National parks are some of the nation’s most valuable and beautiful areas. Colorado is home to four of them and NASA satellites recently captured images of what may become our next one.
Colorado National Monument sits southwest of Grand Junction and contains extraordinarily beautiful and rugged terrain. In 1907, John Otto wrote of the area saying, “I came here last year and found these canyons, and they feel like the heart of the world to me. I’m going to stay and build trails and promote this place, because it should be a national park.”
Otto would not see his dream realized. Instead, in 1911, President William Howard Taft established the Colorado National Monument through a Presidential Proclamation.
Senator Mark Udall has recently revived the push to turn this area into a national park. While this would take an Act of Congress, it could be done and Colorado National Monument could become the state’s fifth national park.
NASA’s Landsat 7 flew over the area on March 6th and captured the image from its perch 438 miles above the Earth.
From NASA:
Along the Interstate 70 corridor in western Colorado, well-watered croplands, residential properties, and urbanized areas create a broad stripe of green and gray. Away from the interstate, dry climate conditions color the landscape shades of beige, brick, and tan. Yet these arid regions offer treasures of their own, including stunning vistas and wildlife both living and extinct.
West of Grand Junction lies Colorado National Monument, a network of canyons and mesas. The Enhanced Thematic Mapper on NASA’s Landsat 7 satellite captured this natural-color image of the area on April 2, 2002. Outlined in white, the monument includes a combination of sunlit and shady canyon walls and floors—an area of varied elevation next to a broad valley.
Colorado National Monument lies along the margin of the Uncompahgre Uplift, once a part of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains, which formed some 300 million years ago. The rock layers of the Monument are part of the Colorado Plateau—a high-elevation region spanning parts of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Other geological wonders of the Plateau include the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and Arches National Park.
The varied landscapes of Colorado National Monument show the effects of tens of millions of years of erosion. Wind and rain have sculpted dramatic outcrops, such as those of the Devil’s Kitchen. Weathering has also produced potholes, though unlike the annoying asphalt variety, these are natural sandstone basins that collect rainwater and sediment, and provide homes to plants and animals. And the region contains fossil discoveries,including tracks left by ancient dinosaurs, turtles, and lizards.
Developed areas extend all the way to the border of the national monument. According to the National Park Service, the local population has doubled since 1970. While the increased population has enabled more people to enjoy the monument, it has also created challenges. Increased use of the area for recreation has increased traffic, and developments now lie in the path of flash floods and wildlife migrations.
References
- Foos, A. (1999). Geology of the Colorado Plateau. (PDF file). Accessed March 1, 2011.
- U.S. National Park Service. (2007, August 13). Natural Bridges National Monument Geologic History. Accessed March 1, 2011.
- U.S. National Park Service. (2011, February 28). Colorado National Monument. Accessed March 1, 2011.
NASA Earth Observatory image created by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using Landsat data provided by the United States Geological Survey, and park boundary geographic data (GIS) provided the U.S. National Park Service and Innovative Technology Administration’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Caption by Michon Scott.
Instrument: Landsat 7 – ETM+