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Snake River

Snake River

This article is about the Snake River in the northwestern United States. For other uses, see Snake River (disambiguation) Snake River (disambiguation) The Snake River is a river in the western part of the United States. The Snake River is 1,038 miles (1,670 km) in length, and is the Columbia River's main tributary. The Lewis and Clark expedition (1803-6) was the first major U.S. exploration of the river, and the Snake was once known as the Lewis River. The Snake originates near the Continental Divide in Yellowstone National Park in NW Wyoming and flows south to Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park and past the town of Jackson. The river flows down Snake River Canyon, then enters Idaho at the Palisades Reservoir and joins with the Henrys Fork River near Rigby. Note: residents of eastern Idaho generally call the Snake prior to this joining the "South Fork of the Snake", distinguishing it from the Henrys Fork. Rigby Rigby The Snake then swings down in an arc across southern Idaho, following the Snake River Plain. In doing so it passes through the city of Idaho Falls and the American Falls Reservoir and then past Twin Falls and Boise to the Idaho/Oregon border. It then flows north through Hells Canyon, and past the cities of Lewiston, Idaho and Clarkston, Washington. It then turns into Washington, passes through many hydroelectric dams and finally joins the Columbia River near Pasco, Washington. Tributaries of the Snake include the Henrys Fork River, the Boise River, the Salmon River, and the Clearwater River. The Snake River's many hydroelectric power plants are a major source of electricity in the region. Its watershed provides irrigation for various projects, including the Minidoka, Boise, Palisades, and Owyhee projects by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, as well as a variety of private projects such as at Twin Falls. However, these dams have also had an adverse environmental effect on wildlife, most notably on wild salmon migrations. Some conservation organizations and fishermen are seeking to restore the lower Snake River and Snake River salmon ands steelhead by removing four federally-owned dams on the lower Snake River. The Snake runs through a number of gorges, including one of the deepest in the world, Hells Canyon, with a maximum depth of 7,900 feet (2,410 m). The name "Snake" possibly derived from an S-shaped (snake) sign which the Shoshone Indians made with their hands to mimic swimming salmon. Variant names of the river have included:
- Great Snake River
- Lewis Fork
- Lewis River
- Mad River
- Saptin River
- Shoshone River
- Yam-pah-pa Hells Canyon Dams on the Snake River (from headwaters to termination):
- Wyoming:
- Jackson Lake Dam, Jackson Lake, upper Snake
- Idaho:
- Palisades Dam, Palisades Reservoir, upper Snake
- American Falls Dam, American Falls Reservoir, upper Snake
- Minidoka Dam
- Bliss Dam, middle Snake
- C. J. Strike Dam, C. J. Stirke Reservoir, middle Snake
- Brownlee Dam, middle Snake
- Oxbow Dam, middle Snake
- Hells Canyon Dam, middle Snake
- Washington:
- Lower Granite Lock and Dam, Lower Granite Lake, lower Snake
- Little Goose Lock and Dam, Lake Bryan, lower Snake
- Lower Monumental Lock and Dam, Lake Herbert G. West, lower Snake
- Ice Harbor Lock and Dam, Lake Sacajawea, lower Snake Counties through which the Snake flows are:
- Franklin County, Washington
- Walla Walla County, Washington
- Columbia County, Washington
- Whitman County, Washington
- Garfield County, Washington
- Asotin County, Washington
- Nez Perce County, Idaho
- Wallowa County, Oregon
- Idaho County, Idaho
- Adams County, Idaho
- Baker County, Oregon
- Washington County, Idaho
- Malheur County, Oregon
- Payette County, Idaho
- Canyon County, Idaho
- Owyhee County, Idaho
- Ada County, Idaho
- Elmore County, Idaho
- Gooding County, Idaho
- Twin Falls County, Idaho
- Jerome County, Idaho
- Cassia County, Idaho
- Minidoka County, Idaho
- Blaine County, Idaho
- Power County, Idaho
- Bingham County, Idaho
- Bannock County, Idaho
- Bonneville County, Idaho
- Jefferson County, Idaho
- Lincoln County, Wyoming
- Teton County, Wyoming Source for some material: [http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnis/web_query.GetDetail?tab=Y&id=1533479 U.S. Geological Survey] Category:Rivers of Idaho Category:Rivers of Oregon Category:Rivers of Washington Category:Rivers of Wyoming ja:スネーク川

Snake River (disambiguation)

The Snake River may refer to:

United States

- the Snake River (main article), a tributary of the Columbia River in the northwestern United States.
- the Snake River in Colorado.
- the Snake River in Michigan.
- one of three Snake Rivers in Minnesota.
- the Snake River in Nebraska.

Canada

- one of two Snake Rivers in the province of Ontario.
- the Snake River in the Yukon.

River

:For the Second World War frigate class, see River class frigate. For the state of Nigeria, see Rivers State. MyScene.]] A river is a large natural waterway. It is a specific term in the vernacular for large streams, stream being the umbrella term used in the scientific community for all flowing natural waterways. In the vernacular, stream may be used to refer to smaller streams, as may creek, run, fork, etc. Passage via a river or stream is the usual way rainfall on land finds its way to the ocean or other large body of water such as a lake. A river consists of several basic parts, originating from headwaters or a spring at the source, that flow into the main stream. Smaller side streams that join the river are tributaries. Water flow is normally confined to a channel, with a bottom or bed between banks. The lower end of a river is its base level, commonly called its mouth, a river typically widens at its end and forms what is known as a river delta or estuary.

Topography

estuary.]]A river conducts water by constantly flowing perpendicular to the elevation curve of its bed, thereby converting the positional energy of the water into kinetic energy. Where a river flows over relatively flat areas, the river will meander: start to form loops and snake through the plain by eroding the river banks. Loops that are formed are sometimes cut off, forming a shorter river channel and leaving a remnant, oxbow lake. Rivers that carry large amounts of sediment develop conspicuous deltas at their mouths. Rivers whose mouths are in saline tidal waters may form estuaries. There are 4 main types of rivers. These types are:
- Youthful river - a river with a steep gradient that has very few tributaries and flows quickly. Its channels erode deeper rather than wider.
- Mature river - a river with a gradient that is less steep than those of youthful rivers and flows more slowly than youthful rivers. A mature river is fed by many tributaries and has more discharge than a youthful river. Its channels erode wider rather than deeper.
- Old river - a river with a low gradient and low erosive energy. Old rivers are characterized by flood plains.
- Rejuvenated river - a river with a gradient that is raised by the earth's movement. Where a river descends quickly over sloped topography, rapids with whitewater or even waterfalls occur. Rapids are often used for recreational purposes (see Whitewater kayaking). Waterfalls are sometimes used as sources of energy, via watermills and hydroelectric plants. Rivers begin at their source in higher ground, either rising from a spring, forming from glacial meltwater, flowing from a body of water such as a lake, or simply from damp, boggy places where the soil is waterlogged. They end at their base level where they flow into a larger body of water, the sea, a lake, or as a tributary to another (usually larger) river. In arid areas rivers sometimes end by losing water to evaporation and percolation into dry, porous material such as sand, soil, or pervious rock. The area drained by a river and its tributaries is called its watershed or catchment basin. (Watershed is also used however to mean a boundary between catchment basins.) Starting at the mouth of the river and following it upstream as it branches again and again the resulting river network forms a dendritic (tree-like) structure that is an example of a natural random fractal.

Biology

The flora and fauna of rivers are much different from those of the ocean because the water is fresh (non-salty). Living things in a river must be adapted to the current of the moving water.

Pollution

Human pollution of rivers is common, and very few rivers in the world today are clean of man-made substances. The most common pollutant is sewage piped into rivers, but chemical pollution is also common, and industrial accidents (and/or negligence) account for much of the destruction of riparian biomes. Heated water dumped into rivers by power plants and factories also affects river life.

Navigation

The Rhine is the busiest river in the world for transport ships. Inland vessels use the river to reach the major cities in Germany, Eastern France and Switzerland to transport bulk goods, liquids, containers AND passengers into the hinterland of the Port of Rotterdam and the ports of Amsterdam and Antwerp. Many millions of tons of goods are transported upstream yearly from these three sea ports to the industries near Nijmegen, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Neuss, Köln, Koblenz, Mainz, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Strasbourg, Colmar, Mulhouse and Basel. The lower part of the river is navigable for the largest inland vessels (up to 135 meters long and 17 meters wide) with an available depth of more than 2,50 even at the lower water levels. The further upstream, the more depth restrictions: at low water periods draught of ships is often limited to 1,90 m. for the stretch around Bingen (between the mouths of the Mosel and the Main). Upstream from Karlsruhe the Rhine is the border between France and Germany. The French have canalized the river by means of a series of hydropower dams and double ship locks, thus ensuring a year round navigable depth of 3.50 meters. (Source: NoorderSoft Waterways Database)

Dams

In places where the elevation changes of a river are great, dams for hydroelectric plants and other purposes are often built. This disrupts the natural flow of the river, and creates a lake behind the dam. Often the building of dams affects the whole of the river, even the part above the dam, as migrating fish are hindered (see fish ladder), waterflow is no longer bounded by seasonal changes and sediment flow is blocked. Dams are useful in many ways, such as providing HEP, acting as regulator of river flow so as to regulate the occurrence of flooding, which is especially important to wet-rice agriculture, and also to improve navigation and transport on the river. Often, dams such as Hoover Dam along Colorado River become famous tourist attractions. However, critics of dams, especially 'Green' advocates, argue that dams remove upper-river biodiversity such as through deforestation and forced migration of rural villages and indigenous tribes. Furthermore, trapping of river sediments behind the dams lead to salination and loss of nutrients for down-water fish. It also raises concern of eathquakes due to instablity of incompetent dams which have to support thousands of tonnes of sediments behind them. One very famous, and problematic, dam is the Aswan High Dam in the Nile.

Flooding

Flooding is a natural part of a river's cycles. Human activity, however, has upset the natural way flooding occurs by walling off rivers and straightening their courses. Removal of bogs, swamps and other wetlands in order to produce farmland has reduced the absorption zones for excess water and made floods into sudden disasters rather than gradual increases in water flow. In ancient Egypt, life was made possible through the floods of the Nile and the accompanying silt and sediment which enriched the fields with fresh nutrients. Nowadays, since people have built on these floodplains, floods are disasters, causing untold property loss each year. Human interference in the form of deforestation can also worsen conditions. The removal of vegetation leads to a reduction in Interception (vegetation stopping precipitation) and the 'weakening' of soil since plant roots no longer hold it together. As a result there is a reduced Infiltration capacity (how much water the soil can hold) and greater infiltration (precipitation going into the ground). This leads to faster soil saturation and therefore greater overland flow (also known as surface run off) and therefore, there are flash floods as the lag time decrease.

Logjams

Logjams are barriers within rivers, created by dead and uprooted trees. Over time, the obstruction prevents further logs to bypass, resulting in the creation of new network channels. According to author David R. Montgomery in his book, King of Fish, a logjam also causes water to buildup within a small space, forming peaceful pools within the main channel for young salmon to live within. The existence of these deep pools along with the complex web of channels creates an ideal salmon habitat. Today, many believe that the rebuilding of salmon runs is contingent upon reproducing the same environment shaped by logjams. As a result, many scientists have attempted to recreate artificial logjams. Marc Duboiski and Mike Ramsey of the Salmon Recovery Funding board staff, George Pess of the National Marine Fisheries Service, and Kevin Bauersfeld of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife have prepared the Report to the Salmon Recovery Funding Board On the Engineered Log Jam (ELJ) Workshop ([http://iac.wa.gov/Documents/SRFB/Log_Jam_Report.pdf#search='log%20jams%20and%20salmon']), with the hope of mimicking natural logjams. Report to the Salmon Recovery Funding Board On the Engineered Log Jam (ELJ) Workshop."]]

Management

In its natural state a river may be inconvenient to man in a variety of ways. Rivers in inhabited areas have therefore been managed or controlled to make them more useful and less disruptive to human activity.
- The river channel may be dredged to make it deeper for navigation or to prevent flooding.
- Dams (see above) or weirs may be built to control the flow, store water, or extract energy.
- Levees may be built to prevent flooding.
- Sluice gates provide a means of controlling flow and adjusting river levels.
- floodways may be added to draw off excess river water in times of flood.
- Canals connect rivers to one another for water transfer or navigation.
- River courses may be modified to improve navigation, or straightened to increase the flow rate. River management is an ongoing activity as rivers tend to 'undo' the modifications made by man. Dredged channels silt up, sluice mechanisms deteriorate with age, levees and dams may suffer seepage or catastrophic failure.

River lists

(See also :Category:Lists of rivers.)

The world's ten longest rivers

It is difficult to measure the length of a river, mainly because rivers have a fractal property, which means that the more precise the measure, the longer the river will seem. Also, it's hard to state exactly where a river begins or ends, as very often, upstream, rivers are formed by seasonal streams, swamps, or changing lakes. This is an average measurement. # Nile (6,690 km) # Amazon (6,400 km) # Yangtze (Chang Jiang) (6,380 km) # Mississippi-Missouri (6,270 km) # Ob-Irtysh (5,570 km) # Huang He (Yellow) (5,464 km) # Amur (4,410 km) # Congo (4,380 km or 4,670 km). (The source of this river is disputed.) # Lena (4,260 km) # Mackenzie (4,240 km) For a longer list see Longest rivers. This also gives more information on measuring river lengths.

Well-known rivers (in alphabetic order)

- Aa - multiple rivers in Europe
- Amazon - largest river in the world
- American
- Amu Darya
- Amur - principal river of eastern Siberia
- Arkansas - major tributary of Mississippi River
- Arno - river through Florence
- Arvandrud (Shatt al-Arab) the large border river between Iran and Iraq.
- Brahmaputra - principal river in North East India & Tibet
- Chao Phraya - principal river of Thailand
- Colorado (Argentina)
- Colorado (U.S.) - principal river of American West
- Columbia - principal river of Pacific Northwest
- Congo - principal river of central Africa
- Danube - principal river of central and southeastern Europe
- De La Plata - the widest river in the world. South America
- Ebro - river in northwest Spain
- Elbe - major German river, Hamburg is situated on it
- Euphrates - twin principal river of Mesopotamia(Iraq)
- Ganges - principal river of India
- Han-gang - river of Seoul
- Helmand River - Principle river of (Afghanistan)
- Hari Rud (Afghanistan)
- Huang He (Yellow) - principal river of China
- Hudson - principal river of New York
- Indus - principal river of Pakistan
- Jordan - principal river of Israel
- Karun - principal (navigable) river of southern Iran.
- Kaveri - principal river of South India
- Lena - principal river of northeastern Siberia
- Mackenzie - longest river in Canada
- Magdalena - principal river of Colombia
- Main - river in Germany
- Mekong - principal river of Southeast Asia
- Mersey - river on which sits the English city of Liverpool
- Meuse - principal river of the southern provinces of the Netherlands and eastern Belgium.
- Mississippi - principal river of central United States
- Missouri - principal river of the Great Plains
- Murray - principal river of southeastern Australia
- Niger - principal river of west Africa
- Nile - Possibly the longest river in the world (or second after the Amazon)
- Ob - large river of Siberia
- Odra - major river in Eastern Europe
- Ohio - largest river between Mississippi and Appalachians
- Orinoco - principal river of Venezuela
- Parana - major South American river
- Paraguay - principal tributary of Parana river and major South American river in Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina
- Po - principal river of Italy
- Potomac River - principal river of the District of Columbia in the United States
- Rhine - principal river of northwestern Europe
- Rhône - principal river of southern France
- Rio Grande - border between United States and Mexico
- Saint Lawrence - drains Great Lakes
- Seine - river of Paris
- Segura- in southeast Spain
- Severn- longest river in Great Britain
- Shinano-gawa - longest river in Japan
- Snake - largest tributary to the Columbia river in Washington
- Tajo - largest river in the Iberian Peninsula
- Tay - largest river in Scotland
- Thames - river of London
- Tiber - river of Rome
- Tigris - twin principal river of Mesopotamia(Iraq)
- Tonegawa - largest river in Japan
- Vistula - principal river of Poland
- Volga - principal river of Russia
- Yangtze (Chang Jiang) - longest river in China
- Yenisei - large river of Siberia
- Yukon - principal river of Alaska and Yukon Territory
- Zambezi - principal river of southeastern Africa

Other lists

- List of waterways
- List of rivers by continent
- List of rivers of Europe
- Rivers of the United Kingdom
- List of rivers of Asia
- List of rivers of Africa
- List of rivers of Australia
- List of rivers of New Zealand
- List of rivers of the Americas
- List of rivers of Oceania
- List of river name etymologies

Rivers in myth and fiction

Real rivers

- The Thames in Edward Rutherfurd's London.
- The Thames in Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat.
- The Thames and the Congo in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
- The Mississippi in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn.
- The River Liffey through Dublin in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake.

Mythological rivers

- In Greek mythology, the Acheron, Cocytus, Phlegethon, Lethe and Styx (the five rivers of Hades); and the Eridanus.
- The Alph, an underground river imagined by various mystics and mentioned in Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan.
- The Sambation river stops flowing every Saturday.

Fictional rivers

- River Ankh traversing the city of Ankh-Morpork in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.
- Chocolate river in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
- River Djel in the country of Djelibeybi in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.
- The River in the Riverworld novels of Philip José Farmer.
- Rivers of Middle-earth in various works of J. R. R. Tolkien.

External links

- [http://www.srbc.net/about.htm Management: River Basin Commissions]. Category:Bodies of water Category:Geomorphology zh-min-nan:Hô ja:川 ko:강 ms:Sungai simple:River th:แม่น้ำ

Columbia River

The Columbia River is a river situated in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It is the largest river in volume flowing into the Pacific Ocean from North America, and the second largest in the United States. It is the largest hydroelectric power producing river in North America. From its headwaters to the Pacific Ocean it flows 1,232 miles (2,044 km), and drains 258,000 square miles (415,211 km²).

Geography

North America Columbia Lake forms the Columbia's headwaters in the Canadian Rockies of southern British Columbia. The river then flows through Windermere Lake and the town of Invermere, then northwest to Golden and into Kinbasket Lake. The river then turns (the "Big Bend") south through Revelstoke Lake and the Arrow Lakes to the BC–Washington border. The river then flows through the east-central portion of Washington State. The last 300 miles (480 km) of the Columbia form the Washington-Oregon boundary. The river goes into the Pacific Ocean at Ilwaco, Washington and Astoria, Oregon forming the Columbia Bar. For its first 200 miles (320 km) the Columbia flows northwest; it then bends to the south, crossing from Canada into the United States, where the river meets the Clark Fork. The Clark Fork River begins near Butte, Montana and flows through western Montana before entering Pend Oreille Lake. Water draining from the lake forms the Pend Oreille River, which flows across the Idaho panhandle to Washington's northeastern corner where it meets the northern Canadian fork. Idaho The river then runs southsouthwest through the Columbia Plateau, changing to a southeasterly direction near the Columbia Basin, where the magnificent Gorge at George is located. The Gorge Amphitheater, which looks out over the gorge, is a spectacular 40,000 person concert venue. The river continues southeast until it passes the Hanford Nuclear Reservation just before it reaches the Snake River. The Columbia then makes a sharp bend to the west where it begins to form the Washington-Oregon border. Near the town of Hood River, Oregon, the river begins cutting through the Cascade Mountains at the entrance to the Columbia River Gorge. The west side of the gorge is marked by Crown Point. Constant winds of 15 to 35 mph (25 to 55 km/h) blow through this wide straight gorge. It was here in Hood River County, Oregon that windsurfing was originated. The Columbia River is the largest river in the world that has no delta. The river continues west with one small north-northwesterly-directed stretch near Portland; Vancouver, Washington; and the confluence with the Willamette River. On this sharp bend the river's flow slows considerably and it drops the sediment that would normally form a delta. Willamette River

Major tributaries

: For a more complete list See Tributaries of the Columbia River Major tributaries, downstream from British Columbia to the Pacific Ocean:
- Kootenai River
- Pend Oreille River
- Yakima River
- Snake River
- John Day River
- Klickitat River
- Hood River
- Sandy River
- Willamette River

History

On May 11, 1792, Captain Robert Gray became the first white man to see the Columbia River. Gray traveled to the Pacific Northwest to trade for fur in a privately-owned vessel named Columbia; he named the river after the ship. Gray's discovery of the Columbia established a stronger belief that Americans had more of a "right" to the Oregon Country, which was also claimed by Russians, British, Spanish, and other nations. "Ouragan" is the original name for the Columbia River. Native American stories hold the "Ouragan" as a very spiritual place. Spanish Lewis and Clark's overland expedition explored the vast, unmapped lands west of the Missouri River. On the last stretch of their expedition they traveled down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. The expedition led the way in settling the west. In 1825, on behalf of the Hudson's Bay Company, Dr. John McLoughlin established Fort Vancouver (currently Vancouver, Washington) on the banks of the Columbia as a fur trading headquarters in the region. The fort was by far the largest western settlement of its time. Every year ships would come from London (via the Pacific) to drop off supplies and trade goods in exchange for the furs. For many settlers the fort became the last stop on the Oregon Trail to buy supplies and land before starting their homestead. Because of its access to the Columbia river, Fort Vancouver's influence reached from Alaska to California and from the Rocky Mountains to the Hawaiian Islands.

Hydroelectric dams

The mainstream of the Columbia River has 11 dams and 8 locks. Nearly half of all hydroelectricity in the United States comes from the Columbia and its tributaries. The largest of the 150 hydroelectric projects, the Grand Coulee Dam and the Chief Joseph Dam, are also the largest in the United States. The Grand Coulee Dam is the third largest hydroelectric dam in the world. The dams also provide a secondary benefit in flood control and irrigation. On its north-south stretch through Eastern Washington, the Columbia spans a large desert created by the Cascade Mountains' rain shadow. The dams provide water for the Columbia Basin Project, one of the most extensive irrigation projects in the western United States. The project provides water to over 500,000 acres (2,000 km²) of fertile but arid lands in central Washington State. Water from the project has transformed the region from a wasteland barely able to produce subsistence levels of dry-land wheat crops to a major agricultural center. Important crops include apples, potatoes, alfalfa, wheat, corn (maize), barley, hops, beans, and sugar beets. sugar beet Although the dams provide clear, renewable energy, they drastically alter the landscape and ecosystem of the river. At one time the Columbia was one of the top salmon producing river systems in the world. Previously active fishing sites, like Celilo Falls in the eastern Columbia River Gorge highlight the relative decline in fishing along the Columbia during the last century. The presence of dams coupled with over-fishing has played a major role in the reduction of salmon populations. Fish ladders have been installed to help the fish journey to spawning waters. Additionally each dams' reservoirs are closely regulated by the Bonneville Power Administration to ensure one dam is not hoarding water to the detriment of habitat for salmon and other fish.

Pollution

Contaminants have seeped into the Columbia River from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. This Reservation was established in 1940s as part of the Manhattan Project. It is located along the river in southeastern Washington on 586 mile² (1,520 km²) of some of the most fertile land in North America; at the time of its establishment, the area was considered a wasteland. The site served as a plutonium production complex with nine nuclear reactors and related facilities. Most of the facilities were shut down in the 1960s. The site is currently under control of the Department of Energy, and is a CERCLA, or superfund site. The superfund cleanup is expected to be completed in 2030. There are also many more major problems with the Columbia, from raw sewage dumpage, to hundreds of tons of slag dumped daily. Because of the pollution problems, some people believe that the future health of the Columbia River does not look good. However, newspapers such as The Oregonian are calling attention to the problems of rivers, and there is hope that humans, industries, flora, fauna and safe water can be made to co-exist.

Culture

With the importance of the Columbia to the Pacific Northwest, it has made its way into the culture of the area and the nation. From the Woody Guthrie song "Roll on, Columbia": :"Roll on, Columbia, roll on, roll on, Columbia, roll on :Your power is turning our darkness to dawn :Roll on, Columbia, roll on."

In the movies

- Bend of the River (with Jimmy Stewart), has a river boat scene filmed on the Columbia River in 1952.
- In 1954, some scenes of the television series Lassie were filmed in the Columbia River Gorge.
- The Grand Coulee Dam was used in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984; Harrison Ford).
- The exterior river boat scenes from the 1994 film Maverick (Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and James Garner), were shot on the Columbia River, in the Columbia River Gorge, near the town of Hood River.
- The dock scene for Snow Falling on Cedars (1999; Ethan Hawke) was filmed on the river at Cathlamet, Wahkiakum County, Washington.
- The rock jetty Free Willy jumps over to gain his freedom is located on the Oregon side of the river in the Hammond Boat Basin.

External links

- [http://www.columbiariverhighway.com/ Historic Columbia River Highway]
- [http://www.nationalgeographic.com/earthpulse/columbia/index_flash.html National Geographic on the Columbia]
- [http://www.bchydro.com/info/system/system15276.html BC Hydro Generation System Information]
- [http://www.ccrh.org/ Center for Columbia River history]
- [http://www.crmm.org/ Columbia River Maritime Museum]
- [http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/columbia/forest/ Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area]
- [http://www.ccalmr.ogi.edu/CORIE/ CORIE, a Columbia River observation and prediction system] Category:Lewis and Clark Category:Rivers of British Columbia Category:Rivers of Oregon Category:Rivers of Washington ja:コロンビア川

Lewis and Clark Expedition

The Lewis and Clark expedition (1804–1806) was the first United States overland expedition to the Pacific coast and back, led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark.

Louisiana Purchase and a western expedition

United States United States The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 sparked interest in expansion to the west coast. A few weeks after the purchase, United States President Thomas Jefferson, an advocate of western expansion, had U.S. Congress appropriate $2500, "to send intelligent officers with ten or twelve men, to explore even to the western ocean". They were to study the Indian tribes, botany, geology, Western Terrain and wildlife in the region, as well as evaluate the potential interference of British and French-Canadian hunters and trappers who were already well established in the area. The expedition was not the first to cross North America, but was roughly a decade after the expedition of Alexander MacKenzie, the first European to go to that place, in 1793. Jefferson selected Captain Meriwether Lewis to lead the expedition, afterwards known as the Corps of Discovery; Lewis selected William Clark as his partner. Due to bureaucratic delays in the US Army, Clark officially only held the rank of Second Lieutenant at the time, but Lewis concealed this from the men and shared the leadership of the expedition, always referring to Clark as "Captain" ([http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/v02.appendix.a.html]). The group, initially consisting of 33 members, departed from Camp Dubois, near present day Hartford, Illinois, and began their historic journey on May 14, 1804. They soon met-up with Lewis in Saint Charles, Missouri and the approximately forty men followed the Missouri River westward. Soon they passed La Charrette, the last white settlement on the Missouri River. On August 20, 1804 the Corps of Discovery suffered its first and only death when Sergeant Charles Floyd died, apparently from acute appendicitis. In the winter of 1804–1805 they wintered at Fort Mandan, near present-day Washburn, North Dakota. The Shoshone/Hidatsa native woman Sacagawea and her husband, French Canadian Toussaint Charbonneau, joined the group there and guided them westward. Sacagawea and her Shoshone tribe came from further west. Not only did Lewis and Clark feel that she could aid them in translation, but they thought that when they got to that part of the country, she could take them to her native home. The expedition followed the Missouri through what is now Kansas City, Missouri and Omaha, Nebraska, crossed the Rocky Mountains and descended by the Clearwater River, the Snake River, and the Columbia River, past Celilo Falls and through what is now Portland, Oregon until they reached the Pacific Ocean in the December of 1805. At this point, Lewis spotted Mt. Hood, a mountain known to be very close to the ocean. On a big pine, Clark carved :"William Clark December 3rd 1805. By land from the U.States in 1804 & 1805" Clark had written in his journal, "Ocian [sic] in view! O! The Joy!". One journal entry is captioned "Cape Disappointment at the Enterance of the Columbia River into the the Great South Sea or Pacific Ocean". By that time the expedition faced its second bitter winter during the trip, so the group decided to vote on whether to camp on the north or south side of the Columbia River. Interestingly, York (Clark's manservant), a slave, and Sacagawea, an Indian and a woman, voted along with the men of the party. The party agreed to camp on the south side of the river (modern Astoria, Oregon), building Fort Clatsop as their winter quarters. While wintering at the fort, the men prepared for the trip home by boiling salt from the ocean, hunting elk and other wildlife. Mostly they just endured the persistent rain. The explorers started their journey home on March 23, 1806 and arrived on September 23. The Corps of Discovery returned with important information about the new United States territory and the people who lived in it, as well as its rivers and mountains, plants and animals. The expedition made a major contribution to mapping the North American continent. :See Timeline of the Lewis and Clark Expedition for more detail

Achievements

Timeline of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
- The U.S. gained an extensive knowledge of the geography of the American West in the form of maps of major rivers and mountain ranges
- Discovered and described 178 new plants and 122 species and subspecies of animals (see List of species described by the Lewis and Clark Expedition)
- Opened American fur trade in the West
- Paved the way for peaceful relations with the Indians
- Established a precedent for Army exploration of the West
- Strengthened the U.S. claim to Oregon Territory
- Focused U.S. and media attention on the West
- Produced the first literature about the West (the Lewis and Clark diaries)
- Made themselves heroes throughout the country and big names in Early American History
- Helped show pioneers some of the Oregon Trail

Expedition members

- Captain Meriwether Lewis (1774 – 1809) was private secretary to President Thomas Jefferson and leader of the Expedition.
- Captain William Clark (1770 – 1838) shared command of the Expedition, although technically second in command. His carved date is the only physical remains of the expedition that can be seen today.
- York (ca. 1770 – ?) as Clark's manservant (slave), he shared the dangers of the journey, but not the rewards.
- Sergeant Charles Floyd (1782 – 1804) was the Expedition's quartermaster, but died early in the trip.
- Sergeant Patrick Gass (1771 – 1870) was chief carpenter, promoted to Sergeant after Floyd's death.
- Sergeant John Ordway (ca. 1775 – ca. 1817) was responsible for issuing provisions, appointing guard duties, and keeping records for the Expedition.
- Sergeant Nathaniel Hale Pryor (1772 – 1831) was leader of the 1st Squad; he presided over the court martial of privates John Collins and Hugh Hall.
- Corporal Richard Warfington (1777 – ?) conducted the return party to St. Louis in 1805.
- Private John Boley (dates unknown) was disciplined at River Dubois and was assigned to the return party.
- Private William E. Bratton (1778 – 1841) served as hunter and blacksmith.
- Private John Collins (? – 1823) had frequent disciplinary problems; he was court-martialed for stealing whiskey which he had been assigned to guard.
- Private John Colter (ca. 1775 – 1813) charged with mutiny early in the trip, he later proved useful as a hunter; he earned his fame after the journey.
- Private Pierre Cruzatte (dates unknown) was a one-eyed French fiddle-player and a skilled boatman.
- Private John Dame (1784 – ?) killed a pellican.
- Private Joseph Field (ca. 1772 – 1807) was a woodsman and skilled hunter, brother of Reubin.
- Private Reubin Field (ca. 1771 – 1823?) was a woodsman and skilled hunter, brother of Joseph.
- Private Robert Frazer (? – 1837) kept a journal that was never published.
- Private George Gibson (? – 1809) was a fiddle-player and a good hunter; he served as an interpreter (probably via sign language).
- Private Silas Goodrich (dates unknown) was the main fisherman of the expedition.
- Private Hugh Hall (ca. 1772 – ?) was court-martialed with John Collins for stealing whiskey.
- Private Thomas Proctor Howard (1779 – ?) was court-martialed for setting a "pernicious example" to the Indians by showing them that the wall at Fort Mandan was easily scaled.
- Private François Labiche (dates unknown) was a French fur trader who served as an interpreter and boatman.
- Private Hugh McNeal (dates unknown) was the first white explorer to stand astride the headwaters of the Missouri River on the Continental Divide.
- Private John Newman (ca. 1785 – 1838) was court-martialed and confined for "having uttered repeated expressions of a highly criminal and mutinous nature."
- Private John Potts (1776 – 1808?) was German immigrant and a miller.
- Private Moses B. Reed (dates unknown) attempted to desert in August 1804 convicted of desertion and expelled from the party.
- Private John Robertson (ca. 1780 – ?) was a member of the Corps for a very short time.
- Private George Shannon (1785 – 1836) was lost twice during the expedition, once for sixteen days.
- Private John Shields (1769 – 1809) was a blacksmith, gunsmith, and a skilled carpenter; with John Colter, he was court-martialed for mutiny.
- Private John B. Thompson (dates unknown) may have had some experience as a surveyor.
- Private Ebenezer Tuttle (1773 – ?) may have been the man sent back on June 12, 1804; otherwise he was with the return party from Fort Mandan in 1805.
- Private Peter M. Weiser (1781 – ?) had some minor disciplinary problems at River Dubois; he was made a permanent member of the party.
- Private William Werner (dates unknown) was convicted of being absent without leave at St. Charles, Missouri, at the start of the expedition.
- Private Isaac White (ca. 1774 – ?) may have been the man sent back on June 12, 1804; otherwise he was with the return party from Fort Mandan in 1805.
- Private Joseph Whitehouse (ca. 1775 – ?) often acted as a tailor for the other men; he kept a journal which extended the Expedition narrative by almost five months.
- Private Alexander Hamilton Willard (1778 – 1865) was a blacksmith and assisted John Shields. He was convicted on July 12, 1804, of sleeping while on sentry duty and given one hundred lashes.
- Private Richard Windsor (dates unknown) was often assigned duty as a hunter.
- Interpreter Toussaint Charbonneau, Sacagawea's husband, served translator and often as a cook.
- Interpreter Sacagawea, Charbonneau's wife, translated Shoshone to Hidatsa for Charbonneau and was a valued member of the expedition.
- Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, Charbonneau's son, born February 11, 1805; his presence helped dispel any notion that the expedition was a war party, smoothing the way in Indian lands.
- Interpreter George Drouillard (? – 1810) was skilled with Indian sign language and was the best hunter on the expedition.
- Dog Seaman, Lewis's black Newfoundland dog, once thought to be named Scannon.

In popular culture

The episode Margical History Tour of the TV series The Simpsons contains a fictional retelling of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

External links

- [http://www.lewis-and-clark-expedition.com Lewis and Clark Expedition]
- [http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/ Full text of the Lewis and Clark journals online – edited by Gary E. Moulton, University of Nebraska-Lincoln]
- [http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/images2.html National Archives photos dating from the 1860s-1890s of the Native cultures the expedition encountered]
- [http://www.lewisandclarkexhibit.org/ Lewis and Clark: The National Bicentennial Exhibition]
- [http://www.lewisandclark200.org/ National Council for the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial]
- [http://www.edgate.com/lewisandclark/ Lewis and Clark, Mapping the West - Smithsonian Institution]
- [http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/ Lewis and Clark - National Geographic] - a variety of resources, including an Interactive Journey Log
- [http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/ Lewis and Clark - PBS]
- [http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Lewis.html Jefferson's Secret Message Regarding the Lewis & Clark Expedition - Library of Congress]
- [http://www.lewis-clark.org/ Discovering Lewis and Clark]
- [http://www.nps.gov/lecl/ Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail - United States National Park Service]
- [http://www.backtoschoolwithlewisandclark.org/ Back to School with Lewis and Clark]
- [http://www.lewisandclarkphotos.net/ A 21st Century pictorial of the original route]

Yellowstone National Park

: For the next-generation airliner series from Boeing, see Boeing Yellowstone. Yellowstone National Park is a U.S. National Park located in the states of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Yellowstone is the first and oldest national park in the world and covers 3,470 square miles (8,980 km²), mostly in the northwest corner of Wyoming. The park is famous for its various geysers, hot springs, and other geothermal features and is home to grizzly bears and wolves, and free-ranging herds of bison and elk. It is the core of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the largest intact temperate zone ecosystems remaining on the planet. Long before any recorded human history in Yellowstone, a massive volcanic eruption spewed an immense volume of ash that covered all of the western U.S., much of the Midwest, northern Mexico and some areas of the eastern Pacific Coast. The eruption dwarfed that of Mount St. Helens in 1980 and left a huge caldera 43 miles by 18 miles (70 km by 30 km) sitting over a huge magma chamber (see Geology section and Yellowstone Caldera). Yellowstone has registered three major eruption events in the last 2.2 million years with the last event occurring 640,000 years ago. Its eruptions are the largest known to have occurred on Earth within that timeframe, producing drastic climate change in the aftermath. The park was named for the yellow rocks seen in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone—a deep gash in the Yellowstone Plateau that was formed by floods during previous ice ages and by river erosion from the Yellowstone River.

Human history

The human history of the park dates back 12,000 years. It was known to the original natives as "Mitzi-a-dazi," the "River of Yellow Rocks," because of the hydrothermally altered iron-containing yellow rocks in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (many people incorrectly believe that the yellow color is from sulfur). The Native Americans that hunted and fished in the Yellowstone region also utilized the significant amounts of obsidian found in the park to make cutting tools and weapons. In fact, arrowheads made of Yellowstone obsidian have been found as far away as the Mississippi Valley, which strongly indicate that a regular obsidian trade existed between Yellowstone Native Americans and tribes further east. obsidian trade In 1806 a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition named John Colter left the Expedition to join a group of fur trappers and was probably the first non-Native American to visit the region and make contact with the Native Americans there. After surviving wounds he suffered in a battle with Crow and Blackfoot tribes, he gave a description of a place of "fire and brimstone" that was dismissed by most people as delirium. The supposedly imaginary place was nicknamed "Colter's Hell." Mountain man Jim Bridger later returned from an 1857 expedition to the park's area and told tales of boiling springs, spouting water, a mountain of glass and yellow rock. These reports were largely ignored, however, because Bridger was known for being a "spinner of yarns." Nonetheless his stories did arouse the interest of explorer and geologist F.V. Hayden who in 1859 started a two-year survey of the upper Missouri River region with Bridger as a guide and with United States Army surveyor W.F. Raynolds. The party was able to reach the approaches to the Yellowstone region but was not able to go any further due to heavy snows. The intervening American Civil War stopped all attempts to explore the region, and Hayden would not be able to fulfill his mission to explore the area for another 11 years. American Civil War A party of Montanans then organized the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition, headed by the surveyor-general of Montana Henry Washburn. Amongst the group was Nathaniel P. Langford, who would later become known as "National Park" Langford, and an Army detachment commanded by Lt. Gustavus Doane. The expedition spent about a month in 1870 exploring the region, collecting specimens and naming sites of interest. In 1871 Hayden led a second, larger expedition, which was now government sponsored, to the Yellowstone region. He compiled a comprehensive report on Yellowstone which included large-format photographs by William Henry Jackson and paintings by Thomas Moran. This report helped to convince the U.S. Congress to withdraw this region from public auction. Then on March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed a bill into law that created Yellowstone National Park. Langford then served for five years without pay as the first superintendent of the park and was followed by several other superintendents (who worked with some minimal funding). The second superintendent was Philetus Norris who essentially volunteered for the position, after traveling through Yellowstone and witnessing its problems first hand. During his tenure Congress finally began to give the superintendent a salary and minimal funds to operate the park. He used these monies to expand access to and further explore Yellowstone. Norris also hired Harry Yount (nicknamed "Rocky Mountain Harry") to control poaching and vandalism in the park. Today, Harry Yount is considered the very first national park ranger. Harry Yount Three additional superintendents followed, but none proved effective in stopping the destruction of Yellowstone's natural resources. This continued until 1886 when the Army was given the task of managing the park (see Fort Yellowstone). The Army remained the steward of the park until control was given to a civilian corps of rangers under the newly created National Park Service in 1916. More recently, Yellowstone has been designated as an International Biosphere Reserve on October 26, 1976, and a United Nations World Heritage Site on September 8, 1978.

Forest fires

1978 A series of lightning-derived fires started to burn large portions of the park in July of the especially dry summer of 1988. Thousands of firefighters responded to the blaze in order to prevent human-built structures from succumbing to the flames. Controversially, however, no serious effort was made to completely extinguish the fires, and they burned until the arrival of autumn rains. Ecologists argued that fire is part of the Yellowstone ecosystem and that not allowing the fires to run their course (as has been the practice in the past) will result in a choked, sick and decaying forest. In fact, relatively few megafauna in the park were killed by the fires and since the blaze many saplings have sprung up on their own, old vistas were viewable once again and many previously unknown archaeological and geological sites of interest were found and cataloged by scientists. The National Park Service now has a policy of lighting smaller, controlled "prescribed fires" to prevent another dangerous buildup of flammable materials.

Geography

The continental divide of North America runs roughly diagonally through the southwestern part of the park. The divide is a topographic ridgeline that bisects the continent between Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean water drainages (the drainage from one-third of the park is on the Pacific side of this divide). Atlantic Ocean For example, the Yellowstone River and the Snake River both have their origin close to each other in the park. However, the headwaters of the Snake River are on the west side of the continental divide, and the headwaters of the Yellowstone River are on the east side of that divide. The result is that the waters of the Snake River head toward the Pacific Ocean, and the waters of the Yellowstone head for the Atlantic Ocean (via the Gulf of Mexico). The park sits on a high plateau which is, on average, 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above sea level and is bounded on nearly all sides by mountain ranges of the Middle Rocky Mountains, which range from 10,000 to 14,000 feet (3,000 to 4,300 m) in elevation. These ranges are: the Gallatin Range (to the northwest), Beartooth Mountains (to the north), Absaroka Mountains (to the east), Wind River Range (southeast corner), Teton Mountains (to the south, see Grand Teton National Park) and the Madison Range (to the west). The most prominent summit in the plateau is Mount Washburn at 10,243 feet (3,122 m). Just outside of the southwestern park border is the Island Park Caldera, which is a plateau ringed by low hills. Beyond that is the Snake River Plains of southern Idaho, which are covered by flood basalts and slope gently to the southwest (see Craters of the Moon National Monument). The major feature of the Yellowstone Plateau is the Yellowstone Caldera; a very large caldera which has been nearly filled-in with volcanic debris and measures 50 by 60 kilometers (30 by 40 mi). Within this caldera lies most of Yellowstone Lake, which is the largest high-elevation lake in North America, and two resurgent domes, which are areas that are uplifting at a slightly faster rate than the rest of the plateau.

Geology

See also Geothermal areas of Yellowstone Geothermal areas of Yellowstone Geothermal areas of Yellowstone Yellowstone is at the northeast tip of a smooth U-shaped curve through the mountains, which is now the Snake River Plain. This curved plain was created as the North American continent drifted across a stationary volcanic hotspot beneath the Earth's crust. This hot spot used to be near what is now Boise, Idaho, but North America has drifted at a rate of 45 mm a year in a southwestern direction, shifting the hot spot to its present location. Yellowstone Caldera is the largest volcanic system in North America. It has been termed a "supervolcano" because the caldera was formed by exceptionally large explosive eruptions. It was created by a cataclysmic eruption that occurred 640,000 years ago that released 1,000 cubic kilometers of ash, rock and pyroclastic materials (this was 800 times larger than Mount St. Helens' 1980 eruption), forming a crater nearly a kilometre deep and 40 by 70 kilometres in area (25 by 45 mi) (the size of the caldera has been modified a bit since this time and has mostly been filled in, however). The welded tuff geologic formation created by this eruption is called the Lava Creek Tuff. In addition to the last great eruptive cycle there were two other previous ones in the Yellowstone area. Each eruption is in fact a part of an eruptive cycle that climaxes with the collapse of the roof of a partially emptied magma chamber. This creates a crater, called a caldera, and releases vast amounts of volcanic material (usually through fissures that ring the caldera). The time between the last three cataclysmic eruptions in the Yellowstone area has ranged from 600,000 to 900,000 years, but the small number of such climax eruptions can not be used to make a prediction for the time range for the next climax eruption. The first and largest eruption climaxed to the southwest of the current park boundaries 2.2 million years ago and formed a caldera about 50 by 80 kilometres in area (30 by 50 mi) and hundreds of meters deep after releasing 2,500 cubic kilometers of material (mostly ash, pumice and other pyroclastics). pumice This caldera has been filled in by subsequent eruptions, and the geologic formation created by this eruption is called the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff. Huckleberry Ridge Tuff] The second eruption, at 280 km³ of material ejected, climaxed 1.2 million years ago and formed the much smaller Island Park Caldera and the geologic formation called the Mesa Falls Tuff. All three climax eruptions released vast amounts of ash that blanketed much of central North America and fell many hundreds of miles away (as far as California to the southwest; see Lake Tecopa). The amount of ash and gases released into the atmosphere probably caused significant impacts to world weather patterns and led to the extinction of many species in at least North America. About 160,000 years ago a much smaller climax eruption occurred which formed a relatively small caldera that is now filled in with the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake. Yellowstone Lake Lava strata is most easily seen at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone where the Yellowstone River continues to carve into the ancient lava flows. According to Ken Pierce, U.S. Geological Survey geologist, at the end of the last glacial period, about 14,000 to 18,000 years ago, ice dams formed at the mouth of Yellowstone Lake. When the ice dams melted, a great volume of water was released downstream causing massive flash floods and immediate and catastrophic erosion of the present-day canyon. These flash floods probably happened more than once. The canyon is a classic V-shaped valley, indicative of river-type erosion rather than glaciation. Today the canyon is still being eroded by the Yellowstone River. valley After the last major climax eruption 630,000 years ago until about 70,000 years ago, Yellowstone Caldera was nearly filled in with periodic eruptions of rhyolitic lavas (example at Obsidian Cliffs) and basaltic lavas (example at Sheepeaters Cliff). But 150,000 years ago the floor of the plateau began to bulge up again. Two areas in particular at the foci of the elliptically shaped caldera are rising faster than the rest of the plateau. This differential in uplift has created two resurgent domes (Sour Creek dome and Mallard Lake dome) which are uplifting at 15 millimeters a year while the rest of the caldera area of the plateau is uplifting at 12.5 millimeters a year. Preserved within Yellowstone are many geothermal features and some 10,000 hot springs and geysers, 62% of the planet's known total. The superheated water that sustains these features comes from the same hot spot described above. The most famous geyser in the park, and perhaps the world, is Old Faithful Geyser (located in Upper Geyser Basin), but the park also contains the largest active geyser in the world, Steamboat Geyser in the Norris Geyser Basin..
Steamboat Geyser In 2003 changes at the Norris Geyser Basin resulted in the temporary closure of some trails in the basin. This coincided with the release of reports about a multiple year USGS research project mapping the bottom of Yellowstone Lake that identified a structural dome that had uplifted at some time in past beneath Yellowstone Lake. On March 10, 2004, a biologist discovered 5 dead bison which apparently had inhaled toxic geothermal gases trapped in the Norris Geyser Basin by a seasonal atmospheric inversion. Shortly after in April 2004 the park experienced an upsurge of earthquake activity. These events inspired a great deal of media attention and speculation about the geologic future of the region. The United States government responded by allocating more resources to monitor the volcano and reminding visitors to remain on designated safe trails.

Biology and ecology

Main articles: Animals of Yellowstone, Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem The dominant tree species in the park is Lodgepole pine, however, varieties of spruce, fir and aspen are also common. There are at least 600 species of trees and plants found in the park, some of which are found nowhere else. Yellowstone is widely considered to be the finest megafauna wildlife habitats in the lower 48 states. Animals found in the park include the majestic American bison (buffalo), grizzly bear, black bear, elk, moose, mule deer, pronghorn, wolverine, bighorn sheep and mountain lion (puma). The Yellowstone Lake Cutthroat Trout is a highly sought after trophy fish by anglers yet has been threatened in recent years by the suspicious introduction of lake trout that compete for spawning grounds and are known to consume smaller cutthroat trout. cutthroat trout The relatively large bison populations that exist in the park are a concern for ranchers who fear that the bison can transmit bovine diseases to their domesticated cousins. In fact, about half of Yellowstone's bison have been exposed to brucellosis, a bacterial disease that came to North America with European cattle and may cause cattle to miscarry. The disease has little effect on park bison and no reported case of transmission from wild bison to a visitor or to domestic livestock has ever been filed. But since the possibility of contagion still exists, the State of Montana believes its "brucellosis-free" status may be jeopardized if bison are in proximity to cattle. Montana has approved a bison hunt for fall of 2005, with 50 licenses issued to shoot bison that have left the park. Elk also carry the disease, but this popular game species is not considered a threat to livestock. Elk To combat the perceived threat, National Park personnel regularly harass bison herds back into the park when they venture outside of park borders. Animal rights activists state that is a cruel practice and that the possibility for disease transmission is not as great as some ranchers maintain. Ecologists also point out that the bison are just traveling to seasonal grazing areas that lie within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem that have been converted to cattle grazing (most of these areas are also within United States National Forests). United States National Forests A controversial decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (which oversees threatened and endangered species), is the recent reintroduction of wolves into the park's ecosystem. For many years the wolves were hunted and harassed until they become locally extinct in the 1930s. The smaller cousin of the wolf, the coyote, then became the park's top predator. However, the coyote is not able to bring down any large animal in the park and the result of this lack of a top predator on these populations was a marked increase in lame and sick megafauna. Since the reintroduction of wolves in the late 1990s this trend has started to reverse. coyote However, ranchers in surrounding areas are concerned about wolves that venture outside the park and prey on their livestock, especially sheep and cattle. For the most part, wolves kill what they were taught to kill as pups, so they tend to prey on elk rather than sheep, but once a wolf pack begins eating sheep and training the pups to eat sheep, there is little recourse but to destroy the offending pack members. Ranchers are compensated for their losses if they can prove that wolves killed the livestock, but they contend that it is often difficult to prove that the kills were not made by coyotes or wild dogs. Reintroduced wolf packs do not carry endangered species status, so ranchers can kill wolves that threaten their herds, but wolves relocating from Canada on their own have begun to merge with the Yellowstone population, making it difficult to discern which wolves are protected and which are not. endangered species The National Park Service was generally not in favor of the reintroduction citing evidence that wolves had already begun to return on their own, reestablishing themselves in very limited numbers prior to the wolf reintroduction. Wildlife biologists employed by the National Park Service had documented rare sightings made personally and from eyewitness accounts. It was a quiet concern that the compact agreed on by federal agencies and the states in which Yellowstone is located would ultimately provide less protection to the wolf, because the threatened status would be amended to appease local interests such as ranchers who would not likely face prosecution under the reintroduction agreement. endangered species In Yellowstone's hot waters, bacteria form mats consisting of trillions of individual bacteria. The surfaces of these mats assume bizarre shapes, and flies and other arthropods live on the mats, even in the midst of the bitterly cold winters.

Tourist information

endangered species Yellowstone is one of the most popular national parks in the United States. The park is unique in that it features multiple natural wonders all in the same park. Geysers, hot springs, a grand canyon, forests, wilderness, wildlife and even a large lake can all be found inside the park. Due to the park's diversity of features, the list of activities for visitors is nearly endless. From backpacking to mountaineering, from kayaking to fishing, from sightseeing to watching bison, moose, and elk wandering into the parking lot of the visitor centers, most visitors enjoy a memorable experience in nature. Most of the geothermal features (hot springs, geysers, etc) emit gaseous sulfur, and though to most people the odor is not terribly offensive or overwhelming, people with respiratory difficulties should consult their doctors before visiting. Wildfires are a relatively common occurrence in Yellowstone, because of the dry summer climate, but they should not be considered "disasters"; instead, they are a regular natural process that contributes to the beauty and ecology of the park. A series of wildfires in 1988 burned about 45% of the park's forest, including some forests adjacent to the major tourist areas. The areas burned in the 1988 fire present a strange, stark beauty, and the burned areas are swiftly returning to green. fishing Park officials advise visitors not to approach dangerous animals and to stay on designated safe trails to avoid falling into boiling liquids and inhaling toxic gas. In 2004, five bison were discovered dead from an apparent inhalation of toxic geothermal gases. Lodging for visitors exist at 11 locations within park boundaries. There is a clear view of Old Faithful Geyser at the park's Old Faithful Inn. Lodges range from hotel to cabin accommodations. There also are 11 campgrounds and one hard-sided recreational vehicle park. Old Faithful Inn The park itself is surrounded by other protected lands (including Grand Teton National Park and Custer National Forest) and beautiful drives (such as the Beartooth Highway). Nearby communities include West Yellowstone, Montana; Cody, Wyoming; Red Lodge, Montana; Ashton, Idaho; and Gardiner, Montana.

References

- Geology of National Parks: Fifth Edition, Ann G. Harris, Esther Tuttle, Sherwood D. Tuttle (Iowa, Kendall/Hunt Publishing; 1997) ISBN 0-7872-5353-7
- National Park Service [http://www.nps.gov/yell/]
- Yellowstone Park Foundation [http://windowsintowonderland.org/]

External links

- Official site: [http://www.nps.gov/yell/ Yellowstone National Park]
- [http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/usa/parks/wyellows.htm Climate data for Yellowstone National Park]
- [http://www.swisseduc.ch/stromboli/perm/yellowstone/index-en.html Yellowstone page on Stromboli online]
- [http://www.bigskyfishing.com/National_parks/yellowstone/photo_gallery/YellowstoneParkPhotoGallery/index.html Yellowstone National Park Pictures]
- [http://www.nps.gov/yell/slidefile/fire/index.htm Yellowstone National Park Wildland Fire Images - Fires of 1988] public domain images.
- [http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/history.html USGS: Volcanic History of the Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field]
- [http://www.yellowstone.net Yellowstone Net]
- [http://www.yellowstonenationalpark.com yellowstonenationalpark.com], [http://www.yellowstonenationalpark.com/calderas.htm Calderas], [http://www.yellowstonenationalpark.com/glaciations.htm Glaciations]
- [http://www.UntraveledRoad.com/USA/Parks/Yellowstone.htm Photographic virtual tour of Yellowstone National Park]
- [http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/ Buffalo Field Campaign, working to stop the slaughter of Yellowstone's wild free roaming buffalo]
- h2g2 has articles about the [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3577197 origin of Yellowstone], its [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3740474 geology] , its [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3407447 early history] and [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3356516 European exploration].
- [http://www.nationalparksgallery.com/parks/Yellowstone-National-Park Yellowstone National Park] - National Parks Gallery
- [http://www.bact.wisc.edu/Bact303/b27 Life at high temperatures] - An introduction to Yellowstone's thermophilic bacteria.
- [http://www.dannyburk.com/yellowstone_and_tetons.htm Pictures of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks]
- [http://www.mybigadventure.com/index.php?action=Stats&stat=Parks&date=20040805&page=4 Grand Tour of Yellowstone's 7 Major Sights] - My Big Adventure (Images 414) Category:Idaho landmarks Category:Montana landmarks Category:Wyoming landmarks Category:National parks of the United States Category:World Heritage Sites in the United States Category:Geysers ja:イエローストーン国立公園

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state of the western United States. While the eastern third of the state is within the Great Plains, the majority is dominated by numerous distinct mountain ranges and rangelands. Wyoming is also the least populous U.S. state with 493,782 people, although Alaska has a lower population density. The capital and largest city of Wyoming is Cheyenne.

History

The region known today as the state of Wyoming was originally inhabited by several Native American groups. The Crow, Arapahoe, Sioux, and Shoshone were but a few of the original inhabitants encountered when white explorers first entered the region. Although French trappers may have ventured into the northern sections of the state in the late 1700s, John Colter, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was probably the first white America

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