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About
Rocky Mountain
National Park
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The snow-mantled peaks of Rocky Mountain
National Park rise
above verdant subalpine valleys and glistening lakes. One-third of the
park is above treeline, and here tundra predominates, a major reason why
these peaks and valleys have been set aside as a national park. This area
was first traversed by mountain and plains Indian tribes, followed by
French fur traders. In 1859 Joel Estes and his son, Milton, rode into the
valley that bears their name. Few others settled in this rugged country,
and about 1909 Enos Mills, a naturalist, writer, and conservationist
began to campaign for preservation of this pristine area. In 1915 Rocky Mountain National
Park, the nation's tenth, was dedicated.
A feature of the park is the marked differences found with the changing
elevation. At lower levels are the montane ecosystems, open stands of
ponderosa pine on south-facing slopes; and on cooler north-facing slopes
are Douglas fir. Here and there appear groves of aspens. Wildflowers
grace meadows and glades. Above 9,000 feet forests of Engelmann spruce
and subalpine fir take over in the subalpine ecosystem. Openings in these
cool, dark forests produce wildflower gardens of rare beauty and
luxuriance. At the upper edges of this ecosystem, the trees' growth
assumes beautiful and unusual forms. Then the trees disappear, and you
are in the alpine tundra ecosystem; a harsh, fragile world. Here, more
than one-quarter of the plants you will see also can be found in the Arctic. From the valleys to its mountaintops, Rocky Mountain National
Park encompasses many worlds. We invite you
and your students to explore them.
Heart
of the Rockies is
a project of Rocky Mountain National
Park
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