|
Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness
The Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness (BRCW) is located in western Colorado with a small portion extending into eastern Utah, United States, USA, within the arid Colorado Plateau region approximately west of Grand Junction, Colorado. The wilderness lies on the northwest flank of the Uncompahgre Plateau. It is characterized by the high, east-west trending Black Ridge dissected by seven major canyon systems, draining into the Colorado River in Ruby Canyon. Elevations range from above sea level along the river to . Canyons vary in length from several miles to twelve miles in length and may contain interesting side canyons. Geological features in these canyons include spires, windows, giant alcoves and desert varnish. Canyons may reach a depth of almost , forming spectacular red rock cliffs. Spring runoff and summer thunderstorms create glistening waterfalls and plunge pools. Rattlesnake Canyon (Colorado), Rattlesnake Canyon contains the second largest concentration of natural arches in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesa County, Colorado
Mesa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 155,703. The county seat is Grand Junction. The county was named for the many large mesas in the area, including Grand Mesa. Mesa County comprises the Grand Junction, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 2020 it ranked as the 271st most populous metropolitan area in the United States. It is the only metropolitan area in Colorado not located on the Front Range. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.4%) is water. It is the fourth-largest county by area in Colorado. Adjacent counties * Garfield County – north * Pitkin County – east * Gunnison County – east * Delta County – southeast * Montrose County – south * Grand County, Utah – west Major highways * Interstate 70 * * * U.S. Highway 6 * U.S. Highway 50 * State Highway 65 * State Highway 139 * State Highway 141 * State Highway 3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arch Tower
Mee Canyon is a remote scenic area within the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness which in turn forms the core of the Bureau of Land Management administered McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area in west central Colorado. Limited access and primitive facilities limit visitation and help preserve the wilderness in its natural state. Mee Canyon is accessed either by boat from the Colorado River, or from a trail head near Glade Park. Notable features * Arch Tower is a Wingate Sandstone tower that contains a natural arch. This tower was first climbed in 2003. * There is a 100 feet deep alcove eroded into the soft sandstone by a year-round stream. The stream flows through it around a large rubble pile in the center which has fallen in from the ceiling. References {{authority control Canyons and gorges of Colorado Natural arches of Colorado Rock formations of Colorado Landmarks in Colorado Bureau of Land Management areas in Colorado Protected areas of Mesa County, Colorado L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area
The McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area (MCNCA) is a National Conservation Area located in Mesa County, west of Grand Junction, Colorado. The MCNCA has rugged sandstone canyons, natural arches, spires, and alcoves carved into the Colorado Plateau, through which runs a stretch of the Colorado River. Included in the MCNCA is the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness (BRCW) with extending into eastern Grand County, Utah at the MCNCA's western boundary. The MCNCA is managed by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Landscape Conservation System, and was officially designated on October 24, 2000, when the Colorado Canyons National Conservation Area and Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness Act of 2000 became Public Law 106-353. The NCA was renamed after Congressman Scott McInnis on January 1, 2005. McInnis Canyons NCA has a variety of resources and recreation opportunities resulting in users with diverse interests, including hiking, biking, float boating, off-highway veh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eagle
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just 14 species can be found—2 in North America, 9 in Central and South America, and 3 in Australia. Eagles are not a natural group but denote essentially any kind of bird of prey large enough to hunt sizeable (about 50 cm long or more overall) vertebrates. Description Eagles are large, powerfully-built birds of prey, with heavy heads and beaks. Even the smallest eagles, such as the booted eagle (''Aquila pennata''), which is comparable in size to a common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') or red-tailed hawk (''B. jamaicensis''), have relatively longer and more evenly broad wings, and more direct, faster flight – despite the reduced size of aerodynamic feathers. Most eagles are larger than any other raptors apart from some vultures. The smalles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desert Bighorn Sheep
The desert bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis nelsoni'') is a subspecies of bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') that is native to the deserts of the United States' intermountain west and southwestern regions, as well as northwestern Mexico. The Bureau of Land Management considered the subspecies "sensitive" to extinction. The trinomial of this species commemorates the American naturalist Edward William Nelson (1855–1934). The characteristics and behavior of the desert bighorn sheep generally follow those of other bighorn sheep, except for adaptation to the lack of water in the desert. They can go for extended periods of time without drinking water. The desert bighorn sheep is the state mammal of Nevada. It is also the mascot of the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. Distribution The range of the desert bighorn sheep includes habitats in the Mojave Desert, Sonoran Desert, Great Basin Desert, and Chihuahuan Desert, as well as the Colorado Plateau. Anza-Borrego Desert State ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mountain Lion
The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. It is an adaptable, generalist species, occurring in most American habitat types. This wide range has brought it many common names, including puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther (for the Florida sub-population). It is the second-largest cat in the New World, after the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Secretive and largely solitary by nature, the cougar is properly considered both nocturnal and crepuscular, although daytime sightings do occur. Despite its size, the cougar is more closely related to smaller felines, including the domestic cat (''Felis catus'') than to any species of the subfamily Pantherinae. The cougar is an ambush predator that pursues a wide variety of prey. Primary food sources are ungulates, particularly deer, but it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer (caribou), white-tailed deer, the roe deer, and the moose. Male deer of all species (except the water deer), as well as female reindeer, grow and shed new antlers each year. In this they differ from permanently horned antelope, which are part of a different family (Bovidae) within the same order of even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla). The musk deer (Moschidae) of Asia and chevrotains (Tragulidae) of tropical African and Asian forests are separate families that are also in the ruminant clade Ruminantia; they are not especially closely related to Cervidae. Deer appear in art from Paleolithic cave paintings onwards, and they have played a role in mythology, religion, and literature throughout history, as well as in heraldry, such as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cryptobiotic Soil
Biological soil crusts are communities of living organisms on the soil surface in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. They are found throughout the world with varying species composition and cover depending on topography, soil characteristics, climate, plant community, microhabitats, and disturbance regimes. Biological soil crusts perform important ecological roles including carbon fixation, nitrogen fixation and soil stabilization; they alter soil albedo and water relations and affect germination and nutrient levels in vascular plants. They can be damaged by fire, recreational activity, grazing and other disturbances and can require long time periods to recover composition and function. Biological soil crusts are also known as ''biocrusts'' or as ''cryptogamic'', ''microbiotic'', ''microphytic'', or ''cryptobiotic'' soils. Natural history Biology and composition Biological soil crusts are most often composed of fungi, lichens, cyanobacteria, bryophytes, and algae in varying proportions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sagebrush
Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus ''Artemisia''. The best known sagebrush is the shrub ''Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrushes are native to the North American west. Following is an alphabetical list of common names for various species of the genus ''Artemisia'', along with their corresponding scientific name. Many of these species are known by more than one common name, and some common names represent more than one species. * Alpine sagebrush—' * African sagebrush—''Artemisia afra'' * Basin sagebrush—''Artemisia tridentata'' * Big sagebrush—see Basin sagebrush * Bigelow sagebrush—''Artemisia bigelovii'' * Birdfoot sagebrush—'' Artemisia pedatifida'' * Black sagebrush—''Artemisia nova'' * Blue sagebrush—see Basin sagebrush * Boreal sagebrush—'' Artemisia norvegica'' * Budsage—''Artemisia spinescens'' * California sagebrush—''Artemisia californica'' * Carruth's sagebrush—'' Artemisia carruthii'' * C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesa
A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a more resistant layer or layers of harder rock, e.g. shales overlain by sandstones. The resistant layer acts as a caprock that forms the flat summit of a mesa. The caprock can consist of either sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and limestone; dissected lava flows; or a deeply eroded duricrust. Unlike ''plateau'', whose usage does not imply horizontal layers of bedrock, e.g. Tibetan Plateau, the term ''mesa'' applies exclusively to the landforms built of flat-lying strata. Instead, flat-topped plateaus are specifically known as '' tablelands''.Duszyński, F., Migoń, P. and Strzelecki, M.C., 2019. ''Escarpment retreat in sedimentary tablelands and cuesta landscapes–Landforms, mechanisms and patterns.'' ''Earth-Science Reviews, no. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Box Elder
''Acer negundo'', the box elder, boxelder maple, Manitoba maple or ash-leaved maple, is a species of maple native to North America. It is a fast-growing, short-lived tree with opposite, compound leaves. It is sometimes considered a weedy or invasive species, and has been introduced to and naturalized throughout much of the world, including in South America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, much of Europe, and parts of Asia. Description ''Acer negundo'' is a fast-growing and fairly short-lived tree that grows up to tall, with a trunk diameter of , rarely up to diameter. It often has several trunks and can form impenetrable thickets.van Gelderen, C.J. & van Gelderen, D.M. (1999). ''Maples for Gardens: A Color Encyclopedia''. The typical lifespan of box elder is 60 - 75 years. Under exceptionally favorable conditions, it may live to 100 years. The shoots are green, often with a whitish to pink or violet waxy coating when young. Branches are smooth, somewhat brittle, and ten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willow
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known as willow, but some narrow-leaved shrub species are called osier, and some broader-leaved species are referred to as sallow (from Old English ''sealh'', related to the Latin word ''salix'', willow). Some willows (particularly arctic and alpine species) are low-growing or creeping shrubs; for example, the dwarf willow (''Salix herbacea'') rarely exceeds in height, though it spreads widely across the ground. Description Willows all have abundant watery bark sap, which is heavily charged with salicylic acid, soft, usually pliant, tough wood, slender branches, and large, fibrous, often stoloniferous roots. The roots are remarkable for their toughness, size, and tenacity to live ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Deer")
