The Rocky Mountains and their wildlife

The awesome Rocky Mountains form the Continental Dicide in the western United States and Canada. They are called the backbone of North America

Vegetation

In the Rockies the tree line (the highest altitude at which trees will grow) ranges from 2,500 feet in the icy Yukon territory to 1 2,000 feet in more temperate New Mex-ico. just below those areas that are covered permanently with snow, the forests are made up of pine, spruce, and fir trees. At lower elevations they also include birch, beech, and cherry trees.

Knee-high willows cover much of the Arctic Rockies, and mature willows and cottonwoods grow beside streams. Above the tree line, lichen, saxifrage, columbine, larkspur, and other alpine plants abound.

Mammals

The animal species found in a given area of the Rockies depends on the elevation and latitude. The wolf, for example, is found only in the Arctic Rockies, and the caribou lives only in the Arctic and north-ern Canadian Rockies. Animals living at high altitudes include deer, bears, antelope, foxes, elk (wapiti), moose, marmots, and bighorn sheep. Coyotes, jackrabbits, and prairie dogs can be found at lower elevations.

With their abundance of grizzly bears, moose, and bison, the Rockies once attracted many hunters. Now hunting is strictly regulated to protect the wildlife.

Features

For mountains, the Rockies are relatively young. They were created by changes in the earth's crust about 65 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period.

The Rocky Mountain system is divided into four sections: the Arctic Rockies, northern Rockies, middle Rockies, and southern Rockies. These areas vary in height from 1,000 to 15,000 feet and in width from 100 to 400 miles. As a whole, the Rocky Mountain range is made up of many tall peaks, plateaus, and, in the far northwest, low hills. Much of the range is now protected as national park.

Birds

Many birds in the Rockies are migratory. In winter they include three-toed wood-peckers, white-tailed ptar-migan, and certain finches. In summer various thrushes, finches, sparrows, wrens, and hummingbirds arrive. Per-manent residents include the mountain bluebird, the pine grosbeak, Swainson's thrush, and the western screech-owl.

Rocky Mountain national park

Rocky Mountain National Park is a beautifully preserved 580-square-mile wilderness area located in north central Colorado. It contains glaciers, lakes, streams, waterfalls, and more than 100 peaks 10,000 feet or higher.

The tree line is 11,000 feet above sea level, and in sum-mer the entire park is ablaze with wildflowers.

Animals living in the park include beavers, deer, black bears, bison, mountain lions, bobcats, and coyotes. It is one of the few places where you can see flocks of bighorn (mountain sheep) in their native habitat.

A number of trails crisscross the park, but there are very few roads. Although there are a few cabins and campsites, it is an almost totally natural environment.

Rocky Mountain Resources

WATER: Water is in short supply in the Rockies, espe-cially in the south, where the climate is dry. Many reser-voirs have been built, but few suitable dam sites are left and it may be necessary to import water from the Columbia River and western Canada.

OIL AND GAS: Wyoming, New Mexico, Montana, Colo-rado, and Utah all have oil and gas fields in the Rockies.

COAL: The Rockies contain the Western Hemisphere's richest coal reserves, and coal is a common energy source.

METALS AND NONMETALS: Copper and iron ore are mined extensively in the Rockies. There are also silver, gold, lead, and zinc mines. Nearly all of North America's uranium is produced in the Rockies. Nonmetallic reserves include potash, magnesium, gypsum, limestone, and dolomite.