Chapter 12 - The Rocky Mountain Region PDF

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Summary

The Rocky Mountains are one of the great mountain ranges of the world. Chapter 12 provides an opportunity to discuss the types of issues that are facing mountain regions in many parts of the world in the 21st century—climate change, water shortages, and rapid population growth. This region might be ...

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Chapter 12: The Rocky Mountain Region

Overview The Rocky Mountains are one of the great mountain ranges of the world. Chapter 12 provides an opportunity to discuss the types of issues that are facing mountain regions in many parts of the world in the 21st century—climate change, water shortages, and rapid population growth. This region might be considered the first of the Western regions and so introduces many of the themes that will be repeated throughout the West: boom and bust economies, historic reliance on the primary sector, a growing tourism and recreation sector, and rapid urbanization.

Outline 1. Environmental Setting a. Landforms b. Weather, Climate, and Hazards c. Vegetation Patterns d. Environmental Geography: Saving the Wolves! e. Environmental Hazards 2. Historical Settlement a. Native American and First Nations Settlement b. Early Euro-American Settlement c. Early Canadian Settlement d. Cultural Geography: Chief Joseph Speaks Out e. American Settlement 3. Regional Economies and Politics a. The Primary Sector b. Secondary, Tertiary, and Quaternary Sectors c. Economic Geography: The Story of Butte, Montana 4. Culture, Peoples, and Places a. Urban Growth b. Cities in the Rocky Mountain Region 5. The Future of the Rocky Mountain Region

Student Learning Outcomes 

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Explain the formation processes of the Rocky Mountains in geologic time from the era of the Columbia Orogeny up through more recent periods of volcanism and glaciation. Compare the types of valleys in the Rockies formed by the erosional power of water with valleys shaped by the erosional power of glacial ice. Analyze how altitudinal zonation helps explain the location of various ecosystems and biomes in the Rocky Mountains. Describe the major events in Canadian history in the mid- and late-19th century that led to the increasing settlement of Canadians and Europeans in the Rocky Mountain region.

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Identify the reasons why mining and lumbering have been the most important types of primary production in the Rockies as compared to agricultural production. Explain why the histories of Butte and Helena, Montana, have made each of these early settlements eligible to become an official U.S. National Historic Site. Compare and contrast the types of economic sectors, cultures, and identities of the Canadian city of Calgary and the U.S. city of Denver. Describe some of the reasons why population growth has occurred in the Rocky Mountains in recent years despite concerns about the impacts of a growing economy and dense populations on the degradation of the region’s vulnerable ecosystems.

Teaching Strategies for Chapter 12: The Rocky Mountain Region 1. Environmental Setting The Rocky Mountain region is defined by its mountainous landform and so provides a unique opportunity to introduce concepts of mountain biogeography. The region’s mountainous landscapes have also produced a thriving tourist industry. Alpine glaciers produce unique landforms such as moraines, cirques, arêtes, and horns. With some practice, students should be able to visually distinguish landscapes shaped by glaciers from those created through the erosion by liquid water. The Glaciers of the American West website (http://glaciers.us/), run by researchers at Portland State University, highlights basic information about glaciers in the western United States. This site also features comparative photos of western glaciers over time. The climate of the Rocky Mountain region is also highly impacted by varying topographies. This altitudinal zonation is produced by varying microclimates and is being severely impacted by climate change. Alpine and subalpine ecosystems are being threatened by changing climate patterns. Warming average temperatures mean early snowmelts and increasing water shortages. Dry conditions also fuel increasing forest fires, threatening tourism in the region. 2. Historical Settlement Like the Sioux in South Dakota, the Nez Perce resisted forced relocation onto reservations. Chief Joseph attempted to lead a small group of remaining Nez Perce into Canada in 1877, but was caught by U.S. troops only 40 miles from Canada. The words of Chief Joseph provide insight into native perspectives on their forced removal from their homelands (see Box 12.2). One potential resource for teaching about Nez Perce is the 1996 Ken Burns documentary series. The West includes a retelling of the conflict between the United States and the Nez Perce in Episode Six, “Fight No More Forever.” Students should be aware of the role of exploration, resources, and railroads in the establishment of settlements in the Rocky Mountains. Some of the first European arrivals to the region were fur trappers and explorers in the early 19th century. Explorers like Lewis and Clark, Zebulon Pike, and John Colter brought back reports of the beauty and vast resources of the region. Early landscape art and photography also played an important role in drawing people to the region and there are a number of online archives that make historical art, photography, and documents of the Rocky Mountain region available online. One excellent site is the Denver Public Library archive, The West Made Digital (http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/). Other archives include the The Montana Memory Project

(http://cdm15018.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/) and The Rocky Mountain Online Archive. Very little of the land in the Rocky Mountains is suitable for agriculture, so this region, like the Intermontane discussed in Chapter 13, drew people to it for other reasons. Industries such as mining, logging, and ranching have traditionally been important in the development of the Rocky Mountains (for example, Spanish ranchers settled the southern Rockies starting in the 1700s). In the 1850s and 1860s, gold was discovered in Colorado and Montana, bringing thousands of people to the region (see Box 12.3). The Klondike gold rush in the 1890s drew thousands more to the northern Canadian Rockies. 3. Regional Economies and Politics The overall picture that emerges from Chapter 12 about the economy of the Rocky Mountains is of a region historically focused on the primary sector. Very few areas in the region are well suited for growing crops. Soils are rocky and steep, and irrigation is required to supplement limited rainfalls. Ranching is the main use of many arid portions of the region. Mining and logging have also been significant parts of the economy. As detailed in Box 12.3, mining is particularly associated with boom and bust cycles. When new mineral deposits are discovered or new mining technologies allow deposits to be extracted, there tends to be a boom. But global competition and low commodity prices have led to busts in some periods. These economic shifts put significant stress on mining communities. During the 20th century, tourism has grown to become the economic base of many communities, replacing resource-based activities. Much of the land in this region is owned by the government and there is a significant number of national parks in the region such as Rocky Mountain National Park (http://www.nps.gov/romo/) and Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park (http://www.watertonpark.com/), which straddles the border of Montana and Alberta. Students may be less familiar with the national parks of the Canadian Rockies, but they have been designated a United Nations World Heritage Site, indicating they are of global significance (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/304). Outdoor recreation is central to the growth of tourism, and the area is dotted with ski resorts and other recreation-oriented businesses. The regions’ spectacular scenery has also attracted “footloose” hightechnology sector jobs to the region, particularly around Denver and Boulder, Colorado. Many high-tech workers find amenities of the region attractive, allowing these businesses to more easily attract employees. 4. Culture, Peoples, and Places Communities in the Rocky Mountain region are facing a number of challenges. Chapter 8 and Chapter 11 discussed the problems of communities that are experiencing population decline. The large industrial cities of the Rust Belt and the small towns of the Plains are both having trouble maintaining services and infrastructure for remaining residents. Population growth and economic growth generally come to a region together and the Rocky Mountains has benefited from rapid growth in recent decades. But like other western regions, this growth has also brought with it problems such as sprawl, traffic, and environmental degradation. Ironically, growth can damage the very qualities that drew people to the region in the first place. Population growth has also brought increasing ethnic diversity to the region as increasing numbers of Latinos have been drawn to the region by jobs in the tertiary sector.

The two major cities discussed in the chapter, Denver and Calgary, provide an opportunity to examine the variations and similarities between places in the region. Students could be asked to do a bit of research about each place in order to compare and contrast the economies and cultures of these two Rocky Mountain cities. What are the similarities in their populations, economies, and cultures? How are they different? What approaches are each city taking to problems of rapid growth and environmental degradation? How is climate change impacting the city?

Conceptual Checkpoints 12.1 What is the Continental Divide, where is it located in western North America, and why is it important? The student should know that the Continental Divide separates North America into two regions. The first is where the snow and rain that falls will flow eventually to the Pacific, the other is where it will flow eventually to the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic. The Continental Divide runs north-south along the crest of the Rocky Mountains across the United States and into the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains of Mexico. 12.2 What role did the Lewis and Clark expedition, Zebulon Pike, and Clifford Sifton play in encouraging postindigenous settlement of the Rocky Mountain region? The descriptions of the land visited by these explorers, the natural wonders, the wide-open territory, and the vast prospects for economic development drew settlers to the region. 12.3 List and discuss the most important types of primary production in the Rocky Mountains. Students should list ranching, mining, and lumbering as the three main primary production resources. For ranching, the student could mention from the book that there are six times more cattle than people in Montana. Mineral deposits are abundant in many places of the region. Students may point out that the region around Butte and Anaconda, Montana, is a major copper mining center, and the region also has deposits of silver, gold, lead, and zinc. Other major mining areas include Wallace, Idaho, for lead and zinc, and the area near Colorado’s front range for molybdenum and other minerals. There are also coal and oil deposits in the region, with Wyoming the leading coalproducing state in the country. Students could also refer to Box 12.3, which talks about the mining history of Butte, Montana, which, because of the gold and silver, and later copper, found in the region was known by 1870 as the “Richest Hill on Earth.” 12.4 Why has the Denver metropolitan area evolved into the largest regional hub and all-important gateway city in the United States for the Rocky Mountain region? Denver is home to more than 2.5 million people, numerous federal agencies, and a growing high-tech sector, especially in aeronautics and telecommunications. The central location of Denver has allowed the city to become the main processing, shipping, and distribution center for the region’s agricultural sector. Even though the Transcontinental Railroad bypassed Denver, funds were raised to build connecting lines to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where they connect to the Transcontinental Railroad.

Answers to Review Questions 1. What were some of the major geologic processes that helped shape the Rocky Mountains into such a spectacular range of dramatic peaks and both U-shaped and V-shaped valleys? According to the text, about 200 million years ago, tectonic forces began moving the North American Plate westwards, it eventually collided with the Pacific Plate, and the force of the collision, called the Columbia Orogeny, moved east over North America, cracking enormous masses of rock and forcing the sedimentary layers up and over the adjacent land. This process created the main ranges of the western and central Rocky Mountains. A second collision, known as the Laramide Orogeny that ended about 35 to 55 million years ago, created the foothills and the front ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This was also a time of volcanic activity in the Rocky Mountains, but eventually the volcanic activity ceased and the magma cooled, leaving craterlike formations called calderas. In the millennia that followed, water flow carried sediment from high in the mountains into the valleys and plains below, creating v-shaped valleys like Hell’s canyon at 7800 feet, which was shaped by the Snake River. Many of the features of the mountainous west were created by glaciation. Glaciers reached as far south as the Rockies of New Mexico. When the glaciers receded, they carved magnificent u-shaped valleys that are much wider than the v-shaped valleys carved by water. 2. Why do ecosystems and related plant communities in the Rocky Mountains show evidence of altitudinal zonation while the Appalachian Mountains in eastern North America do not? The simplest answer is height. The Appalachian Mountains average about 3000 feet in height with the highest peak at ~6800 feet, whereas the Rocky Mountains can reach up to ~14,500 feet with vegetation zones at ~4000, ~6000, ~8000, ~10,000, and ~12,000 feet. 3. What are the Chinook winds, and what is the impact of this unique Rocky Mountains wind system on local towns and cities? Chinook winds are winds associated with very dry, warm air that descends from the mountains to the eastern foothills and plains, especially in winter. When shallow layers of cold air sit over the plains, strong westerly winds warmed by speedy descents from higher altitudes blanket the eastern portions of the mountains, bringing with them dramatic rises in temperature. Towns and cities located on front ranges commonly experience 20 to 30ºF (11 to 17ºC) increases in temperature with significant drops in humidity in short time periods. Students could mention Calgary, Alberta, that once experienced a 30ºF (17ºC) increase in four hours in the month of January. 4. How have plants and animals adjusted to the harsh conditions in the alpine zone of the Rocky Mountains? Plants in this region have adapted to the nutrient poor, sand and rocky soils that have little water. Plants are usually perennial groundcovers that protect themselves from the cold and wind by staying close to the ground. Animals in the region are of a generally hardier variety. They have short tails, legs, and ears along with layers of fat under their skin to preserve heat. Animals of this region also tend to hibernate, or migrate to lower elevations when it is excessively cold. They have large lungs and more red blood cells and hemoglobin, which allow them to exist where there is very little oxygen.

5. Where has mining been especially important to the Rocky Mountains’ economy in both Canada and the United States as compared to lumbering? Students may point out that the region around Butte and Anaconda, Montana, is a major copper mining center, and the region also has deposits of silver, gold, lead, and zinc. Other major mining areas include Wallace, Idaho, for lead and zinc, and the area near Colorado’s front range for molybdenum and other minerals. There are also coal and oil deposits in the region with Wyoming the leading coalproducing state in the country. Helena, Montana, is mentioned in the text as historically having gold mining in the region. Students could also refer to Box 12.3, which talks about the mining history of Butte, Montana. This area was known by 1870 as the “Richest Hill on Earth” because of the gold and silver, and later copper, found in the region. Mineral deposits and oil were also found in the Canadian Rockies. 6. What factors accounted for population growth in the Rocky Mountain region from the mid 19th century up to the arrival of retiree migrants and recreationists in more recent years? In the early period, people were coming to get jobs in mining, forestry, and ranching. In the later period of migrations, a large number of Latinos were moving to the region along with young job-seekers looking to take advantage of the lucrative job market of the region. There were also tourists, or recreationalists, looking to take advantage of the resorts, national parks, forests, and wilderness areas. 7. Why are there so few large metropolitan areas in the Rockies as compared to other North American regions such as the Great Lakes–Corn Belt region? The Rockies are a mountain range, and so there are few large relatively flat areas to build on that also have adequate resources, such as water, and transportation routes to support large cities. 8. What factors account for the expanded size of both the population and the economy in the Rocky Mountain region during the past two decades? The Rocky Mountain region, like many parts of the West, has experienced rapid growth of people attracted to the region because of tourism and recreation opportunities. This has even allowed some cities, sucha s Denver, to attract hightechnology companies, building their quaternary sectors....