Essay About The Colorado River

Essay about The Colorado River
One of the largest geographic physical structures in the United States is the Colorado River. Human
activity and its interaction with this great river have an interesting history. The resources provided by
the river have been used by humans, and caused conflict for human populations as well. One of these
conflicts is water distribution, and the effects drought conditions have played in this distribution
throughout the southwestern region. Major cities such as Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, and other
communities in the southwest depend on the river. It provides water for over 20 million people,
irrigation for 2 million acres of land, four thousand megawatts of hydroelectric energy, and over twenty
million annual visitors for ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
It divides the flow of water between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean. So the Colorado River
results from the divide that forces the snow of the Colorado Rockies to flow towards the Pacific Ocean.
This geographical journey then continues into the boundary of Utah where it heads towards Arizona.
This is where this water created, by way of pushing, biting, and carving its way into the Earth for
millions of years, the massive canyon called the Grand Canyon. After this natural wonder, the river
flows into the boundary of Nevada, then makes it journey into California. The end of the river passes
through Baja California before making its finale of fluid flow in Sonora Mexico. Along this journey
created by nature, the river interacts with man's influence to encapsulate the full geographic experience
of this region. The succession of dams along the river's path is a major contribution to how man has
decided to mesh with the river. The dams have created reservoirs for water supplies, harnessed energy to
provide electric power to the southwestern region, and controlled flooding. Flood control was the main
concern at the time between the years 1905 and 1907 when large floods broke through the irrigation
gates and destroyed crops in California. The flooding was so large it actually created a 450 square mile
sea, named the Salton Sea. As a result of this major disaster, ideas were formulated to
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Arizona Tribe Environment
Climate change is occurring across the globe and particularly in the Southwest region of the United
States of America. The Southwest has a long history of warm temperatures and drought, yet the climate
is currently changing like never before. This research paper will identify various case studies of Arizona
tribes being threatened due to climate change's effects of rising temperature and drought. Rising
temperatures as well as drought will continue to result in an increase in the melt of snowpack, reduced
water sources, and changes in the ecosystem for various Arizona tribes. Additionally, the paper will
address various solutions to these threats. The effects of climate change will threaten the livelihoods of
tribal communities in Arizona and ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Certain models predict that drought activity is expected to increase toward the end of the 21st century
and particularly in the Colorado River Basin (MacDonald & Turner, 21260). When the dam was built in
the early 20th century, annual flow was about 17.0 MAF (million acre–feet) at Lees Ferry, Arizona
which is a few miles below the dam. Estimates calculating the past MAF of the Colorado River average
to about 13.8–14.6 over the last 450 years. Thus, the dam was built in a period with an unexpectedly
high MAF. Alarmingly in 2000 the river averaged less than 9 MAF. (Bolin, Seetharam, & Pompeii,
263). In 2002, the river reached a low of about 6.2 MAF (MacDonald & Turner, 21256). Some models
estimate that the river could reach the range of 1.5 to 4.5 MAF in the next 30–50 years. (Bolin,
Seetharam, & Pompeii, 271). The reduction of MAF in the Colorado River is due to drought. Droughts
have been occurring throughout the 20th century with droughts from 1900–1904, 1924–1936, 1953–
1964, and 1988–1991. These droughts are associated with warmer regional temperatures and the level
of warming is deemed exceptional for the 21st century (MacDonald & Turner, 21257). Recently the
Colorado River has experienced the lowest 5 year mean flows on record (MacDonald & Turner, 21257).
If river flow is low, so is Lake Powell's water level. One study suggests that Lake Powell have a 50%
chance of receding to inoperable status by the 2020's

Character Development in Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench...
Character Development in Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang
Search and Rescue, Utah State Police, and Bishops of the Church of Latter–Day Saints chase a group of
bridge destroying, billboard burning, bulldozer mutilating eco–terrorists through the desert of the
Southwest. The group known as the Monkey Wrench Gang consists of four very different characters:
Seldom Seen Smith, also known as Joseph Smith, George Washington Hayduke, Doctor A. K. Sarvis,
and Bonnie Abbzug. Each character has his own opinion of why nature needs to be saved. The group
decides to make their mark on nature by "taking care" of the different machines, roads and bridges that
are destroying it. With all the destruction the gang is causing, being caught is ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Let?s Save Some of It" (14) plastered on the back bumper.
George Washington Hayduke, Vietnam veteran from Tucson, Arizona, has a distaste for the way the
Southwest is becoming industrialized. He found it, "no longer what he remembered, no longer the clear
and classical desert. . . . Someone or something was changing things" (15). "That ultimate world . . . of
meat, blood, fire, water, rock, wood, sun, wind, sky, night, cold, dawn, warmth, life. Those short and
irreducible words which stand for almost everything he thinks he has lost" (355). In Hayduke?s opinion,
"This is my country. Mine and Seldom?s and Doc?s – yeah, hers too" (336) and anyone who would
want to mess with it is in trouble.
Seldom Seen Smith, a Mormon and husband to three women all from Utah, guides river trips down
Lee?s Ferry for a living. Smith, like Hayduke, remembers the Southwest to be something different. He
recalls, "the golden river flowing to the sea. . . . He remembers the canyons. . . and the amphitheaters"
(31). What he doesn?t remember is "all these things lay[ing] beneath the dead water of the reservoir"
(31). "A true autochthonic patriot, Smith swears allegiance only to the land he knows" (358). All the
members of the gang agree with Smith and feel that they want a "counter–industrial revolution" (211).
Edward Abbey uses various types of slang to get each character?s opinions across to the reader. For
example, when Hayduke asks if Doc thinks he is a

Essay about Development of the Colorado River
Prior to settlement of the western United States, the Colorado River roamed free. Starting from cool
mountain streams, the river eventually became a thunderous, silty force of nature as it entered the
canyons along its path. The river nourished wetlands and other riparian habitats from the headwaters in
the Rocky Mountains to the delta at the Sea of Cortez in Northwest Mexico. Settlers along the river
harnessed these waters mainly for agriculture via irrigation canals, but flooding from spring runoff
wreaked havoc on agricultural land, prevented development in the floodplain and full utilization of the
water, a waste in the eyes of western farmers. In order to meet current and future water demands in the
west, the Federal Government ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
With human development, industrial pollution and other factors all contribute to the deteriorated
condition of the river, which makes it difficult to determine the dams' environmental impact in isolation.
CITE That said, the current operations of the dam hamper and potentially prevent environmental
improvement of the Colorado. In order to preserve some semblance of the Colorado ecosystem, man
must restore the natural processes that created the ecosystem. The real question is how to do that,
whether via dam decommission or a less extreme policy change.
Even though the dams provide immense water storage at a cost of the Colorado River ecosystem, the
thirst of the southwest continues to increase. Conservation will help to slow the thirst, but the ever
increasing demanded requires more water in the system. The three fastest–growing US states (Nevada,
Arizona and Utah) are located within the Colorado River basin and all seven states within the basin
outpace the national average. Four of the ten fastest growing metro areas: St. George and Provo in Utah,
Las Vegas in Nevada and Greenly in Colorado. Unfortunately for this growth, the demand far exceeds
the available supply. The Bureau of Reclamation completed the last major dam (Glen Canyon) in 1966.
The Bureau built several smaller dams, along with Glen Canyon, under the auspices of the Colorado
River Storage Project

Rhetorical Reading
Joshua Stonehocker
Steven Gibson
English 1010 046
March 28th, 2005
Rhetorical Reading Essay(Revision)
Since they started pouring the concrete for the dam Lake Powell has been a center of controversy. From
nature preservationists to ancient ruins advocates the subject has been heated and intense. On the other
hand, those who support Lake Powell are just as avid and active in their defense of the reservoir. One of
the former, Edward Abbey, sets forth his plea, hoping it does not fall upon deaf ears. Abbey attempts in
his article to help the reader visualize Glen Canyon before it was dammed up. He uses a lot of pathos to
help the reader "feel" the beauty of the previous Glen Canyon and the ugliness of the present. His article
... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
"Certainly it has a photogenic backdrop of buttes and mesas, projecting above the expansive surface of
stagnant waters where the speedboats, houseboats and cabin cruisers play. But it is no longer a
wilderness"(146) Were we to reverse the order and take out the connotations, it would be a great
statement supporting Lake Powell. Certainly it is no longer a wilderness, but it has a photogenic
backdrop of buttes and mesas, projecting above the expansive surface of waters where the speedboats,
houseboats and cabin cruisers play. One rhetorical strategy he uses fairly well is the omission of details.
I will be the first to admit that the creating of any reservoir will kill any life that it floods out, which is
obvious, but in this case I believe that the pros far outweigh the cons. Abbey used omission of details to
make it seem that the reservoir had killed all wildlife in that area and desolated the environment, saying
that after draining the dam, plant life will come back, "[w]ith the renewal of plant life will come the
insects, the birds, the lizards, and snakes, the mammals." However, Lake Powell is teeming with life.
According to the Lake Powell website, it is home to over 170 species of birds, 800 different mammals
and more that a dozen reptile species (Lake Powell). And anyone who has been there will ask, if there is
a slight lack of insects, which I am not sure

The Pros And Cons Of Beavers
Beavers are known for two things, they long teeth and their dams. According to Beavers Solutions LLC
"The dams, canals and lodges beaver builds have gained them the reputation as "Nature's Engineers".
No other animal with the exception of man so significantly alters its habitat to suit its own needs and
desires. Native Americans revered the beaver and referred to them as "Little People" for this reason.".
Beavers build dams or lodges to create pond for their food. Like the quotes says beavers transform their
surroundings to fit their need like humans. However, Humans build dams for a variety of reasons from
flood control to water storage. Dams are also used to generate energy. Humans have been harnessing the
rivers for millennium. Water mills were built to help make flour and were used as a source of power for
early industrial endeavour. However, it wasn't until the early nineteenth century when a french engineer
named Benoit Fourneyron created one of the first turbines. Over twenty years later an American
engineer created one of the first water turbine based on Fourneyron. Water turbines work like this, water
from the reservoir that the dam creates flows through an intake tunnel. The rushing water turns the
turbine fast enough that the generator spins too. To expand on this simple principle further, the turbine
can control the amount water coming in through the gates around the blades depending on how much
power is needed. When the blades turn it also turns the rotor

Grand Canyon Research Paper
The Grand Canyon Have you ever heard people talking about the Grand Canyon, and how awesome it
is? Have you ever, then, wanted to learn more information about the enormous, beautiful canyon? The
Grand Canyon includes 1.2 million acres (Mead et al. 40). It is significant that something so little as the
Colorado River can turn into something so big known as the Grand Canyon! It is very important to learn
about the history of the Canyon, the physical features of the canyon, and what to do in the Canyon. The
Grand Canyon is one of the great wonders of the natural world. This enormous and spectacular canyon
was carved into the Arizona desert (Mead et al. 40). It is specifically located in the western part of the
Colorado Plateau (Arizona 10). ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
40). "The South Rim is the Grand Canyon's most popular area. The south side is steeper and shorter –
seven thousand feet above sea level to the North Rim's eight thousand– five hundred feet" (Grand
Canyon National Park). "Views from the wilder land on the north rim are also fantastic" ( Mead et al.
40). The north rim lets you walk on the quiet side. It's a little less developed and a lot more tranquil,
with only ten percent of the park's nearly five million annual visitors hitting this half of Grand Canyon.
An extra quarter–mile of altitude makes for spectacular views (Grand Canyon National Park). Nearly
five million people view the canyon every year. There are many ways to explore the Grand Canyon.
They can explore by peering over the edge or taking a bus tour along the rim. People also rent mules
and ride them down on their own (Arizona 5). There are many trails the mules can walk down that lead
into the canyon. The Bright Angel Trails winds for eight miles down the wall of the south rim. This trail
ends four thousand, six–hundred feet below, where Bright Angel Creek flows into the Colorado. Some
rustic cabins are located there for people who want to spend a night or two on the canyon floor (Mead et
al. 41). Some people fly over the canyon in helicopters and airplanes (Arizona 5). The last way to enter
the canyon is on the Colorado River. Exciting raft trips begin at Glen

The Damnation of a Canyon Essay
Strong Response: The Damnation of a Canyon In the reading The Damnation of a Canyon, the author,
Edward Abbey, described his outlook on the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell. Throughout his
reading, he emphasized many positives the Glen Canyon Dam once had. The text revealed Abbey
believing the nature that Glen Canyon used to contain and how people didn't appreciate it. He used his
perspectives of when he worked as a park ranger before all the changes happened. He strongly believed
in nature. He felt that he supported his argument with facts and his personal opinions. If Abbey
discussed his views to others, then maybe he could've understood the reason why other people enjoy the
new reservoir. I feel that Abbey has the right to judge ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
He provided situations for people to acknowledge like the cost, adventure that people could be
experienced, and the trip that can be safe and easier "than a powerboat tour of the reservoir." I think he
appeared to be trustworthy of his own words because he gave us elements of nature. Agreeing with
Abbey does have a lot of appalling outlooks. There are people that will go against his argument since
his resources seem to only come from his personal experience. I will agree with Abbey because every
day people are killing nature like there is no tomorrow. People are taking advantage of what nature gave
us. Every where you turn, natural habitat are being disturbed just for some lousy houses. Abbey is trying
to convince people to be on his side with nature. He described before the damnation that "there were
springs, sometimes flowing streams, waterfalls and plunge pools." Abbey gave us an illustration how
the dam looked and it was filled with "songbirds: vireos, warblers, mockingbirds, and thrushes" and
"larger mammals–mule deer, coyote, bobcat, ring–tailed cat, gray fox, kit fox, skunk, badgers " He
argued nature was killed during the process of building the reservoir. This argument probably brought
many people's attention to agree or disagree with him. Abbey represented the environmentalists to help
grow the anti–dam movement. If I had the chance to do the movement then I will help and support it.
He also argued people that doesn't appreciate

Lake Powell Research Paper
Lake Powell Draining Issue
There have been many discussions involving the drainage of Lake Powell, but with each argument there
is reasons why we should keep it or why we shouldn't. In the year of 1963 Lake Powell officially
became a recreational park and known as one of the largest man–made reservoir in the United States.
The dam was built for the advantage of having water stored for other states who might need it. In the
year 1963 two diversion tunnels in the Glen Canyon dam were closed in order to begin Lake Powell to
fill. Throughout the years the water levels of Lake Powell have lowered, causing people to worry that
this lake is diminishing rather than a benefitting the environment. By 1980 Lake Powell was at its 'full
pool' which was ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
"The Glen Canyon dam supplies water to several states in the upper and lower basin... including
California, Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico receive 8.23 million acre feet of water each year from the
Glen Canyon Dam." (Glen Canyon Dam: Economic Benefits). When states are in a drought they have
the ability to take water from the lake in order to provide water to their living area without this access,
these states would be in crisis. In order for this to work, there are certain water agreements and rules are
set to maintain fairness and efficiency. "Under the Colorado river was apportioned between the seven
user states in both the upper and lower basin. This agreement is responsible for water development
along the Colorado and its tributaries and also acts to control water flows" (Glen Canyon Dam:
Economic Benefits). There are seven states that use the water from the lake. Mexico, California,
Arizona, Nevada and many others, are the primary users of this lake when they are in a drought. People
of opposing views believe that because of the amount of evaporation that occurs in the lake now it
would be the best route to let it drain and having moving water up and downstream which will have a
bigger effect on the environment. This may cause different issues within the states. Issues that occur in
these states are the environmental hazards such as fires, droughts, and many other hazards that can be
affected from not having enough water. "The loss of Lake Powell would simply allow for more water in
the system" (Glen Canyon Institute). With the drought issue arising this reservoir is helping by allowing
those states take the water necessary in order to suffice their needs of hydration. Some people who are
on the opposing side might state that the research found is not applicable due to the power they want to
have over you,

Hydroelectric Dams Advantages And Disadvantages
energy, excluding ecological impact. Unlike solar and wind, it requires minimal extraction of metals
from the earth and unlike nuclear and fossil fuel it creates no negative byproducts.
There are two main typed of hydroelectric dams. One version uses the natural flow of the water to spin a
turbine and generate electricity and is significantly less ecologically damaging than its counterpart, the
gravity dam. A gravity dam spins a turbine by using gravitational energy to transport water from the top
of the dam to the bottom and the massive push of water generates large amounts of electricity. These are
the types of dams that are most familiar when considering hydroelectric power generation however they
alter the flow of the entire river and can cause many other problems.
Flood Control
A third advantage of dam building is the fact that they tame the river so as to prevent flooding due to the
fact that the amount of water flowing out of the base of the dam can be controlled quite precisely. To
most, this notion seems reasonable but to the raging conservationist, the river is meant to be something
that is untamed and allowed to flow free and wild. There are 15 dams on the Colorado River alone and
every cubic foot is metered so as to prevent the intense flooding that is historically supposed to occur
every spring[4]. The flooding that occurs seasonally on many rivers is vital to maintain certain river–
bank ecosystems; however, it is extremely devastating to the communities that

Gifford Pinchot: Growing Into The Green Era
Growing into the "Green" Era
Throughout the end of the 19th and beginning of 20th centuries, we saw an extreme shift in mindsets
about the environment and how it should be managed. Iconic utilitarian conservationists, such as
Gifford Pinchot, led this march to a more scientific approach to conserving land to produce maximum
resources efficiently for the benefit of the people and country. Even after Pinchot's firing as the first ever
Chief of the U.S. Forest services in 1910, we would see his conservation principals integrated
throughout years to come in pivotal environmental issues that would abrupt within the United States.
Throughout these national issues such as the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, WWII and the Cold War,
along with others, we would see the need for this utilitarian conservation movement idea to help
progress us into the modern "green" era of scientific environmentalism. With these events, the inventory
of federal land use and water resources agencies would be prompted and encouraged to develop and
transform into more ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This was led by David Brower, the environmental organization Sierra Club fought a protracted battle
against the Bureau of Reclamation, on the basis that "building the dam would not only destroy a unique
wilderness area, but would set a terrible precedent for exploiting resource in America's national parks
and monuments." In the mid–1950s, the USBR agreed not to build the two dams, which was an act
widely hailed as a major victory for the American environmentalist movement. In fact, Brower and the
Sierra Club supported the expansion of the proposed dam at Glen Canyon to replace the storage that
would have been provided by the Echo Park dam on the Green River. The Colorado River Storage
Project was authorized in April 1956, and Glen Canyon Dam began in October of the same

David Brower And Dominy In John Mcphee's The River
"The River" by John McPhee tells the story of a raft trip down the Colorado River through the Grand
Canyon. The two leaders of this expedition are David Brower and Floyd Dominy, who are considered to
be two of the biggest rivals and influential people in conservation history. David Brower was the former
Executive Director of the Sierra Club. Brower was a huge conversationalist and was very passionate
about protecting natural landscapes from human destruction. Floyd Dominy was the commissioner of
the Bureau of Reclamation and he believed that natural resources should be used not just preserved for
aesthetic reasons. As they travel down the Colorado River, Brower and Dominy debate fiercely over
conservation and the use of natural resources. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
As a county agent, he constructed a pond with out any approval or help from the state, just to help
farmers and cattle get water. He is passionate about developing wilderness for the accessibility and
needs of people, which in his eyes makes him a pretty great guy. On their river expedition, Dominy says
to Brower "I'm a greater conservationist than you are, by far. I do things. I make things available to man.
Unregulated, the Colorado River wouldn't be worth a good God damn to anybody" (McPhee, 2000 p.
240). Dominy is very passionate about his work building the dams because in his eyes dams are far
more beneficial to humanity that untrammeled nature. His statement reveals his greatest weakness,
which is his arrogance. He claims to be a better conservationist than Brower, however a conservationist
would be able to see that the river is valuable as is without damming it. He even contradicts himself
later when he says, "a conservationist is one who is content to stand still forever." During their raft trip
Dominy demonstrates several times that he is very cocky even when they were on one of roughest parts
of the river everyone had both hands on the safety rope except for him (McPhee, 2000 p.181) he was
always showing off and trying to upstage

Analysis of Brower vs. Dominy argument in Encounters with...
In the third section of John McPhee's Encounters with the Archdruid, the author observes the discourse
between conservationist David Brower and Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, Floyd
Dominy, on the merits of dams in the southwestern United States. Brower "hates all dams, large and
small," while Dominy sees dams as essential to our civilization. The Glen Canyon Dam and Lake
Powell, which Dominy created, are the main issue of debate between the two men.
Floyd Dominy graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1932 and, after an unsuccessful stint as a
teacher, became a county agricultural agent for the federal government in Wyoming's Gillette County.
This was the time of the Great Depression and also a great drought in the ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Brower viewed nature as a sacred place, a place that must be "earned." He hated the idea of people
developing wilderness areas. He felt that cities should have strict boundaries, and people should stay
there. Brower and Dominy have conflicting views in this situation. Brower is disgusted by the
development around Lake Powell and the destruction of the wilderness that is now beneath it. "Lake
Powell is a drag strip for power boats. It's for people who won't do things except the easy way. The
magic of Glen Canyon is dead. It has been vulgarized." (240)
Dominy, on the other hand, is proud that he has created such a beautiful lake and has made it accessible
to the masses. Dominy is tired of trying to satisfy a noisy minority while trying to bring water, power,
and recreation to the people. "I'm a greater conservationist that you are, by far. I do things. I make things
available to man. Unregulated, the Colorado River wouldn't be worth a good God damn to anybody...Do
you want to keep this country the way it is for a handful of people?" (240)
Beside these arguments, there is also a more quantitative side to the debate. The ecological detriments
of the Glen Canyon Dam have been well–documented. Extensive changes were brought about in the
Colorado River ecosystem by the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam. Most of these alterations
negatively affected the functioning of the system and the native aquatic species of the river. The reduced
supply and transport of

Damnation Reflection
In the film, Damnation, the narrator displays the impact of dams in the United States, the minimal
benefits and detrimental consequences to the environment. The film provided necessary information of
dams that allows individuals to make an informative decision on which side of the argument they want
to take. The film positively moved me, especially during interviews where those affected by dams
specified their individual experiences. The film provided three different perspectives on the impact that
dams have, which consist of the anthropocentric, ecocentric, and religious viewpoints to help viewers
take a side on the matter at hand.
The purpose of the film is to inform and educate people about the impact dams have on the
environment. The ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Ben and Travis trying to kayak through a dam really helped show how devoted they are to the cause and
put themselves in harms way in order for this to get across to people. A second reason I felt touched by
the film is how they got individuals who have been personally hurt by dams to interview for the picture,
providing their two senses on the issue and what they have experienced before and after dams were
built. Lastly, the statistics and data provided during the film really help to put a number figure on how
dams have impacted individuals and the environment; by the number of deaths that have occurred do to
breaks in dams and by the number of fish that have been depleted in rivers and streams because they can
no longer make the journey back to spawn.
In Glen Canyon, two archeological teams had limited time to find as much archeological artifacts that
they could recover and document sites before the area was going to be flooded. The term they use is
salvage, which means the sole purpose of the job is to document cultural treasures before they are
flooded by the dam. Everything was going to go under, but at least the teams would have the data and
records so that they could make museum displays and write books about the area that no one knew
existed. Furthermore, Katie Lee who was part of one of the archeological teams in Glen Canyon thought
of this place as an archeological treasure that should have never been destroyed by the creation

Damnation of a Canyon
The Damnation of a Canyon By Edward Abbey Not many people know of the used–to–be 150–mile
excursion that the Glen Canyon had to offer. Not many people know how to sail a raft down a river for a
week. Not many people know how to interact with nature and the animals that come with it. We seem to
come from a world that is dependent on time and consumed in money. Edward Abbey is what you
would call an extreme environmentalist. He talks about how it was an environmental disaster to place a
dam in which to create Lake Powell, a reservoir formed on the border of Utah and Arizona. He is one of
the few that have actually seen the way Glen Canyon was before they changed it into a reservoir. Today,
that lake is used by over a million ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
He seems to argue the ‘wheelchair ethos of the wealthy, upper–middle class American slob'. Well,
excuse the people who were born paralyzed from the waist down, and would like to experience the
forces nature in its natural state of beauty and grace. He seems to generalize the typical population of
people who visit Lake Powell on an unscientific basis, upper–middle class American slobs. So does that
mean that a lower class family doesn't have the money to do such recreational activity? And that we are
slobs because we like to view nature in its own environment? One last point in which should be heard is
that, Edward Abbey states that now that the river is closed up people cannot get a raft, spend about forty
dollars, give up 7–10 days, and rely only on the goodness of fresh catfish just to float down a river. In
today's society people don't have time. We would rather spend the hundreds of dollars to get a nice
speedboat, buy real food, and only take maybe the weekend to enjoy the great outdoors. We enjoy the
freshness of a shower everyday, going to the bathroom with flushable device, eating food with the right
bit of garlic taste, in other words the comfort of home. Even if they did take down the dam and offer
such rafting trips, do you honestly think a person could leave their cell phone at home? In conclusion, I
do think that Edward Abbey made a great

National Parks
Marie Thurman
What will you feel as you enter a national park? Many words have been written to describe the
experience, but nothing can truly capture the complete amazement as the breathtaking views catch your
breath. It's something you must discover for yourself at least once in your lifetime, if not time and time
again. Though songs, poems and photographs have tried to capture the essence of national parks, only
your senses will tell the true story. In this research paper I will be discussing national parks. I will be
explaining what qualifies a park to be a national park, and two main national parks in the United States,
Yosemite National Park and The Grand Canyon.
History and Definition
A national park is a noun defined as a tract of ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Yosemite is surrounded by wilderness areas: the Ansel Adams Wilderness, the Hoover Wilderness, and
the Emigrant Wilderness. Yosemite national park has an annual visitation that exceeds 3.5 million. Most
of these visitors concentrate only on the seven main square miles of Yosemite Valley.
Yosemite is a 1,200–square–mile park that contains thousands of lakes and ponds, 1,600 miles of
streams, 800 miles of hiking trails, and 350 miles of roads. Two scenic rivers, the Merced and
Tuolumne, begin within Yosemite's borders and flow west into the Central Valley of California.
Yosemite is famous for its high concentration of waterfalls in such a limited area. Although hundreds of
waterfalls appear in different places during rainfall, the primary waterfalls are:
§ Bridalveil Falls (620 feet)
§ Chilnualna Falls (690 feet)
§ Illilouette Fall (370 feet)
§ Lehamite Falls (1,180 feet)
§ Nevada Fall (594 feet)
§ Ribbon Falls (1,612 feet)
§ Royal Arch Cascade (1,250 feet)
§ Sentinel Fall (1,920 feet)
§ Silver Strand Falls (574 feet)
§ Snow Creek Falls (2,140 feet)
§ Staircase Falls (1,020 feet)
§ Tueeulala Falls (840 feet)
§ Vernal Fall (317 feet)
§ Wapama Falls (1,700 feet)
§ Waterwheel Falls (300 feet)
§ Wildcat Falls (630 feet)
Yosemite Falls is the highest measured waterfall in North America. It is a major attraction in the park,
especially in late spring when the water flow is at its peak.
The total 2425–foot

Cline Museum Proposal
The Anschutz Foundation consistently demonstrates its belief in arts and culture, education, and
community development through the substantial contributions it makes in grants to a variety of
organizations. While we understand the majority of your giving is to organizations located in Colorado
and Oklahoma, we hope you will consider a possible proposal from our organization, Cline Library's
Special Collections and Archives at Northern Arizona University. Northern Arizona University (NAU)
is a public university founded in 1899 in Flagstaff, Arizona as the Northern Arizona Normal School. In
1966, it became Northern Arizona University as it is known today, with a current enrollment of 30,368.
One of the defining qualities of the university is the early engagement of undergraduate students and
faculty in collaborative and experiential research. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Within the library, Special Collections and Archives (SCA) is responsible for acquiring, preserving, and
making accessible unique and prominent cultural heritage collections focused on the Colorado Plateau.
With its windswept mesas, colorful cliffs, water–carved slot canyons, chiseled earth, rich colors, and
magnificent vistas, the Colorado Plateau is one of the most beautiful and unique areas in the world. Ten
national parks and eighteen national monuments lie within the boundaries of the Plateau. Located in the
Four Corners region of the southwestern United States, the Colorado Plateau contains one of the seven
wonders of the world–The Grand Canyon. Cline Library and Northern Arizona University is ideally
positioned to focus on collecting the stories, images, and records of the

Westward Migration
Ongoing attention to the Colorado River emphasizes its crucial role as the "lifeblood" that sustains
millions of Americans across dozens of cities and countless farms in the American West. For the seven
states that comprise the Colorado River Basin–Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico,
Utah and Wyoming–the Colorado River has stimulated growth and opportunity for generations. Today it
is as important as ever for leaders, residents and visitors to this beautiful and dynamic region of the
country.
Westward migration in the early 20th century made the challenge of gaining beneficial use from the
Colorado River's unpredictable and often destructive flows more urgent. The basin's seven states struck
a historic agreement in 1922 and ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Balancing the vital need for water and related resources with an obligation to protect environmental and
ecological health poses an increasingly complex challenge. The Bureau of Reclamation manages CRSP
and other Colorado River projects to develop and protect water and related resources in an
environmentally and economically sound manner for the American public. It works actively with
federal, tribal, state, local and non–governmental partners to adaptively manage the river system with an
eye toward greater societal awareness and the importance of healthy ecosystems – particularly
downstream of the dam through Glen and Grand

Desert Solitaire Summary
Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness is the work for which Abbey is best known and by which
he is most frequently defined. It contains his views on a variety of subjects, from the problems of the
United States Park Service to an angry indictment of the evils of technology masquerading under the
guise of progress. No voice is more eloquent in the praise of America's remaining wilderness nor more
vitriolic in attacking those who would exploit and destroy it for profit. In the introduction to Desert
Solitaire, Abbey informs his readers that he has combined the experiences of three summers spent as a
park ranger at Arches National Monument into one for the sake of narrative consistency. He writes that
the first two summers were good ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Abbey and Newcomb camp at the mouth of the Escalante River, where it joins the Colorado. Newcomb
remains behind to fish for catfish while the adventurous Abbey explores upstream. He wanders up the
labyrinthine canyon past untouched cliff dwellings of the Anasazi, the ancient people who inhabited the
land before the Navajo. He realizes that these, too, will be submerged under the flooding water of the
Colorado. Moreover, Abbey points out that the waters of Lake Powell will irrigate no land, will grow no
crops. Instead, the trapped water will produce power–power to make possible the continued urban
sprawl of Phoenix and Albuquerque–and provide an aquatic playground for well–to–do suburbanites,
whose noisy powerboats will drown out the cry of the red–tailed hawk, the calls of the killdeer and
sandpiper. When Abbey returns down the canyon at nightfall to rejoin his fellow adventurer Newcomb,
he is greeted by the smell of cooking catfish and the night sounds of the river. He reflects that this is all
the paradise that is needed. The beauty of the place is heartbreaking, as is the tragedy of its imminent
disappearance under mud and water. As Abbey and Newcomb approach the construction zone of the
dam, a large sign that Abbey derisively dubs "first billboard erected in Glen Canyon" reminds them that
government, in the service of greed, is willing to prosecute those who would trespass on the march of
progress. The lyricism of

Colorado River Hydrosphere Essay example
Colorado River Hydrosphere A case study of * River management * People interfering in the
hydrosphere * Balancing water from one area to another The Colorado river – basic facts It flows
through southwest United States and northwestern Mexico. It is 2334 km (1450 miles long), the longest
river west of the Rocky Mountains. Its source is west of the Rocky Mountains which is the watershed in
northern Colorado, and, for the first 1600km (1000miles) of its course, passes through a series of deep
gorges and canyons that were created by the eroding force of its current. The river flows in a generally
southwestern direction across Colorado into south eastern Utah, where it ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
1. To store water from wet seasons to dry seasons 2. To store water for movement via canals and
pipelines to areas of desert and drought. 3. To create cheap electricity in the form of Hydro Electric
Power 4. To bring desert land under cultivation using irrigation schemes 5. To allow new settlements to
be developed in the desert e.g Phoenix in Arizona and Las Vegas. The Imperial Valley of southern
California is an excellent example of land reclaimed by the waters of the Colorado. A number of
reservoirs have been incorporated into national recreation areas and new fruit and vegetable growing
estates have improved the economy and food supply in the area. The Glen Canyon National Recreation
Area in Utah encompasses Lake Powell, formed by the Glen Canyon Dam. Mohave (formed by Davis
Dam) and Lake Mead are part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Arizona. 25 million people
depend on the dams. Effects of river management: Gains Losses Economic · Increased income from
farming in some areas · New industries attracted to the "Sunshine States" (footloose industries see
attractive climate) · Hydro electric power has attracted new industries and created jobs – boosted local
economy · Cheap electricity reduces dependence on oil and imports · Dams and Grand Ganyon a major
tourist attraction. · Fast growth of

Encounters With An Archdruid Summary
Taylor Cox AP Environmental Science 2 April 2017 Encounters with an Archdruid details the
adventures of environmentalist David Brower, as a compoundment of"narratives...of journeys made in
three wildernesses – on a coastal island, in a Western mountain range, and on the Colorado River in the
Grand Canyon." (McPhee, 2). Journalist John McPhee wrote the book after researching Brower's tales
of struggle against miners, developers, and even the United States Bureau of Reclamation. Encounters
with an Archdruid is broken into three sections, one for each of Bower's adventures. The first explains
Brower's interaction with Charles Park, a mineral engineer inent locating and utilizing mineral reserves
in Glacier Peak Wilderness. Charles Park is depicted in the book as calculating and realistic–minded,
unwilling to give up his immediate economic gain in order to leave the the environment intact for future
generations. This ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Fraser's believes that all environmentalists are modern druids who "worship trees and sacrifice human
beings to those trees" (McPhee 32), which inspired the the title of the book, Encounters with an
Archdruid. Brower traveled to Georgia intent on halting Fraser's plan to develop Cumberland Island,
and thus the real estate developer is also depicted as calculating like Park. Fraser possesses a vision of
development that means land is regulated and controlled by corporations, not free for the public to use:
which starkly contrasts Brower's personal views. McPhee emphasizes the fact that Fraser still considers
himself a true conservationist, despite his development plans. But Brower continued to fight Fraser, and
eventually forced Fraser to sell the land he had purchased on Cumberland Island to the National Park
Foundation, after receiving an impressive amount of support for his conservationist efforts from the

The Monkey Wrench Gang Analysis
The Monkey wrench Gang is an inspiring novel which conveys many crucial political points which are
relevant to current society today. The message communicated has inspired the creation of the protest
group "Earth First" along with many other ecological anarchists. Throughout the novel a young group of
"Environmental Warriors" who rant through the desert destroying power plants, construction vehicles,
and other equipment with the ultimate goal of destroying the Glen Canyon dam. These tasks are
completes with the lingering thoughts of endless desert landscape decimated by the looming forces of
modernization and industrialization.
Members of the pro activist gang consist of George Washington Hayduke, Seldom Seen Sam, Doc
Starvis, and Bonnie Abzurg. Outcasts and misfits of society, the gang commits extreme acts of protest to
prove justice to the ignorant pollution, modern society spreads rapidly bearing down on the small
amounts of environmental serenity still left in the world. Hayduke, a ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Doc is a middle aged physician who enlightens the group of their ultimate target... Glen Canyon Dam.
Smith has three wives and has earned the nickname "seldom seen" because he is rarely seen by any of
the gang due to the fact that each of his wives live in different towns. Smith deplores the creation of the
dam which in turn annihilated countless trees canyons and towns due to the lake which was formed.
Bonnie lives in a geodesic dome and is doc's girlfriend. She is motivated by anger and testosterone
causing her to make drastic decisions not always contemplating her actions. Bishop love is a mormon
cop who represents the Antagonist in the novel in relentless pursuit of the four living for nothing but
their demise. (mormon sentence + capitalistic business mindset= connor goin to

Arizona Research Paper
I have lived in the hot state of Arizona for the past 6 years. It's taken me years to adjust to the outside
heat as I'm used to being in a cool climate. The city of Arizona that my family and I live in is Scottsdale.
The absolute location of Arizona is 34.0000° N, 112.0000° W, and the relative location of Arizona is at
the border of Mexico between New Mexico and California. Absolute location is the exact spot on the
earth expressed by a coordinate system. Relative location is where it is in relation to other unique
objects or places.
Arizona is very diverse in forms of topography. Topography is the artificial and natural features in an
area. In the north, the Colorado plateau, which covers two fifths of the state, is most known for its deep
... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Most of these geographical features are natural and not artificial. Geographical features are the
components of the Earth, like attractions. Besides Arizona being a dry place, famous rivers run through
the state. One of the main rivers is the Colorado River, which without we wouldn't have the Grand
Canyon. The Colorado River shaped the Grand Canyon over a period of 17 million years. The Colorado
River runs from Colorado, through Utah, Arizona, and Nevada, all the way to Mexico.
When we think of Arizona, the first thing that would probably come to your head is the desert. 42% of
the land of Arizona is covered in desert. To the southwest is the Sonoran Desert; the southwest contains
the cities of Phoenix, Yuma, and Tucson. To the northwest is the Mohave Desert. To the north is the
Painted Desert, which is part of the Colorado Plateau. The Painted Desert got its name from the variety
of colors you will find on the clay. To the southeast of Arizona holds part of the Chihuahuan

Essay about Rhetorical Reading
Rhetorical Reading Essay(Revision)
Since they started pouring the concrete for the dam Lake Powell has been a center of controversy. From
nature preservationists to ancient ruins advocates the subject has been heated and intense. On the other
hand, those who support Lake Powell are just as avid and active in their defense of the reservoir. One of
the former, Edward Abbey, sets forth his plea, hoping it does not fall upon deaf ears.
Abbey attempts in his article to help the reader visualize Glen Canyon before it was dammed up. He
uses a lot of pathos to help the reader "feel" the beauty of the previous Glen Canyon and the ugliness of
the present. His article seems to be ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
These effects are perfectly normal when working with a reservoir and as he points out are not
permanent. "Sodden garbage strewn about, dead trees, sunken boats, the skeletons of long–forgotten,
decomposing water–skiers;"(147) These are all attempts to bring the reservoir in a negative light but
these do not come from the reservoir but from careless patrons and the inevitable accidents. If the
number of people who visited Lake Powell visited the former Glen Canyon area, the garbage and deaths
and other negative aspects would be at the same ratio because some humans are simply careless and
draining a reservoir is not going to change that.
Often times Abbey tries to appeal to our emotions through connotation and metaphors by creating a
picture perfect image of what Glen Canyons used to be like with its varied flora and fauna and beautiful
landscape. Unfortunately this attempt is flawed because anyone who has ever been to Lake Powell or
seen pictures knows that it is equally as beautiful as and maybe even more so than the common river
and surrounding landscape scene.
Abbey employs a great use of sentence structure and connotations when refuting the claim that Lake
Powell is the most beautiful reservoir in the world. "Certainly it has a photogenic backdrop of buttes
and mesas, projecting above the expansive surface of stagnant waters where the speedboats, houseboats
and cabin cruisers play. But

Nancy Newhall's This Is The American Earth
Portraying the sublime evolved as industrialization speed up manufacturing. Adams aimed for a wider
audience, as he believed only when the public sees the beauty of the wilderness would they understand
why conservation mattered. Adams understood "the photographer could play a vital role, rousing
awareness and inciting action. He saw this as his personal mission" (Spaulding, 1995, pp. 217–218).
This was evident in Adams iconic partnership with Nancy Newhall and in their book, This Is the
American Earth published in 1960. Theirs "was the quintessential book, bringing conservation
philosophy and nature photography to coffee tables across the nation" (Spaulding, 1995, p. 310).
Throughout the book, they promoted John Muir's philosophy that expressed ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
In 1963, Porter shared his trip down the Colorado River to capture what would be lost if technological
hubris prevailed. The Place No One Knew portrayed fragments of the canyon rather than broad
sweeping scenic landscapes. Many criticized the book for too many close–up and abstract images that
contrasted light and dark features of the canyon even though it did convey the hidden beauty of the
canyon. Although costly, $25, The Place No One Knew was a large format book with color images and
elegant craftsmanship of typographer and lithographer. One reviewer commented, "the book needed to
be so large and to contain such high–quality prints and exquisite typography. By buying the book,
particularly given its expensive price, Americans could gain atonement; through consumption, they
could help pay for the sins of the nation" (Dunaway, 2005, p. 181). Critics claimed Porter's photos
demonstrated a duality between portraying the aesthetics of nature with scientific understanding for
what is at stake. The Sierra Club continued work to protect the Colorado River along with advocating
protection for other natural resources. They published more books communicating the struggles between
progress and protection and this style of photography, I argue, lives on in contemporary works (see Ch.

Essay On Arizona Renewable Resources
Arizona's renewable resources has many renewable resources. Some of these resources are oil field in
the state is on the Navajo reservation. Regions of both the Colorado Plateau in the northeast and the
Basin and Range in the southwest are believed to have petroleum potential, but exploratory drilling has
never yielded large finds, and much of Arizona remains unexplored. The next resource is Natural gas,
With only a few producing wells and little new drilling activity, Arizona's natural gas production has
declined to less than 100 million cubic feet per year from a peak of more than 2 billion cubic feet per
year in 1990. Almost all of the natural gas consumed in Arizona comes from other states. More than
two–thirds of that natural gas entering ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
A natural gas distribution company in the state is planning to construct a liquefied natural gas (LNG)
storage facility in southern Arizona to assure supply. The next renewable source is Coal, There are two
coal fields in Arizona Black Mesa in the northeast on the Navajo and Hopi reservations and Pinedale in
south–central Arizona. The state's only operating coal mine is in the Black Mesa field, and it is one of
the 25 largest coal mines in the nation. Coal from that mine is sent 17 miles by conveyor to a closed
loop electric train that takes the crushed coal directly to the coal–fired Navajo Generating Station 80
miles away. Another renewable resource is Hydro, The Glen Canyon Dam and Hoover Dam, both
located on the Colorado River in northern Arizona, are among the largest power plants in the state and
provide the bulk of Arizona's net hydroelectric generation. Hydroelectric power has long dominated
Arizona's renewable electricity generation. However, increasing amounts of electricity generation
capacity from other renewable sources, especially solar, are coming online. Arizona has one of the
largest solar energy resources of any state. The state's first commercial solar photovoltaic (PV) array
opened in 1997, and one of the world's largest solar PV facilities, located in

Monkey Wrench Gang Summary Essay
The Monkey Wrench Gang
By Edward Abbey
I read The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey. The book is 421 pages, and was published by
Lippincott Williams &Wilkins in 1975. It is a fictional story about a group of four people who
meet, and all want the same thing. To stop development on America's southwest.
Edward Abbey's purpose in writing this book was to raise awareness about what is happening to, quite
literally, our back yard. This book takes place in the southern Utah and Arizona, and is told in 3rd
person, but not following any one specific character. It switches which character you are following
throughout the story. The main characters are George Hayduke, Bonnie Abbzug, Doc Sarvis, and
"Seldom Seen" Smith.
The book ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Hayduke used the winch on his Jeep to lower himself and his Truck off the overhanging cliff. Towards
the end of the book, Forest rangers arrest a sleepy "Seldom Seen" Smith because he stole some camper's
hamburger, and they thought he was Rudolf the Red. Next chapter, Hayduke was on a 500 foot cliff,
over a huge flood happening in the river below, and Love, as well as a bunch of police had him pinned
down. Hayduke hid out in a crevice for over 6 hours while Love and his men waited for him to
surrender, or shoot. Eventually they see what they think is Rudolf the Red emerging from the crevice
with a rifle and they all open fire. What they believe to be Rudolf is literally pushed of the edge with the
bullets and never found. In the last chapter, the rest of the gang is playing a poker game when Doc
Sarvis gets an unexpected visit from Hayduke, who somehow survived, and wants to finish their initial
job, destroying Glen Canyon dam.
I believe that Abbey did achieve his purpose with this writing. The book has so much emotion, and
detail about the beauty of this place that it's hard to think that he didn't. The book was very interesting,
as well as powerful. It was a difficult read at times, but it kept me interested and wanting to read. A
weakness of this book is that back grounds to some of the events were not explained fully. Some
strengths are that it's a very interesting and moving reading and

Hudson River: a Detailed and Comprehensive Geological History
Contents
Introduction..................................................................................................................................................2
Hudson River Formation.............................................................................................................................5
Hudson
Canyon..........................................................................................................................................12 Glacial
History............................................................................................................................................14
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................17
Bibliography................................................................................................................................................18
Maps &
Diagrams.......................................................................................................................................19
Hudson Canyon.............................................................................................................................19
Geological Processes......................................................................................................................22
1|Page
Introduction
In 1872, a naturalist and surveyor by the name of Verplanck Colvin found the source of the Hudson
River. It is a small pond on the south ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Over millions of years, these have contributed to building up many islands including Staten Island,
Hoffman Island, Swinburne Island and many others. The very low slope of the Hudson plays a great
role in the amount of discharge and island buildup, too, as it only rises about 0.24 inches per mile for the
last 150 miles of the rivers path. To give some perspective, the Mississippi river rises approximately 6
inches per mile during its course, and discharges about 700 million tons of sediment per year into the
Gulf of Mexico
2
Coarse cobble point bars are essentially pointed cobble that has been piled into bar like formations.
These formations are generally formed when sediments carrying cobble leave it behind. 3 Ground
formed into a steep slope as part of fortification. 4 "Moraine" is a word used to describe the earth, stones
and debris a glacier deposits. "Terminal" describes that these items were deposited where the glaciers
maximum extent was, in this case Long Island.
3|Page
and its mouth is approximately a ½–mile wide. The Hudson River discharges about 175 million tons
of sediment per year and its mouth is about the same width at a ½ mile. With a 2 inch increase in slope

geologists predict the discharge rate of the Hudson would spike up to about 450 million tons per year
and the

Damnation of a Canyon Essay
The Damnation of a Canyon
Not many people know of the used–to–be 150–mile excursion that the Glen Canyon had to offer. Not
many people know how to sail a raft down a river for a week. Not many people know how to interact
with nature and the animals that come with it. We seem to come from a world that is dependent on time
and consumed in money. Edward Abbey is what you would call an extreme environmentalist. He talks
about how it was an environmental disaster to place a dam in which to create Lake Powell, a reservoir
formed on the border of Utah and Arizona. He is one of the few that have actually seen the way Glen
Canyon was before they changed it into a reservoir. Today, that lake is used by over a million people,
and is one of ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
He stated that it was the difference between life and death. Glen Canyon was alive. Lake Powell is a
graveyard. He really seems to be going out on a limb in saying this extreme of a statement. I think that
he is wrong in saying that. I feel that he is only looking at one side of the story. I would say the
opposite, but for a rhetorical analysis proposes only, I will come from his point of view in researching
that he came to that conclusion under the assumption that the wildlife and nature was more alive then
the life "outside" of the dam. Lake Powell is a graveyard in such that there is nothing natural about it.
The rocks are pretty and the water is blue. Abbey talks of a term called "bathtub ring", it is left on the
canyon walls, after each drawdown of the water level. The park rangers in Glen Canyon consider it to
be not of great importance, and that is one of the only illusions that you look at upon a natural lake. To
some people seeing that effect is more then they have seen or may ever see in their life when it comes to
nature. People come from places where there isn't a lot of wildlife around them. The closest they get
seeing that might just be from a book or a video they saw in school. So what if they dump a ton of
striped bass and rainbow trout into the lake every year. One of those fishes could be the first one ever

The Sierra Club 's Political Program Essay
The bulk of The Sierra Club's stances and viewpoints are rife with notions that display the liberal
agenda of the organization. Environmentalism and the changes needed to be made to support it are none
other than liberal perspectives. As, conservatives, such as blue collar workers and oil companies, are
afraid and threatened by new legislation to protect the environment. So naturally, the conservatives
oppose such changes in order to continue their operations and not succumb to new environmental
measures. This idea is found within the erstwhile Grand Canyon Campaign, in which The Sierra Club
compromised with the Bureau of Reclamation in order to save the Grand Canyon from flooding.
Though, the bureau still got their power in terms of coal power plants. However, the liberal agenda can
be identified most apparently within the various acts of legislation the pushed through to get passed.
"The Sierra Club's political program is dedicated to electing clean air, clean water and climate action
champions at all levels of government" (Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia 2016). These Acts
dealing with air, water, and other subjects like endangered species, has led to various implementation of
regulation within society. The idea of regulations are more liberal as they trust in the government to help
take action with these acts rather than a conservatism view in which they believe the government should
not be so intrusive. However, despite The Sierra Clubs political spectrum, it is

Salt Lake Research Paper
"The Dells are part of the Driftless Area, meaning it was untouched by glacial ice. However, glaciers in
other parts of the state melted, forming Glacial Lake Wisconsin; which was about 150 feet deep and the
size of Utah's Great Salt Lake. 14,000 years ago, the last ice dam holding back this large lake gave way,
causing a great flood. The floodwaters poured through the area cutting out gorges, likely within days or
weeks, and leaving behind the towering sandstone Dells as we see them today. The waters also tore out
a channel and flooded the Wisconsin River valley," one of our tour guides, Sophia, stated while we were
on the journey to reach our designated shore landing. Ethan pointed out that though the water of the
Wisconsin River looks dirty, it is actually very clean. The river is colored ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Native Americans used to rub tannic acid on animal skins to tan or preserve them. Finally, we reached
our destination. Witches Gulch, a gorge through which a trout stream flows and continues to carve new
patterns into the sandstone. A stunning narrow canyon full of nature. The site has no shortage of
picturesque scenery waiting for a snapshot. Witches Gulch is a spectacular and spooky walk through a
narrow canyon carved by wind and water filled with fern glens, shadowy passages, and hidden
whirlpool chambers. A glen of mysterious passageways, such as 'Spooky Lane' awaited our visit. Prior
to the mid–1800s, debris and a waterfall blocked access to the area. However, a clever photographer
named Henry Hamilton Bennett visited the Gulch during winter on ice skates and chiseled his way
through. He partnered with a local steamboat captain to build walkways into the area that have been in
use, and updated, since 1875. Walking onto the rock–filled solid surface, I look up in amazement. The
sandstone is cool and damp to the touch, and the rock formations are awe–inspiring.

The Little Grand Canyon In The 1800's
Have you ever heard of the Little Grand Canyon? The providence canyon was not even a canyon it was
a dense forest. That all changed when farmers moved into the area in the 1800's They stared growing
crop and cotton. Well the Little Grand Canyon is where the testament to the man's influence to the land.
The gullies that are in the little Grand Canyon are as deep as 150 it was made there by poor farming
practices in the 1800's. , When the framers was cutting down trees and everything they did not realize
that this that these traditional farming methods was initiating a string of events that would change the
landscape. The name Providence canyon came form Providence Methodist Church around 1832. By
1850 the ditchies have been three to five deep.

Analysis Of Edward Abbey 's Desert Solitaire
I will be reviewing Edward Abbey's memoir during his time spent in southern Utah. In his book, Desert
Solitaire, Abbey illustrates how the Arches National Monument evolves throughout time and including
the time he spends there working as a park ranger and observing the change throughout his adventures.
The two thematic concepts I will be incorporating onto his memoir are the urbanization and
development lenses. Throughout his memoir, Abbey ties in many thematic concepts to each other, but
only addressing to these two lenses will give a better description. Thus both urbanization and
development do play a role in the main point Abbey portrays in Desert Solitaire. In the beginning of his
memoir, Abbey shares his own opinion, in which he uses to give a very descriptive explanation on why
urbanization and development are both hazardous but also carry benefits to places like Arches
Mountains. Abbey gets his point down and uses his time in Utah to back up his argument. Desert
Solitaire takes place in a small, lightly populated city in southern Utah called Moab. Edward Abbey's
venture begins when he becomes a park ranger for the Arches National Monument. Pleased by the fact
that the Arches are surrounded only by dry, deserted Canyonlands, Abbey shares in his memoir that this
is his paradise. In addition to his paradise dream, Abbey works twelve miles away from the closest
human, in which he says that he is thankful for being in such solidarity. Being alone in one of the least

Essay about History of the Colorado River
INTRODUCTION According to tree ring scientists from the University of Arizona in Tuscon, the
Colorado River went through a six decade long drought during the mid–1100s. This drought was longer
than any other drought know to the region. The Colorado River is essential to the American Southwest,
draining into about 242,000 square miles of land to include seven U.S. states: Arizona, California,
Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. "The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change predicted in a recent report that the Southwestern U.S. Will become hotter and drier as the
climate warms." With human caused climate change and run off reduction, it has been predicted that the
Colorado River could become dry by 2012. Discussions in ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Today the color of the river is more of a blue–green though, due to the creation of the Glen Canyon
Dam in 1963. The silt and sediments that gave the river its reddish–brown color are now trapped behind
the dam at the bottom of Lake Powell. Before the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam, the Colorado
river could carry around 500,000 tons of silt and sediment per day through the Grand Canyon. The peak
flow rate before the dam was normally around 85,000 cfs (abbreviation for "cubic feet per second"
which is used to measure river flow rates). The peak flow rate after construction was reduced to 30,000
cfs. The reduction in cfs resulted in a smaller distribution of the iconic red–colored silt and sediment.
The main reason for the creation of the Glen Canyon Dam was to stop silt from building up behind
Hoover Dam. The construction of the dam has had a negative impact on the Grand Canyon
environment. The flash floods that at one time scrubbed the canyon clean and deposited fresh sand
along the beaches no longer occurs. The water temperature used to get as warm as 80 degrees F. It is
now icy–cold year round and averages around 42 degrees F. Because of this drastic temperature change,
some of the native fish that used to flourish in the river have become extinct while others have become
endangered. The desert is no place to be without water. It is one of man's basic needs for survival.
Deserts receive less than 10 inches of rainfall in a year, and, in some

Lake Powells Pros Cons
There have many discussions involving the drainage of Lake Powell, but with each argument there are
reason why we should keep it or why we shouldn't. In the year of 1963 Lake Powell official became a
recreational park and known as one of the second largest man–made reservoir in the U.S. Throughout
the years the water levels of Lake Powell has lowered causing people to worry that this lake is
destruction rather than a benefactor to the environment. Lake Powell is more beneficial to the
environment than a destruction, by bring and economic/recreation to the lake for people to enjoy, helps
maintain water and drought control, and also create electricity that has multiple users. Lake Powell
provides a great amount of an economic standpoint with the recreation and having people coming into
town to have a fun vacation. "4 million visiting tourist bring in $2.5 million each year because of its
centralized location, Page hosts tourists en route to many other southwestern site such as the ... Show
more content on Helpwriting.net ...
"Approximately 3% of power used in the four corners area...Most of the power from the dam is
purchased for commercial use at heavily subsided rates." (Glen Canyon Institute). Shows who really
uses the power and who this will really effect in weather we drain the lake or not. "The Glen Canyon
Dam generates 451 megawatts, which is negligible compared to most of the other power generating
stations in the regions." (Glen Canyon Institute). Show how much energy is generated through this dam.
"The glen canyon dam does not generate "Clean" power. While we are correct to say there is no air
pollution from the dam, the 186 mile long reservoir" (Glen Canyon Institute). Knowing that the power
is not clean can alter the opinion of some people. This benefit is something that is not as huge as a
benefactor as most but still it contributes to the case that we should keep this man made

Renewable Power Policy and Hydroelectric Dams Essay
Renewable Power Policy and Hydroelectric Dams There has been much controversy over changes in the
environment due to the placement of hydroelectric dams, and also due to the pollution caused by other
power plants which use non–renewable sources of energy. The arguments which come from certain
groups against both sides seem rather strange. The purpose of this paper is to explore the environmental
and other effects from both energy sources, and the arguments which are presented by different groups
who lobby for and against the two sources of power. It appears in many opinions; a group will only
access one issue, actually separating two topics which go hand in hand. The focus for examples in this
paper with mainly rely on ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In the Lake Powell area, there are many recreational and historic sites, such as Rainbow Bridge National
Monument. "The flooding of Glen Canyon has damaged critical habitat for endangered fish and plant
species and destroyed tens of thousands of archaeological and sacred sites, including a significant
portion of Rainbow Bridge National Monument – one of the most sacred sites and culturally significant
sites for Native American tribes of the Colorado Plateau." ("Glen") Now the example used is the
"National Monument," which was made by the US government. The actual existence of Rainbow
Bridge was not harmed at all. It is still well out of the water, now a one mile hike from the lake. This
actually makes access to the bridge easier, without destroying the area of importance to the Natives. A
"national monument" title and set amount of land is not important to these first people, only the sacred
piece of ground. The Navajo nations natural resources director denounced the Sierra Club on the issue
"for giving legitimacy – and momentum – to the radical fantasy." (Zengerle) These areas are of
importance to many people, but what is lost is changing, not just disappeared. Supporters of the draining
do not focus on the underlying and very important subjects which are important to the world's future.
The sources of pollution and change in ecosystems have much to do with power

Interrogation And Discourse Analysis
The evolution of definitions used in international and domestic communities is critical to
acknowledging modernization and willingness to act fairly. Although the Justice Department authorized
questionable techniques used for intelligence collection and CIA agents ensured that professionals were
present during interrogation sessions, a strong question of ethics used and how this was viewed in
relation to crimes against human rights during the interrogation sessions has persisted for years as
unanswerable. After extensive research for the final definitions decided upon for this paper, the lack of
international and national consensus on multiple topics, even down to definitions, was obvious. The
modern–day U.S. definition for torture was redefined ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
After deciding what documents to use, one must conduct a reading or skimming and note–taking of the
documents, which includes: initial thoughts on a codebook structure; how the documents are organized;
major and minor actors; the variables and independent variables; inputs and outputs; any logistical or
background information relevant to the environment or actor; and potential biases. After the first read–
through, one can construct a codebook to instruct the sequence of analysis. A codebook generally
includes a classification for actors, which can indicate the actor's level of government, associated
profession, region of occupancy, etc. It also provides topics that were mentioned throughout the
documents; some discourse analysts prefer to code a primary and secondary topic, whereas others may
prefer to code all topics mentioned for more conclusive findings. Author Tuen van Dijk describes the
considerations within discourse

Essay On The Speed Run
The Speed Run
The Grand Canyon is an American icon. It formed by years of down cutting by the Colorado river, and
it is the most impressive physical feature in all of North America. In the book the Emerald Mile, Kevin
Fedarko writes about the fastest trip ever recorded down the Grand Canyon in a watercraft. Throughout
the book, it shows the creation of the Glen Canyon Dam and how the creation of this dam puts a hold on
the runaway Colorado River, and make the speed run down the Canyon possible. Although this book
was about adventure down the Grand Canyon, I did not find it to be particularly gripping like I had
hoped it would be. This story is about adventure and pushing all of the limits of boatmanship. Although,
many parts of this story ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This book talked mostly about the history of the the Colorado river and how the dam was built, not
about white water rafting. While they did go into detail about the actual speed run a majority of the
book was fluff that was in no way relevant to the speed run. I think that the author went to into detail
about the lives and pasts of the guides, they were not very interesting, and did not relate to what I
thought the book was supposed to be about. The History of the wooden boats seemed extremely
impractical to me and I did not see the point of keeping them in todays world when rubber rafts were so
readily

The Monkey Wrench Gang: The Law breaking Heroes Essays
The Monkey Wrench Gang: The Law breaking Heroes
Everyone knows that breaking the law is bad and anybody who does is a criminal, but Edward Abbey
author of The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975), puts a twist on those thoughts. The Monkey Wrench Gang
is an adventurous novel about a gang of environmentalists who set out to destroy bulldozers, bridges,
cars, trains, signs or anything that is destroying their beautiful country, the American southwest.
Through characterization and description Edward Abbey glorifies the art of law breaking and leaves his
readers rooting for his heroic criminals.
In the Monkey Wrench Gang there are four main characters: Bonnie Abbzug, Doc Sarvis, Seldom Seen
Smith and George Hayduke. As ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Seldom is a Mormon with three wives that he seldom sees, hence his name. Seldom is a professional
guide, wilderness outfitter, boatman and packer who's business went down hill when the freely flowing
Colorado River was stopped by a dam, "the dam which had plugged up Glen Canyon, the heart of his
river, the river of his heart" (63). Every time Seldom passes over the Glen Canyon dam he prays for "a
little old pre–cision–type earthquake" to free his trapped river (33).
In The Monkey Wrench Gang, Abbey is able to tap into the reader's thoughts by presenting the
character's persuasive opinions. All of Abbey's characters are very strong believers in the survival of the
desert and it's inhabitants and they risk their lives several times just to keep it alive. "All this fantastic
effort– giant machines, road networks, strip mines, . . .high–voltage power lines; the devastation of the
landscape, the destruction of Indian homes . . . Indian burial grounds; the poisoning of the last big
clean–air reservoir in the forty–eight contiguous United States, the exhaustion of precious water
supplies–all that ball–breaking labor and all that back–breaking expense and all that heartbreaking insult
to land and sky and human heart, for what? All for what?" Doc– (160).
"Down below the metal monsters roared, bouncing on rubber through the cut in the ridge, dumping their
loads and thundering up the hill for more. The green beasts of Bucyrus,

Essay About The Colorado River

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