies of brown bear inhabiting North America. Scientists generally do not use the name grizzly bear but call it the North American brown bear, on average bears near the coast tend to be larger while inland Grizzlies tend to be smaller. The Ussuri brown bear inhabiting Russia, Northern China, and Korea is sometimes referred to as black grizzly although it is a different subspecies from the bears in America, meriwether Lewis and William Clark named it to be grisley or grizzly, which could have meant grizzled or fear-inspiring. Nonetheless, after study, naturalist George Ord formally classified it in 1815 – not for its hair. Classification has been revised along genetic lines, there are two morphological forms of Ursus arctos, the grizzly and the coastal brown bears, but these morphological forms do not have distinct mtDNA lineages. Brown bears originated in Eurasia and traveled to North America approximately 50,000 years ago, in the 19th century, the grizzly was classified as 86 distinct species. However, by 1928 only seven grizzlies remained and by 1953 only one species remained globally, however, modern genetic testing reveals the grizzly to be a subspecies of the brown bear. Rausch found that North America has but one species of grizzly, therefore, everywhere it is the brown bear, in North America, it is the grizzly, but these are all the same species, Ursus arctos. Kodiak grizzly bears were also at one time considered distinct, therefore, at one time there were five different species of brown bear, including three in North America. Most adult female grizzlies weigh 130–180 kg, while males weigh on average 180–360 kg. Average total length in this subspecies is 198 cm, with a shoulder height of 102 cm. Newborn bears may weigh less than 500 grams, in the Yukon River area, mature female grizzlies can weigh as little as 100 kg. One study found that the weight for an inland male grizzly was around 272 kilograms. For a female, these average weights would be 136 kilograms inland and 227 kilograms coastal, on the other hand, an occasional huge male grizzly has been recorded which greatly exceeds ordinary size, with weights reported up to 680 kg. A large coastal male of this size may stand up to 3 metres tall on its hind legs, although variable in color from blond to nearly black, grizzly bear fur is typically brown with darker legs and commonly white or blond tipped fur on the flank and back. A pronounced hump appears on their shoulders, the hump is a way to distinguish a grizzly bear from a black bear. Aside from the distinguishing hump a grizzly bear can be identified by a dished in profile of their face with short, rounded ears, whereas a black bear has a straight face profile and longer ears. A grizzly bear can also be identified by its rump, which is lower than its shoulders, a grizzly bears front claws measure about 2-4 inches in length and a black bears measure about 1-2 inches in length
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Helena, Montana
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Helena /ˈhɛlᵻnə/ is the capital city of the U. S. state of Montana and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. It was founded as a camp during the Montana gold rush. Over $3.6 billion of gold was extracted in the city limits over a duration of two decades, making it one of the wealthiest cities in the United States by the nineteenth century. The concentration of wealth contributed to the prominent, elaborate Victorian architecture. The 2010 census put the population at 28,190 and the Lewis, Helena is the principal city of the Helena Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Lewis and Clark and Jefferson counties, its population is 77,414 according to the 2015 Census Estimate. The local daily newspaper is the Independent Record, professional sports teams include the Helena Brewers minor league baseball and Helena Bighorns Tier III Junior A hockey team. The city is served by Helena Regional Airport, the Helena area was long used by various indigenous peoples. Before the introduction of the horse some 300 years ago, and since, other peoples, including the Salish. Yet like the native peoples none of them stayed for long, gold strikes in Idaho Territory in the early 1860s attracted many migrants who initiated major gold rushes at Grasshopper Creek and Alder Gulch in 1862 and 1863 respectively. So many people came that the government created a new territory called Montana in May 1864. These miners prospected far and wide for new gold discoveries. The original camp was named Last Chance by the Four Georgians, by fall, the population had grown to over 200, and some thought the name Last Chance was too crass. On October 30,1864, a group of at least seven self-appointed men met to name the town, authorize the layout of the streets, the first suggestion was Tomah, a word the committee thought had connections to the local Indian people. Other nominations included Pumpkinville and Squashtown, other suggestions were to name the community after various Minnesota towns, such as Winona and Rochester, as a number of settlers had come from Minnesota. Finally, a Scotsman named John Summerville proposed Helena, which he pronounced /həˈliːnə/ hə-LEE-nə in honor of Helena Township, Scott County, Minnesota. This immediately caused an uproar from the former Confederates in the room, who insisted upon the pronunciation /ˈhɛlᵻnə/ HEL-i-nə, after Helena, Arkansas, a town on the Mississippi River. While the name Helena won, the pronunciation varied until approximately 1882 when the /ˈhɛlᵻnə/ HEL-i-nə pronunciation became dominant and has remained so to the present. Later tales of the naming of Helena claimed the name came variously from the island of St. Helena, the townsite was first surveyed in 1865 by Captain John Wood
21.
Fault (geology)
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In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock, across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movement. Large faults within the Earths crust result from the action of tectonic forces. Energy release associated with movement on active faults is the cause of most earthquakes. A fault plane is the plane that represents the surface of a fault. A fault trace or fault line is the intersection of a plane with the ground surface. A fault trace is also the line commonly plotted on maps to represent a fault. Since faults do not usually consist of a single, clean fracture, the two sides of a non-vertical fault are known as the hanging wall and footwall. By definition, the wall occurs above the fault plane. This terminology comes from mining, when working a tabular ore body, because of friction and the rigidity of rocks, they cannot glide or flow past each other easily, and occasionally all movement stops. A fault in ductile rocks can also release instantaneously when the rate is too great. The energy released by instantaneous strain-release causes earthquakes, a common phenomenon along transform boundaries, slip is defined as the relative movement of geological features present on either side of a fault plane, and is a displacement vector. A faults sense of slip is defined as the motion of the rock on each side of the fault with respect to the other side. In practice, it is only possible to find the slip direction of faults. Based on direction of slip, faults can be categorized as, strike-slip. Dip-slip, offset is predominantly vertical and/or perpendicular to the fault trace, oblique-slip, combining significant strike and dip slip. The fault surface is usually vertical and the footwall moves either left or right or laterally with very little vertical motion. Strike-slip faults with left-lateral motion are known as sinistral faults. Those with right-lateral motion are known as dextral faults
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Fold (geology)
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A geological fold occurs when one or a stack of originally flat and planar surfaces, such as sedimentary strata, are bent or curved as a result of permanent deformation. Synsedimentary folds are those due to slumping of material before it is lithified. Folds in rocks vary in size from microscopic crinkles to mountain-sized folds and they occur singly as isolated folds and in extensive fold trains of different sizes, on a variety of scales. A set of folds distributed on a regional scale constitutes a fold belt, Folds are classified by their size, fold shape, tightness, and dip of the axial plane. A fold surface seen in profile can be divided into hinge, the limbs are the flanks of the fold and the hinge is where the flanks join together. The hinge point is the point of minimum radius of curvature for a fold, the crest of the fold is the highest point of the fold surface, and the trough is the lowest point. The inflection point of a fold is the point on a limb at which the concavity reverses, on regular folds, the hinge points along an entire folded surface form a hinge line, which can be either a crest line or a trough line. The trend and plunge of a hinge line gives you information about the orientation of the fold. To more completely describe the orientation of a fold, one must describe the axial surface, the axial surface is the surface defined by connecting all the hinge lines of stacked folding surfaces. If the axial surface is a surface then it is called the axial plane and can be described by the strike. An axial trace is the line of intersection of the surface with any other surface. Finally, folds can have, but dont necessarily have a fold axis, a fold axis, “is the closest approximation to a straight line that when moved parallel to itself, generates the form of the fold. ”. A fold that can be generated by an axis is called a cylindrical fold. This term has broadened to include near-cylindrical folds. Often, the axis is the same as the hinge line. A fold can be shaped as a chevron, with planar limbs meeting at an axis, as cuspate with curved limbs, as circular with a curved axis. Fold tightness is defined by the size of the angle between the limbs, called the interlimb angle. Gentle folds have an angle of between 180° and 120°, open folds range from 120° to 70°, close folds from 70° to 30°
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Thrust fault
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A thrust fault is a type of fault, or break in the Earths crust across which there has been relative movement, in which rocks of lower stratigraphic position are pushed up and over higher strata. They are often recognized because they place older rocks above younger, Thrust faults are the result of compressional forces. Thrust faults are a class of reverse faulting that typically have low dip angles. It is often hard to recognize thrusts because their deformation and dislocation can be difficult to detect when they occur within the rocks without appreciable offset of lithological contacts. If the angle of the plane is low and the displacement of the overlying block is large the fault is called an overthrust. Erosion can remove part of the block, creating a fenster when the underlying block is only exposed in a relatively small area. When erosion removes most of the block, leaving only island-like remnants resting on the lower block. If the fault plane terminates before it reaches the Earths surface, because of the lack of surface evidence, blind thrust faults are difficult to detect until they rupture. The destructive 1994 quake in Northridge, California was caused by a blind thrust fault. Thrust faults, particularly involved in thin-skinned style of deformation, have a so-called ramp-flat geometry. Thrusts mostly propagate along zones of weakness within a sequence, such as mudstones or salt layers. The part of the thrust linking the two flats is known as a ramp and typically forms at an angle of about 15°-30° to the bedding. Continued displacement on a thrust over a ramp produces a characteristic fold geometry known as an anticline or, more generally. Fault-propagation folds form at the tip of a thrust fault where propagation along the decollement has ceased, the continuing displacement is accommodated by formation of an asymmetric anticline-syncline fold pair. As displacement continues the thrust tip starts to propagate along the axis of the syncline, such structures are also known as tip-line folds. Eventually the propagating thrust tip may reach another effective decollement layer, when a thrust that has propagated along the lower detachment, known as the floor thrust, cuts up to the upper detachment, known as the roof thrust, it forms a ramp within the stronger layer. With continued displacement on the thrust, higher stresses are developed in the footwall of the due to the bend on the fault. This may cause renewed propagation along the floor thrust until it again cuts up to join the roof thrust, further displacement then takes place via the newly created ramp
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Sevier orogeny
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The Sevier orogeny was a mountain-building event that affected western North America from Canada to the north to Mexico to the south. The Sevier orogeny was the result of convergent boundary tectonic activity between approximately 140 million years ago and 50 Ma, the Sevier River area of central Utah is the namesake of this event. This orogeny was produced by the subduction of the oceanic Farallon Plate underneath the continental North American Plate, the mountains that were formed as a result were located in western Utah and eastern Nevada. The size, shape, and depth of the thrust faults created in the Sevier event are determined by seismic studies and deep well data because they are still buried by overlying rock. The Sevier and Laramide orogenies ended when subduction along the edge of North America was overcome by western extension of the North American Plate to start the Basin. The well known and familiar Basin and Range faults cut the older Sevier thrust faults, since the Sevier and Laramide orogenies occurred at similar times and places, they are sometimes confused. In general the Sevier orogeny defines a more western compressional event that took advantage of weak bedding planes in overlying Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rock. As the crust was shortened, pressure was transferred eastward along the weak sedimentary layers, the Sevier orogenic belt consisted of a series of thin plates along gently dipping west thrust sheets and moving from west to east. These thin skinned thrusts moved late Precambrian to Mesozoic age rock of the Cordilleran passive margin east, the Sevier meets the Laramide orogenic belt on its eastern side. The Sevier and Laramide combination is similar to the modern day Andean margin in Chile and they are comparable because the younger Laramide faults and structures were a geometric response to the shallow dipping Sevier thrusts. Such conglomerates can be seen throughout Utah in Echo Canyon, the Red Narrows in Spanish Fork Canyon, today Sevier faults at the surface have been broken up and tilted steeply from their original gently dipping positions due to the extension of the Basin and Range faulting. The earliest thrusts of the Sevier are located furthest west with each newer thrust cutting the older thrust and this pattern caused the older thrusts to ride on top of the younger thrusts as they moved eastward. The Paris-Willard thrust in Utah was determined to be the oldest thrust in the series using this pattern, the youngest thrust is the Hogback in Wyoming. The Sevier thrust belt in Utah can be divided in two, north of Salt Lake City and South of Salt Lake City, the thrusts to the north are much better understood because oil and gas are often associated with them. The northern portion runs through present day Utah, Idaho, the southern portion stops around Las Vegas. The total crustal shortening of the portion was roughly 60 miles. The Sevier belt left behind many distinctive features in the Wyoming and Utah region, namely recesses. Transverse zones can accompany thrust faults connecting the segments of the belt, one such zone is the Charleston transverse zone linking the Provo salient to the southern arm of the Uinta/Cottonwood arch
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Three Forks, Montana
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The population was 1,869 at the 2010 census. Three Forks is part of the Bozeman, MT Micropolitan Statistical Area of approximately 100,000 people, today the two confluences are incorporated inside Missouri Headwaters State Park, which is also a U. S. National Historic Landmark. The Lewis and Clark expedition visited the site on 28 July 1805, meriwether Lewis in his journal entry wrote, Both Capt. C. Honored in Three Forks, the Indian woman Sacagawea is best known as the interpreter and guide for the Lewis, in 1800, she was captured by the Mennetaree tribe near the present site of Three Forks. She later returned to area with Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery. A statue of Sacagawea now sits in a park off Main Street, the present-day city of Three Forks was founded Sept.17,1908 by John Q. Adams, a Milwaukee Road land agent, the Milwaukee Land Co. platted the town and held a lot sale that day. Some buildings were moved to the present city from Old Town Three Forks, the city became a division point on the Milwaukee Roads Rocky Mountain Division and was an important hub for the railroad during the existence of the Milwaukee in Montana. Three Forks is located at 45°53′29″N 111°33′6″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.50 square miles, of which,1.44 square miles is land and 0.06 square miles is water. As of the census of 2010, there were 1,869 people,785 households, the population density was 1,297.9 inhabitants per square mile. There were 850 housing units at a density of 590.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 98. 1% White,0. 2% African American,0. 4% Native American,0. 5% Asian, hispanic or Latino of any race were 2. 1% of the population. 28. 4% of all households were made up of individuals and 11. 3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.90. The median age in the city was 40.8 years. 24. 8% of residents were under the age of 18,6. 4% were between the ages of 18 and 24,24. 5% were from 25 to 44,28. 4% were from 45 to 64, and 15. 8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49. 9% male and 50. 1% female, as of the census of 2000, there were 1,728 people,686 households, and 469 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,360.7 people per square mile, there were 726 housing units at an average density of 571.7 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 97. 57% White,1. 10% Native American,0. 17% Asian,0. 23% Pacific Islander,0. 35% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 1. 33% of the population
26.
Snake River Plain
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The Snake River Plain is a geologic feature located primarily within the U. S. state of Idaho. It stretches about 400 miles westward from northwest of the state of Wyoming to the Idaho-Oregon border, the plain is a wide, flat bow-shaped depression and covers about a quarter of Idaho. Three major volcanic buttes dot the plain east of Arco, the largest being Big Southern Butte, most of Idahos major cities are in the Snake River Plain, as is much of its agricultural land. The Snake River Plain can be divided into three sections, western, central, and eastern, the western plain began to form around 11–12 Ma with the eruption of rhyolite lavas and ignimbrites. The western plain is not parallel to North American Plate motion and lies at an angle to the central. Its morphology is similar to other volcanic plateaus such as the Chilcotin Group in south-central British Columbia, the eastern Snake River Plain traces the path of the North American Plate over the Yellowstone hotspot, now centered in Yellowstone National Park. The eastern plain is a depression that cuts across Basin and Range mountain structures. It is underlain almost entirely by basalt erupted from large shield volcanoes, beneath the basalts are rhyolite lavas and ignimbrites that erupted as the lithosphere passed over the hotspot. The central Snake River plain is similar to the plain but differs by having thick sections of interbedded lacustrine and fluvial sediments. Island Park and Yellowstone Calderas formed as the result of enormous rhyolite ignimbrite eruptions, henrys Fork Caldera, measuring 18 miles by 23 miles, may be the largest symmetrical caldera in the world. The caldera formed when a dome of magma built up and then drained away, the center of the dome collapsed, leaving a caldera. Henrys Fork Caldera lies within the older and larger Island Park Caldera, younger volcanoes that erupted after passing over the hotspot covered the plain with young basalt lava flows in places, including Craters of the Moon National Monument. The Snake River Plain has a significant effect on the climate of Yellowstone National Park, over time, the Yellowstone hotspot left a 70-mile wide channel through the Rocky Mountains. This channel is in line with the gap between the Cascade Range and the Sierra Nevada, the result is a moisture channel extending from the Pacific Ocean to Yellowstone. Moisture from the Pacific Ocean streams onshore in the form of clouds, the result is a localized climate on the eastern side of the Rockies that is akin to a climate on the west slope of the Cascades or the northern Sierras. Lost streams of Idaho Snake River Snake River Plain Wilson Butte Cave The Snake River Plain Snake River Plain at Digital Atlas of Idaho
27.
Colorado Plateau
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The province covers an area of 337,000 km2 within western Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, southern and eastern Utah, and northern Arizona. About 90% of the area is drained by the Colorado River and its tributaries, the Green, San Juan. Most of the remainder of the plateau is drained by the Rio Grande, the Colorado Plateau is largely made up of high desert, with scattered areas of forests. In the southwest corner of the Colorado Plateau lies the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, much of the Plateaus landscape is related, in both appearance and geologic history, to the Grand Canyon. The nickname Red Rock Country suggests the brightly colored rock left bare to the view by dryness, domes, hoodoos, fins, reefs, river narrows, natural bridges, and slot canyons are only some of the additional features typical of the Plateau. The Colorado Plateau has the greatest concentration of U. S. National Park Service units in the country outside of the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Among its ten National Parks are Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, Mesa Verde, and Petrified Forest. The province is bounded by the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and by the Uinta Mountains and Wasatch Mountains branches of the Rockies in northern and it is also bounded by the Rio Grande Rift, Mogollon Rim and the Basin and Range Province. Isolated ranges of the Southern Rocky Mountains such as the San Juan Mountains in Colorado, north-south trending normal faults that include the Hurricane, Sevier, Grand Wash, and Paunsaugunt separate the sections component plateaus. This fault pattern is caused by the forces pulling apart the adjacent Basin and Range province to the west. Occupying the southeast corner of the Colorado Plateau is the Datil Section, thick sequences of mid-Tertiary to late-Cenozoic-aged lava covers this section. Development of the province has in part been influenced by structural features in its oldest rocks. Part of the Wasatch Line and its various faults form the edge of the province. Faults that run parallel to the Wasatch Fault that lies along the Wasatch Range form the boundaries between the plateaus in the High Plateaus Section, the Uinta Basin, Uncompahgre Uplift, and the Paradox Basin were also created by movement along structural weaknesses in the regions oldest rock. Some sources also include the Tushar Mountain Plateau as part of the Colorado Plateau, the mostly flat-lying sedimentary rock units that make up these plateaus are found in component plateaus that are between 1500 m to over 3350 m above sea level. A supersequence of these rocks is exposed in the various cliffs, within these rocks are abundant mineral resources that include uranium, coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Study of the unusually clear geologic history has greatly advanced that science. A rain shadow from the Sierra Nevada far to the west, higher areas receive more precipitation and are covered in forests of pine, fir, and spruce
28.
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
29.
Lewis Range
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The Lewis Range is a mountain range located in the Rocky Mountains of northern Montana, United States and extreme southern Alberta, Canada. It was formed as a result of the Lewis Overthrust, a geologic thrust fault resulted in the overlying of younger Cretaceous rocks by older Proterozoic rocks. The range is located within Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, Canada and Glacier National Park, the highest peak is Mount Cleveland at 10,466 ft. In this relatively rare occurrence, older rocks are now positioned above newer ones, the Continental Divide spans much of the uppermost sections of the range. Major peaks in the range include Mount Cleveland, which is the highest peak in the range, other prominent peaks include Mount Stimson, Mount Jackson, Mount Siyeh, Going to the Sun Mountain, and the isolated Chief Mountain. The Chinese wall in the Bob Marshall Wilderness is a 1,000 foot high feature that runs for 40 miles, major passes include Marias Pass and Logan Pass which bisects Glacier National Park east to west. Mountains and mountain ranges of Glacier National Park List of mountain ranges in Montana Glacier National Park
30.
Livingston Range
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The Livingston Range is a mountain range located primarily in Glacier National Park in the U. S. state of Montana, and in the extreme southeastern section of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The range is 36 miles long and 28 miles wide, over 15 summits exceed 9,000 ft above sea level, and the highest point is Kintla Peak at 10,101 feet. List of mountain ranges in Montana Mountains and mountain ranges of Glacier National Park Glacier National Park, archived from the original on 2006-06-18
31.
Glacial period
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A glacial period is an interval of time within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the hand, are periods of warmer climate between glacial periods. The last glacial period ended about 15,000 years ago, the Holocene epoch is the current interglacial. A time when there are no glaciers on Earth is considered a greenhouse climate state, within the Quaternary glaciation, there have been a number of glacials and interglacials. The last glacial period was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age, occurring in the Pleistocene epoch, the glacial advance reached its maximum extent about 18,000 BP. In Europe, the ice sheet reached northern Germany, since orbital variations are predictable, computer models that relate orbital variations to climate can predict future climate possibilities. Work by Berger and Loutre suggests that the current warm climate may last another 50,000 years
32.
The Christian Science Monitor
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It was started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. As of 2011, the print circulation was 75,052, the Monitor is a newspaper that covers international and United States current events. The paper includes a daily feature on The Home Forum page. In 2008 the Monitor discontinued its print version to focus on web-based publishing, replacing its daily print edition with a weekly news magazine with an international focus. Since late 2013, the Editor-in-chief has been Marshall Ingwerson, despite its name, the Monitor does not claim to be a religious-themed paper, and says it does not promote the doctrine of its patron church. However, at its founder Eddys request, a religious article has appeared in every issue of the Monitor. Eddy also required the inclusion of Christian Science in the papers name, in addition, Joseph Pulitzers New York World was consistently critical of Eddy, and this, along with a derogatory article in McClures, furthered Eddys decision to found her own media outlet. These descriptions carry fears to many minds, to be depicted in some time upon the body. Eddy declared that the Monitors mission should be to no man. The Monitor was for several decades published in form but in 1975 switched to tabloid format. The papers overall circulation has ranged widely, from a peak of over 223,000 in 1970 and these developments also presaged administrative moves to scale back the print newspaper in favor of expansions into radio, a magazine, shortwave broadcasting, and television. Expenses, however, rapidly outpaced revenues, contradicting predictions by church directors, on the brink of bankruptcy, the board was forced to close the broadcast programs in 1992. The paper has been known for avoiding sensationalism, producing a brand of nonhysterical journalism. Monitor staff have been the recipients of seven Pulitzer Prizes, the most recent in 2002,1950, Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, Edmund Stevens, for his series of 43 articles written over a three-year residence in Moscow entitled, This Is Russia Uncensored. 1967, Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, R. John Hughes, For his thorough reporting of Indonesias attempted Transition to the New Order in 1965,1968, Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, Howard James, for his series of articles, Crisis in the Courts. 1969, Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, Robert Cahn, for his inquiry into the future of the United States national parks and the methods that may help to preserve them. 1996, Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, David Rohde, for his persistent on-site reporting of the slaughter of thousands of Bosnian Muslims in the Srebrenica Genocide. S, senate Committee led by Norm Coleman of personally profiting from corruption within the United Nations Oil-for-Food program. The Monitor investigated the matter, concluding that the documents were almost certainly forgeries, in 2006, Jill Carroll, a freelance reporter for the Monitor, was kidnapped in Baghdad, and released safely after 82 days
33.
Choteau, Montana
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Choteau is a city in and the county seat of Teton County, Montana, United States. Routes 89 and 287 about 20 miles east of the Rocky Mountains, near Flathead National Forest, the Rocky Mountain Division of Lewis and Clark National Forest, the population was 1,684 at the 2010 census. The Montana town is named for French fur-trapper and explorer Pierre Chouteau, Jr. who is also the namesake of Chouteau County, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.83 square miles, all of it land. The Teton River runs nearby, although for some distance upstream of Choteau, as of the census of 2010, there were 1,684 people,791 households, and 441 families residing in the city. The population density was 920.2 inhabitants per square mile, there were 888 housing units at an average density of 485.2 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 95. 0% White,2. 1% Native American,0. 2% Asian,0. 1% Pacific Islander,0. 3% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 1. 7% of the population. 39. 6% of all households were made up of individuals, the average household size was 2.04 and the average family size was 2.75. The median age in the city was 49.1 years. 19. 5% of residents were under the age of 18,5. 1% were between the ages of 18 and 24,19. 8% were from 25 to 44,29. 8% were from 45 to 64, and 25. 8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46. 4% male and 53. 6% female, as of the census of 2000, there were 1,781 people,807 households, and 464 families residing in the city. The population density was 994.3 people per square mile, there were 897 housing units at an average density of 500.8 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 93. 94% White,0. 06% African American,2. 92% Native American,0. 11% Asian,0. 22% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 1. 18% of the population. 39. 2% of all households were made up of individuals and 21. 9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.82. In the city, the population was out with 22. 7% under the age of 18,4. 4% from 18 to 24,21. 4% from 25 to 44,25. 8% from 45 to 64. The median age was 46 years, for every 100 females there ware 86.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.9 males, the median income for a household in the city was $25,708, and the median income for a family was $35,655. Males had an income of $22,429 versus $17,098 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,999, about 12. 7% of families and 17. 6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30. 2% of those under the age of 18 and 12. 5% of those 65 and older
34.
Augusta, Montana
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Augusta is a census-designated place in Lewis and Clark County, Montana, United States. The population was 315 at the 2015 census, the most accepted version in the naming of the town is after Augusta Hogan, thought to be the first child born in the town, the daughter of D. J. Hogan, an early rancher. Augusta is part of the Helena Micropolitan Statistical Area, Augusta is located at 47°29′27″N 112°23′39″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has an area of 0.6 square miles. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Augusta has a semi-arid climate, as of the census of 2000, there were 284 people,142 households, and 83 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 509.1 people per square mile, there were 193 housing units at an average density of 346.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the CDP was 92. 61% White,2. 46% Native American,1. 41% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 1. 76% of the population. 38. 7% of all households were made up of individuals and 19. 0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.00 and the average family size was 2.63. In the CDP, the population was out with 19. 4% under the age of 18,4. 2% from 18 to 24,16. 9% from 25 to 44,33. 5% from 45 to 64. The median age was 50 years, for every 100 females there were 104.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.0 males, the median income for a household in the CDP was $24,688, and the median income for a family was $30,956. Males had an income of $23,125 versus $15,536 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $14,608. About 9. 6% of families and 14. 7% of the population were below the poverty line, sun Times, a newspaper serving Augusta, Montana Augusta Rodeo Website
35.
Great Plains
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The region is known for supporting extensive cattle ranching and dry farming. The Canadian portion of the Plains is known as the Prairies, some geographers include some territory of northern Mexico in the Plains, but many stop at the Rio Grande. The term Great Plains is used in the United States to describe a sub-section of the even more vast Interior Plains physiographic division and it also has currency as a region of human geography, referring to the Plains Indians or the Plains States. There is no region referred to as the Great Plains in The Atlas of Canada, in terms of human geography, the term prairie is more commonly used in Canada, and the region is known as the Prairie Provinces or simply the Prairies. The region is about 500 mi east to west and 2,000 mi north to south, much of the region was home to American bison herds until they were hunted to near extinction during the mid/late 19th century. It has an area of approximately 500,000 sq mi, current thinking regarding the geographic boundaries of the Great Plains is shown by this map at the Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The term Great Plains, for the region west of about the 96th or 98th meridian, nevin Fennemans 1916 study, Physiographic Subdivision of the United States, brought the term Great Plains into more widespread usage. Before that the region was almost invariably called the High Plains, today the term High Plains is used for a subregion of the Great Plains. The Great Plains are the westernmost portion of the vast North American Interior Plains, during the Cretaceous Period, the Great Plains were covered by a shallow inland sea called the Western Interior Seaway. However, during the Late Cretaceous to the Paleocene, the seaway had begun to recede, leaving thick marine deposits. During the Cenozoic era, specifically about 25 million years ago during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs, existing forest biomes declined and grasslands became much more widespread. The grasslands provided a new niche for mammals, including many ungulates and glires, traditionally, the spread of grasslands and the development of grazers have been strongly linked. The vast majority of animals became extinct in North America at the end of the Pleistocene. In general, the Great Plains have a variety of weather through the year, with very cold and harsh winters and very hot. Wind speeds are very high, especially in winter. Grasslands are among the least protected biomes, humans have converted much of the prairies for agricultural purposes or to create pastures. The Great Plains have dust storms mostly every year or so, the 100th meridian roughly corresponds with the line that divides the Great Plains into an area that receive 20 in or more of rainfall per year and an area that receives less than 20 in. The region is subjected to extended periods of drought, high winds in the region may then generate devastating dust storms
36.
American black bear
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The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continents smallest and most widely distributed bear species, Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in forested areas, but do leave forests in search of food. Sometimes they become attracted to human communities because of the availability of food. The American black bear is the worlds most common bear species, along with the brown bear, it is one of only two of the eight modern bear species not considered globally threatened with extinction by the IUCN. American black bears often mark trees using their teeth and claws as a form of communication with other bears, a behavior common to many species of bears. Despite living in North America, American black bears are not closely related to bears and polar bears. American and Asian black bears are considered sister taxa, and are closely related to each other than to other species of bear. Reportedly, the sun bear is also a recent split from this lineage. A small primitive bear called Ursus abstrusus is the oldest known North American fossil member of the genus Ursus and this suggests that U. abstrusus may be the direct ancestor of the American black bear, which evolved in North America. Although Wolverton and Lyman still consider U. vitabilis an apparent precursor to modern black bears, the ancestors of American black bears and Asiatic black bears diverged from sun bears 4.58 mya. The American black bear then split from the Asian black bear 4.08 mya, the earliest American black bear fossils, which were located in Port Kennedy, Pennsylvania, greatly resemble the Asiatic species, though later specimens grew to sizes comparable to grizzlies. From the Holocene to present, American black bears seem to have shrunk in size, the American black bear lived during the same period as short-faced bears and the Florida spectacled bear. These Tremarctine bears evolved from bears that had emigrated from Asia to North America 7–8 ma, however, both Arctodus and Tremarctos had survived several other ice ages. American black bears are reproductively compatible with several other bear species, according to Jack Hannas Monkeys on the Interstate, a bear captured in Sanford, Florida, was thought to have been the offspring of an escaped female Asian black bear and a male American black bear. In 1859, a bear and a Eurasian brown bear were bred together in the London Zoological Gardens. In the reports published since this date three species have produced young, a black bear shot in autumn 1986 in Michigan was thought by some to be a black bear/grizzly bear hybrid, due to its unusually large size and its proportionately larger braincase and skull. DNA testing was unable to determine whether it was a black bear or grizzly
37.
Cougar
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The cougar, also commonly known as the mountain lion, puma, panther, or catamount, is a large felid of the subfamily Felinae native to the Americas. Its range, from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes of South America, is the greatest of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere, an adaptable, generalist species, the cougar is found in most American habitat types. It is the second-heaviest cat in the New World, after the jaguar, secretive and largely solitary by nature, the cougar is properly considered both nocturnal and crepuscular, although there are daytime sightings. The cougar is more related to smaller felines, including the domestic cat, than to any species of subfamily Pantherinae. The cougar is a predator and pursues a wide variety of prey. Primary food sources are ungulates, particularly deer, but also livestock and it also hunts species as small as insects and rodents. This cat prefers habitats with dense underbrush and rocky areas for stalking, the cougar is territorial and survives at low population densities. Individual territory sizes depend on terrain, vegetation, and abundance of prey, while large, it is not always the apex predator in its range, yielding to the jaguar, gray wolf, American black bear, and grizzly bear. It is reclusive and mostly avoids people, fatal attacks on humans are rare, but have recently been increasing in North America as more people enter their territories. Intensive hunting following European colonization of the Americas and the human development of cougar habitat has caused populations to drop in most parts of its historical range. In particular, the cougar was extirpated in eastern North America in the beginning of the 20th century, reports of eastern cougars still surface, although it was declared extirpated in 2011. With its vast range across the length of the Americas, P. concolor has dozens of names and various references in the mythology of the indigenous Americans and in contemporary culture. Currently, it is referred to as puma by most scientists, Mountain lion was a term first used in writing in 1858 from the diary of George A. Jackson of Colorado. Other names include catamount, mountain screamer, and painter, lexicographers regard painter as a primarily upper-Southern US regional variant on panther. The word panther is used to specifically designate the black panther, a melanistic jaguar or leopard, and the Florida panther. P. concolor holds the Guinness record for the animal with the greatest number of names, Cougar may be borrowed from the archaic Portuguese çuçuarana, the term was originally derived from the Tupi language susuarana, meaning similar to deer. A current form in Brazil is suçuarana and it may also be borrowed from the Guaraní language term guaçu ara or guazu ara. Less common Portuguese terms are onça-parda or leão-baio, or unusually non-native puma or leão-da-montanha, people in rural regions often refer to both the cougar and the jaguar as simply gata, and outside of the Amazon, both are colloquially referred to as simply onça by many people
38.
Deer
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Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the deer and the chital, and the Capreolinae, including the elk, reindeer, the Western roe deer. Female reindeer, and male deer of all species, grow, in this they differ from permanently horned antelope, which are in the same order, Artiodactyla. The musk deer of Asia and water chevrotain of tropical African and Asian forests are not usually regarded as true deer and form their own families, Moschidae and Tragulidae, respectively. Deer appear in art from Palaeolithic cave paintings onwards, and they have played a role in mythology, religion and their economic importance includes the use of their meat as venison, their skins as soft, strong buckskin, and their antlers as handles for knives. Deer hunting has been a sport since at least the Middle Ages. Deer live in a variety of biomes, ranging from tundra to the tropical rainforest, while often associated with forests, many deer are ecotone species that live in transitional areas between forests and thickets and prairie and savanna. The majority of deer species inhabit temperate mixed deciduous forest, mountain mixed coniferous forest, tropical seasonal/dry forest. Clearing open areas within forests to some extent may actually benefit deer populations by exposing the understory and allowing the types of grasses, weeds, additionally, access to adjacent croplands may also benefit deer. However, adequate forest or brush cover must still be provided for populations to grow, however, fallow deer have been introduced to South Africa. There are also species of deer that are highly specialized, and live almost exclusively in mountains, grasslands, swamps. Some deer have a distribution in both North America and Eurasia. Examples include the caribou that live in Arctic tundra and taiga and moose that inhabit taiga, huemul deer of South Americas Andes fill the ecological niches of the ibex and wild goat, with the fawns behaving more like goat kids. Mountain slope habitats vary from moist coniferous/mixed forested habitats to dry forests with alpine meadows higher up. The foothills and river valleys between the mountain provide a mosaic of cropland and deciduous parklands. The rare woodland caribou have the most restricted range living at altitudes in the subalpine meadows. Elk and mule deer both migrate between the alpine meadows and lower coniferous forests and tend to be most common in this region, elk also inhabit river valley bottomlands, which they share with White-tailed deer. They also live in the aspen parklands north of Calgary and Edmonton, the adjacent Great Plains grassland habitats are left to herds of elk, American bison, and pronghorn antelope
39.
Elk
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The elk, or wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, in the world, and one of the largest land mammals in North America and Eastern Asia. This animal should not be confused with the still larger moose to which the name elk applies in British English, apart from the moose, the only other member of the deer family to rival the elk in size is the south Asian sambar. Elk range in forest and forest-edge habitat, feeding on grasses, plants, leaves, male elk have large antlers which are shed each year. Although they are native to North America and eastern Asia, they have adapted well to countries in which they have introduced, including Argentina. Their great adaptability may threaten endemic species and ecosystems into which they have been introduced, Elk are susceptible to a number of infectious diseases, some of which can be transmitted to livestock. Efforts to eliminate infectious diseases from elk populations, largely by vaccination, have had mixed success, some cultures revere the elk as a spiritual force. In parts of Asia, antlers and their velvet are used in traditional medicines, Elk are hunted as a game species. The meat is leaner and higher in protein than beef or chicken and it was long believed to be a subspecies of the European red deer, but evidence from a number of mitochondrial DNA genetic studies beginning in 1998 show that the two are distinct species. Key morphological differences that distinguish C. canadensis from C. elaphus are the formers wider rump patch and paler-hued antlers. The word elk is related to the Latin alces, Old Norse elgr, Scandinavian elg/älg and German Elch, the name wapiti is from the Shawnee and Cree word waapiti, meaning white rump. This name is used in particular for the Asian subspecies, because in Eurasia the name elk continues to be used for the moose, Asian subspecies are sometimes referred to as the maral, but this name applies primarily to the Caspian red deer, a subspecies of red deer. There is a subspecies of elk in Mongolia called the Altai wapiti, members of the genus Cervus first appear in the fossil record 25 million years ago, during the Oligocene in Eurasia, but do not appear in the North American fossil record until the early Miocene. The extinct Irish elk was not a member of the genus Cervus, until recently, red deer and elk were considered to be one species, Cervus elaphus. However, the two species have freely inter-bred in New Zealands Fiordland National Park, where the animals have all. There are numerous subspecies of elk described, with six from North America and four from Asia, populations vary as to antler shape and size, body size, coloration and mating behavior. DNA investigations of the Eurasian subspecies revealed that phenotypic variation in antlers, mane, of the six subspecies of elk known to have inhabited North America in historical times, four remain, including the Roosevelt, tule, Manitoban and Rocky Mountain. The eastern elk and Merriams elk subspecies have been extinct for at least a century, four subspecies described in Asia include the Altai wapiti and the Tianshan wapiti. Two distinct subspecies found in China and Korea are the Manchurian wapiti, the Manchurian wapiti is darker and more reddish in coloration than the other populations
40.
Lynx
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A lynx is any of the four species within the Lynx genus of medium-sized wild cats, which includes the bobcat. The name lynx originated in Middle English via Latin from the Greek word λύγξ, neither the caracal, sometimes called the desert lynx, nor the jungle cat, called the jungle lynx, is a member of the Lynx genus. Lynx have a tail, characteristic tufts of black hair on the tips of their ears, large, padded paws for walking on snow. Under their neck, they have a ruff which has black bars resembling a bow tie although this is not visible. Body colour varies from brown to goldish to beige-white, and is occasionally marked with dark brown spots. All species of lynx have white fur on their chests, bellies and on the insides of their legs, fur which is an extension of the chest, the lynxs colouring, fur length and paw size vary according to the climate in their range. In the Southwestern United States, they are short-haired, dark in colour and their paws are smaller, as climates get colder and more northerly, lynx have progressively thicker fur, lighter colour, and their paws are larger and more padded to adapt to the snow. Their paws may be larger than a hand or foot. The smallest species are the bobcat and the Canada lynx, while the largest is the Eurasian lynx, the four living species of the Lynx genus are believed to have evolved from the Issoire lynx, which lived in Europe and Africa during the late Pliocene to early Pleistocene. Of the four species, the Eurasian lynx is the largest in size. It is native to European, Central Asian, and Siberian forests, while its conservation status has been classified as least concern, populations of Eurasian lynx have been reduced or extirpated from Europe, where it is now being reintroduced. The Eurasian lynx is the third largest predator in Europe after the brown bear and it is a strict carnivore, consuming about one or two kilograms of meat every day. The Eurasian lynx is one of the widest-ranging, during the summer, the Eurasian lynx has a relatively short, reddish or brown coat which is replaced by a much thicker silver-grey to greyish-brown coat during winter. The lynx hunts by stalking and jumping its prey, helped by the rugged, forested country in which it resides, a favorite prey for the lynx in its woodland habitat is roe deer. It will feed however on whatever animal appears easiest, as it is a predator much like its cousins. The Canada lynx, or Canadian lynx, is a North American felid that ranges in forest and tundra regions across Canada and into Alaska, historically, the Canadian lynx ranged from Alaska across Canada and into many of the northern U. S. states. In the eastern states, it resided in the zone in which boreal coniferous forests yielded to deciduous forests. By 2010, after an 11-year effort, it had successfully reintroduced into Colorado
41.
Moose
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The moose or elk, Alces alces, is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the broad, flat antlers of the males, Moose typically inhabit boreal forests and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests of the Northern Hemisphere in temperate to subarctic climates. Hunting and other activities have caused a reduction in the size of the mooses range over time. Moose have been reintroduced to some of their former habitats, currently, most moose are found in Canada, Alaska, New England, Fennoscandia, Latvia, Estonia and Russia. Their diet consists of terrestrial and aquatic vegetation. The most common predators are the gray wolf along with bears. Unlike most other species, moose are solitary animals and do not form herds. Although generally slow-moving and sedentary, moose can become aggressive and move quickly if angered or startled and their mating season in the autumn features energetic fights between males competing for a female. Alces alces is called a moose in North American English, and that same word elk in North American English refers to a completely different species of deer, the Cervus canadensis, also called the wapiti. A mature male moose is called a bull, a female a cow. The word elk originated from Proto-Germanic languages, from which Old English evolved, the British English word elk has cognates in other Indo-European languages, for example elg in Danish/Norwegian, älg in Swedish, alnis in Latvian, Elch in German, and łoś in Polish. In the continental-European languages, these forms of the word elk almost always refer to the Alces alces, the word moose first entered English by 1606 and is borrowed from the Algonquian languages, and possibly involved forms from multiple languages mutually reinforcing one another. The term moose is a name of North American origin, the animal is known in British English as the elk. The moose became extinct in Britain during the Bronze Age, long before the Europeans discovery of America, the youngest bones were found in Scotland and are roughly 3900 years old. Dictionaries of the 18th century simply described elk as a deer that was as large as a horse, confusingly, the word elk is used in North America to refer to a different animal, Cervus canadensis, which is also called by the Algonkian indigenous name, wapiti. The British began colonizing America in the 17th century, and found two common species of deer for which they had no names, the wapiti appeared very similar to the red deer of Europe although it was much larger and was not red. The moose was a rather strange-looking deer to the colonists, the wapiti is very similar to the red deer of central and western Europe, although it is distinctly different behaviorally and genetically. Early European explorers in North America, particularly in Virginia where there were no moose, called the wapiti elk because of its size, the moose resembled the German elk, which was less familiar to the British colonists
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Gray wolf
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The gray wolf or grey wolf, also known as the timber wolf or western wolf, is a canine native to the wilderness and remote areas of Eurasia and North America. It is the largest extant member of its family, with males averaging 43–45 kg, like the red wolf, it is distinguished from other Canis species by its larger size and less pointed features, particularly on the ears and muzzle. Its winter fur is long and bushy, and predominantly a mottled gray in color, although pure white, red. As of 2005,37 subspecies of C. lupus are recognised by MSW3 and it is nonetheless closely related enough to smaller Canis species, such as the eastern wolf, coyote, and golden jackal to produce fertile hybrids. It is an animal, travelling in nuclear families consisting of a mated pair. The gray wolf is typically an apex predator throughout its range, with only humans and it feeds primarily on large ungulates, though it also eats smaller animals, livestock, carrion, and garbage. The gray wolf is one of the worlds best known and well researched animals, although the fear of wolves is pervasive in many human societies, the majority of recorded attacks on people have been attributed to animals suffering from rabies. The English wolf stems from the Old English wulf, which is thought to be derived from the Proto-Germanic *wulfaz. The Latin lupus is a Sabine loanword, both derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *wlqwos/*lukwos. The species Canis lupus was first recorded by Carl Linnaeus in his publication Systema Naturae in 1758, the thirty-seven subspecies of Canis lupus are listed under the designated common name of wolf in Mammal Species of the World third edition that was published in 2005. The nominate subspecies is the Eurasian wolf, also known as the common wolf, the subspecies includes the domestic dog, dingo, eastern wolf and red wolf, but lists C. l. italicus and C. l. communis as synonyms of C. l. lupus. However, the classification of several as either species or subspecies has recently been challenged, ecological factors including habitat type, climate, prey specialization and predatory competition will greatly influence the wolfs genetic population structure and cranio-dental plasticity. The domestic dog is the most widely abundant large carnivore and a descendant from one of those now-extinct wolf populations, in 2013, a genetic study found that the wolf population in Europe was divided along a north-south axis and formed five major clusters. Three clusters were identified occupying southern and central Europe in Italy, the Carpathians, another two clusters were identified occupying north-central Europe and the Ukrainian steppe. The Italian wolf consisted of a population with low genetic diversity. Wolves from Croatia, Bulgaria, and Greece formed the Dinaric-Balkans cluster, the wolves from the Carpathians were more similar to the wolves from the Pontic-Caspian Steppe than they were to wolves from north-central Europe. These clusters may have been the result of expansion from glacial refugia, an adaptation to environments, and landscape fragmentation. These six wolf ecotypes were named West Forest, Boreal Forest, Arctic, High Arctic, Baffin, the studies found that precipitation and mean diurnal temperature range were the most influential variables
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Wolverine
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The wolverine, Gulo gulo, also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, skunk bear, or quickhatch, is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a stocky and muscular carnivore, more resembling a small bear than other mustelids. The wolverine, an animal, has a reputation for ferocity and strength out of proportion to its size. Its population has declined since the 19th century owing to trapping, range reduction. The wolverine is now absent from the southern end of its European range. Genetic evidence suggests that the wolverine is most closely related to the tayra and martens, within the Gulo genus, a clear separation occurs between two subspecies, the Old World form Gulo gulo gulo and the New World form G. g. luscus. Some authors had described as many as four additional North American subspecies, including ones limited to Vancouver Island, however, the most currently accepted taxonomy recognizes either the two continental subspecies or recognize G. gulo as a single Holarctic taxon. Anatomically, the wolverine is a stocky and muscular animal, with short legs, broad and rounded head, small eyes and short rounded ears, it more closely resembles a bear than it does other mustelids. Though its legs are short, its large, five-toed paws with claws and plantigrade posture enable them to climb up and over steep cliffs, trees. The males are as much as 30% larger than the females, shoulder height is reported from 30 to 45 cm. Wolverines have thick, dark, oily fur which is highly hydrophobic and this has led to its traditional popularity among hunters and trappers as a lining in jackets and parkas in Arctic conditions. A light-silvery facial mask is distinct in some individuals, and a buff stripe runs laterally from the shoulders along the side. Some individuals display prominent white patches on their throats or chests. Like many other mustelids, it has potent anal scent glands used for marking territory, the pungent odor has given rise to the nicknames skunk bear and nasty cat. Wolverines, like other mustelids, possess a special upper molar in the back of the mouth that is rotated 90 degrees and this special characteristic allows wolverines to tear off meat from prey or carrion that has been frozen solid. Wolverines are considered to be primarily scavengers, a majority of the wolverines sustenance is derived from carrion, on which they depend almost exclusively in winter and early spring. Wolverines may find themselves, feed on it after the predator is done feeding or simply take it from another predator. Wolverines are also known to follow wolf and lynx trails, purportedly with the intent of scavenging the remains of their kills, whether eating live prey or carrion, the wolverines feeding style appears voracious, leading to the nickname of glutton
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Crotalus viridis
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Crotalus viridis is a venomous pit viper species native to the western United States, southwestern Canada, and northern Mexico. Currently, two subspecies are recognized, including the subspecies described here. The taxonomic history of species is convoluted. Previously, seven other C. viridis subspecies were recognized, including C. v. abyssus, C. v. caliginis, C. v. cerberus, C. v. concolor, C. v. helleri, C. v. lutosus. However, in 2001 Ashton and de Queiroz described their analysis of the variation of mitochondrial DNA across the range of this species and their results agreed broadly with those obtained by Pook et al. The authors retained the names of the subspecies, but emphasized the need for more work to be done on the systematics of C. oreganus. Its vertical range is from 100 m near the Rio Grande to over 2,775 m in elevation in Wyoming, Wright and Wright and Klauber both mention Utah as within the range of this species, including maps showing it confined to the extreme southeastern part of the state. The type locality is described as the Upper Missouri, an emendation was proposed by H. M. Smith and Taylor to Gross, Boyd County, Nebraska. This species commonly grows to more than 100 cm in length, the maximum recorded size is 151.5 cm. In Montana, specimens occasionally exceed 120 centimetres in length, the species reaches its maximum size in this region, one of the most characteristic features is the presence of three or more, usually four, internasal scales. Identification characteristics will vary depending on which subspecies is encountered, generally, western rattlesnakes are usually lightly colored in hues of brown. Patches of dark brown are often distributed in a dorsal pattern, a color band may be seen at the back of the eye. The western rattlesnake group carries the distinctive triangle-shaped head and pit sensory organs on either side of the head, a key characteristic that can help differentiate a western rattlesnake from other rattlesnakes is the presence of two internasals contacting the rostral. Habitat characteristics can vary depending on subspecies and range, generally, western rattlesnakes occupy areas with an abundant prey base. Many subspecies occupy somewhat rocky areas with outcrops serving as den sites, Western rattlesnakes have also been known to occupy burrows of other animals. They seem to prefer dry areas with moderate vegetation coverage, vegetation cover will vary depending on region and subspecies. Western rattlesnakes, because of their distribution, have a wide array of prey. Generally, this species prefers small mammals, such as squirrels, ground nesting birds, mice, rats, small rabbits
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United States Forest Service
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The United States Forest Service is an agency of the U. S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nations 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass 193 million acres. Major divisions of the include the National Forest System, State and Private Forestry, Business Operations. Managing approximately 25% of federal lands, it is the major national land agency that is outside the U. S. Department of the Interior. The concept of the National Forests was born from Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation group, Boone and Crockett Club, in 1876, Congress created the office of Special Agent in the Department of Agriculture to assess the quality and conditions of forests in the United States. Hough was appointed the head of the office, in 1881, the office was expanded into the newly formed Division of Forestry. The Forest Reserve Act of 1891 authorized withdrawing land from the domain as forest reserves. In 1901, the Division of Forestry was renamed the Bureau of Forestry, gifford Pinchot was the first United States Chief Forester in the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. As of 2009, the Forest Service has a budget authority of $5.5 billion. The Forest Service employs 34,250 employees in 750 locations, including 10,050 firefighters,737 law enforcement personnel, and 500 scientists. The mission of the Forest Service is To sustain the health, diversity and its motto is Caring for the land and serving people. As the lead agency in natural resource conservation, the US Forest Service provides leadership in the protection, management, and use of the nations forest, rangeland. The agencys ecosystem approach to management integrates ecological, economic, and social factors to maintain and enhance the quality of the environment to meet current, the everyday work of the Forest Service balances resource extraction, resource protection, and providing recreation.5 billion trees per year. Further, the Forest Service fought fires on 2,996,000 acres of land in 2007, the Forest Service organization includes ranger districts, national forests, regions, research stations and research work units and the Northeastern Area Office for State and Private Forestry. Each level has responsibility for a variety of functions, the Chief of the Forest Service is a career federal employee who oversees the entire agency. The Chief reports to the Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment in the U. S. Department of Agriculture, there are five deputy chiefs for the following areas, National Forest System, State and Private Forestry, Research and Development, Business Operations, and Finance. The Forest Service Research and Development deputy area includes five stations, the Forest Products Laboratory. Station directors, like regional foresters, report to the Chief, Research stations include Northern, Pacific Northwest, Pacific Southwest, Rocky Mountain, and Southern. There are 92 research work units located at 67 sites throughout the United States, there are 80 Experimental Forests and Ranges that have been established progressively since 1908, many sites are more than 50 years old
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Lewis Overthrust
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The Lewis Overthrust is a geologic thrust fault structure of the Rocky Mountains within Glacier National Park in Montana, United States and Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, Canada. Chief Mountain in Glacier National Park is an example of the result of erosion of these rock layers. The Lewis Overthrust is a thrust fault structure in the Rocky Mountains in Montana, United States in Alberta and it lies within the Glacier National Park in Montana and the Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberts, continuing into the Lewis and Clark National Forest. The overthrust provides scientific insight into geologic processes happening in parts of the world, like the Andes. Scientific study of this region is practical because the original characteristics were well-preserved. The Lewis and Livingston mountain ranges are the reminders of this fault. The Rocky Mountain Front is the easternmost portion of the Lewis Range which rises abruptly 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the Great Plains, the Lewis Overthrust started during the formation of the Rocky Mountains 170 million years ago as a result of colliding tectonic plates. Stresses on the continental plates pushed a huge rock wedge eastward more than 50 miles, the rock wedge, which was several miles thick and several hundred miles long, consisted of Proterozoic rock formations. The underlying layer consisted of softer, Cretaceous age rocks that were over 1,400 million years younger than the overthrust layer, chief Mountain is a highly visible example of the Lewis Overthrust. The mountain is a remnant of the eastern edge of the upper plate. Erosion over time has shaped the mountain into its characteristic shape, geology Fieldnotes, Glacier National Park, Montana. National Park Service Nature & Science
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Idaho
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Idaho is a state in the northwestern region of the United States. It borders the state of Montana to the east and northeast, Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, to the north, it shares a small portion of the Canadian border with the province of British Columbia. With a population of around 1.7 million people and an area of 83,569 square miles, Idaho is the 14th largest, the states capital and largest city is Boise. Idaho prior to European settlement was inhabited solely by Native American peoples, in the early 19th century, Idaho was considered part of the Oregon Country, an area disputed between the U. S. and the United Kingdom. Idaho was eventually admitted to the Union on July 3,1890, forming part of the Pacific Northwest, Idaho is divided into several distinct geographic and climatic regions. In the states north, the relatively isolated Idaho Panhandle is closely linked with Eastern Washington, the states south includes the Snake River Plain, while the south-east incorporates part of the Great Basin. Idaho is quite mountainous, and contains several stretches of the Rocky Mountains, additionally, around 38 percent of Idahos land is held by the United States Forest Service, the most of any state. Industries significant for the economy include manufacturing, agriculture, mining, forestry. Idahos agricultural sector supplies a number of different products, but the state is best known for its potato crop, the official state nickname is the Gem State, which references Idahos reputation for gemstones and, more broadly, its many wilderness areas. The exact origin of the remains a mystery. Willing later claimed that he had invented the name. Congress ultimately decided to name the area Colorado Territory when it was created in February 1861, thinking they would get a jump on the name, locals named a community in Colorado Idaho Springs. However, the name Idaho did not fall into obscurity, the same year Congress created Colorado Territory, a county called Idaho County was created in eastern Washington Territory. The county was named after a steamship named Idaho, which was launched on the Columbia River in 1860 and it is unclear whether the steamship was named before or after Willings claim was revealed. Regardless, a portion of Washington Territory, including Idaho County, was used to create Idaho Territory in 1863. Despite this lack of evidence for the origin of the name, the name Idaho may be derived from the Plains Apache word ídaahę́, which means enemy. The Comanches used this word to refer to the Idaho Territory, a 1956 Idaho history textbook says, Idaho is a Shoshoni Indian exclamation. The word consists of three parts, the first is Ee, which in English conveys the idea of coming down
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Utah
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Utah is a state in the western United States. It became the 45th state admitted to the U. S. on January 4,1896, Utah is the 13th-largest by area, 31st-most-populous, and 10th-least-densely populated of the 50 United States. Utah has a population of more than 3 million, approximately 80% of whom live along the Wasatch Front, Utah is bordered by Colorado to the east, Wyoming to the northeast, Idaho to the north, Arizona to the south, and Nevada to the west. It also touches a corner of New Mexico in the southeast, approximately 62% of Utahns are reported to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or LDS, which greatly influences Utahn culture and daily life. The LDS Churchs world headquarters is located in Salt Lake City, Utah is the only state with a majority population belonging to a single church. The state is a center of transportation, education, information technology and research, government services, mining, in 2013, the U. S. Census Bureau estimated that Utah had the second fastest-growing population of any state. St. George was the metropolitan area in the United States from 2000 to 2005. Utah also has the 14th highest median income and the least income inequality of any U. S. state. A2012 Gallup national survey found Utah overall to be the best state to live in based on 13 forward-looking measurements including various economic, lifestyle, the name Utah is derived from the name of the Ute tribe. It means people of the mountains in the Ute language, according to other sources Utah is derived from the Apache name Yudah which means Tall. These Native American tribes are subgroups of the Ute-Aztec Native American ethnicity and were sedentary, the Ancestral Pueblo people built their homes through excavations in mountains, and the Fremont people built houses of straw before disappearing from the region around the 15th century. Another group of Native Americans, the Navajo, settled in the region around the 18th century, in the mid-18th century, other Uto-Aztecan tribes, including the Goshute, the Paiute, the Shoshone, and the Ute people, also settled in the region. These five groups were present when the first European explorers arrived, the southern Utah region was explored by the Spanish in 1540, led by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, while looking for the legendary Cíbola. A group led by two Catholic priests—sometimes called the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition—left Santa Fe in 1776, hoping to find a route to the coast of California, the expedition traveled as far north as Utah Lake and encountered the native residents. The Spanish made further explorations in the region, but were not interested in colonizing the area because of its desert nature, in 1821, the year Mexico achieved its independence from Spain, the region became known as part of its territory of Alta California. European trappers and fur traders explored some areas of Utah in the early 19th century from Canada, the city of Provo, Utah was named for one, Étienne Provost, who visited the area in 1825. The city of Ogden, Utah was named after Peter Skene Ogden, in late 1824, Jim Bridger became the first known English-speaking person to sight the Great Salt Lake. Due to the salinity of its waters, Bridger thought he had found the Pacific Ocean
