Lassen Volcanic National Park is often overlooked by tourists because its proximity to the Famous Yosemite which lies close by. Located in Northeastern California, Lassen Volcanic National Park is primarily known for its numerous hydrothermal features. Lassen Peak is the highest elevation point in the park and was formed around 30,000 years ago when Tehama’s Northern flank formed a dome before a large eruption (National Parks Conservation Association, 2009). Beautiful features blooming within the park are degraded by adjacent land surrounding the park which is used for logging, grazing, and off-roading. These activities often impact the parks vegetation, wildlife and other features. Also, the implications of no fire suppression are causing …show more content…
Lassen National Park lies at the southern most part of the Cascade chain volcanoes. Its volcanism is driven by the subducting Juan de Fuca plate, where most of the Cascade chain volcanoes derive their magma. Bumpass Hell is the most attractive area with multiple surface pools that demonstrate the hydrothermal heat that lies beneath the surface. The vapor permeated zone dominates the region below Bumpass Hell. Brokeoff Mountain, also called Mount Tehama, creates many dramatic views. It has yellow-brown rocks altered by the geothermal activity and white rocks are chemically altered by the acidic water. (National Park Service, …show more content…
By educating these individuals, it is persuading more people to become engaged in the prevention and mitigation of global warming. By developing a plan for global warming that is easy to follow for all the parks, this plan presents an easy task all parks will abide by. By providing data from the National Climate Center, the parks will stay informed about climate change. The Green Parks Plan is providing a comprehensive plan to reduce carbon footprints at the parks. Collaboration with organizations like Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) will help with monitoring climate change inside the parks and provide land conservation ideas. The adaption of these new tools and conservation ideas will be a key action for parks in their mitigation efforts. And lastly, they want to open communication to older generations, making it easier for them to learn and talk about the changes they are seeing in their life time. (National Park Service, 2012) For a time park managers were hesitant about the ideas of fire management, but now prescribed burns and mechanical management are used as anticipatory actions to stop wildfires. These actions rectify the lack of past suppression effects by restoring the ecosystem and postponing the reoccurrence interval. Starting in 2004, Lassen Volcanic National Park treated approximately 10,000 acres
Zielinski, E. (2012, April 25). The Northwest Forest Plan. Retrieved from U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORBUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/history/sidebars/ecosystems/Northwest_Forest_Plan.html
The ecological effects of wildfires on Yosemite are among some its greatest benefits. Trees like Bishop Pines and Sequoias have evolved in such a way that their seeds will only open when exposed to high temperatures. The fires also help to clear out dead leaves and weeds, thereby making sunlight accessible to new plants and increasing their chances to germinate (Marder). Wildfires are so essential in areas like Yosemite that over millions of years, plants have developed strategies to be successful in this type of environment. For instance, giant sequoias have developed a thick layer of fire-resistant bark. This bark is “the main explanation for tree survival in intense fires” (Gignoux, Colbert, and Menaut). Fire makes the soil fertile and redistributes the nutrients evenly so that the next generation of trees can cover more space. The fires have helped...
Committee on Senate Energy and National Resources Subcommittee on National Parks. 3 June 2003: ESBCO. Mission Viejo Library., Mission Viejo, CA. 31 July 2005. http://web31.epnet.com/citation.
Current research is being conducted by the National Parks Service to better understand the patterns of invasive plants on the Park, including sagebrush and cheat grass. Yosemite has announced that air quality on their worst days is unlikely to improve until California State’s regulations take effect (“National Parks Service”). More eco-friendly tours and car banning could be cut down in the future to remove some of the tropospheric ozone. Fire awareness is also sweeping through Yosemite, especially in the camping areas, which would cut down wild fires and excess smoke. “In Yellowstone, fires are historically less frequent, but more intense”, this is simply not the case in Yosemite (“PBS”).
In the 1914 to 1921 time zone, Lassen Peak emerged from inactivity with a series of steam explosions, dacite lava flows, and volcanic mud flows. There were 200 to 400 volcanic eruptions during this period of activity. Because of the eruptive activity and the area's brilliant volcanic beauty, Lassen Peak, Cinder Cone and the area surrounding were designated as the Lassen Volcanic National Park on August 9, 1916.
Yosemite and its history, young to old the story of an area of land that is doomed to be mined, forcibly stripped naked of its natural resources. In 1864 Yosemite land grant was signed into act by president Abraham Lincoln, the first area of land set aside for preservation and protection. Yosemite being a very important historical plot of land, some time ago president Theodore Roosevelt visited the park managing to disappear from the secret service with John Muir. Through the years the contrast of ideas between the industrialists and the preservationists have clashed, Yosemite’s history both interesting and mysterious but more importantly inevitable .
The first time I saw Mt. Rainier for myself, was last summer when my boyfriend and I drove to Washington. It was the most beautiful, peaceful looking mountain I have ever seen. However, underneath it's great beauty, it hides a deadly secret. Mt. Rainier is one of the most dangerous volcanoes that we have here in the United States. One of the reasons it is so dangerous is because of it's great beauty. People enjoy looking at it, and the area that surrounds it, so they have made their homes here. Mt Rainier is not the only volcano I am interested in, in fact this last summer I also went to Mt. St. Helens and Crater Lake. But it is the volcano I chose to research for this paper because it does have so much beauty and at the same time so much power. I already know the basics about volcanoes, how they form, the different types, etc., but I wanted to find out more about what would happen if this great volcano were to erupt, what type of eruption would it be, and how would it affect the people that live around it.
Landscape fragmentation can be characterized as a break up of a continuous landscape into more smaller, less-connected patches by roads, clearing for agriculture, commercial and residential development, and timber harvesting. Clear-cutting can break up mature, contiguous forest until the clear-cut area has regenerated to a point that it does not act as an ecological barrier to interior species or species that rely on continuous, mature forests. Much of the work that has sought to measure landscape pattern and habitat fragmentation comes out of the disciplines of conservation biology and landscape ecology (Theobald 1998). These disciplines are founded on the premise that landscape patterns strongly influence and are influenced by ecological processes (Forman and Godron 1986).
MILLER, C. D. POTENTIAL HAZARDS FROM FUTURE ERUPTIONS IN THE VICINITY OF MOUNT SHASTAVOLCANO, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. N.p.: US Government Printing Office, 1980. Print.
Canyonlands National Park, immense amounts of wilderness and rock, is located at the heart of the Colorado Plateau (Canyonlands National Park-Geology). Millions of years have formed specific features to the rock and surrounding wilderness that make it so special. Throughout the park, you will find that the sedimentary rock has formed many features such as hundreds of colorful canyons, mesas, buttes, fins, arches, and spires. The Green and Colorado rivers have played a major role in the formation of many of these features. These rivers cut through the park forming two massive canyons. This further splits the park into three distinct zones. “Island in the Sky” sits to the north while “The Maze” sits off to the west and “The Needles” to the east (Canyonlands National Park Information Guide). “Island in the Sky” serves as Canyonlands’ observation tower; it allows tourists to see overwhelming vistas of the rest of the land. “The Maze,” as hinted at by the name has been described as a “30 square mile puzzle in sandstone” (NPS: Nature & Science» Geology Resources Division). This section of the park often ranks as one of the most remote and inaccessible areas of the United States. Lastly, “The Needles” is known for its diversity in rock features. Throughout this land, features such as sculptured rock spires, arches, canyons, grabens, and potholes can be seen. The varying names hint at the diversity of the land as a whole. As said by The National Park Service’s Geology Resources Division, “Traces of the Anasazi can be found in almost every canyon in the Needles. Many of their stone and mud dwellings and storehouses are remarkably well-preserved. Tower Ruins, built high on a cliff ledge in a side canyon of Horse Canyon, is an outstanding ex...
Boom! A once ice-capped mountain peak explodes as ash fills the air. “‘Vancouver, Vancouver, this is it!’”Those were the last words of expert geologist David Johnston (Gunn 561). In 1980, Mount Saint Helens of the state of Washington erupted, filling the air with ash and causing mudflows powerful enough to lift tons. It decimated everything in its path. The eruptions, mudflows, and ash caused great damage on the landscape, yet it gave us information on how catastrophes happen and how they affect society and the surrounding landscape. The data acquired can also help us understand the way the landscape was formed. Mount Saint Helens caused much damage, but also helped people understand the science behind it.
Yellowstone Park is the world’s first national park and the 8th largest national park in the United States. The park is primarily located in Wyoming and parts of Idaho and Nevada (56 Interesting Facts About . . . Var Addthis_config = ) It is a tourist attraction due it’s 5,000 to 15,000 years old geysers, over 45 waterfalls, canyons, rivers, hot springs, and its massive concentration of natural wildlife. Two of the most popular park attractions are the Old Faithful geyser and the Grand Prismatic springs. ("Fun Facts." - 32 Interesting Facts Yellowstone National Park.)
Stories about volcanoes are captivating. Myths come in different versions, but all of them are capable of capturing yours, and everybody’s imagination.
Digging up the dirt on Mauna Loa. (Hawaiian volcano studied) Science News v144, n25-26 December 18th, 1993 414 (1 page)
"The Sierra Club and Our National Parks." Yosemite National Park. The Sierra Club, n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.