DOCSLIB.ORG

Open Lands Master Plan Larimer County DEPARTMENT of NATURAL RESOURCES

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Open Lands Master Plan Larimer County DEPARTMENT of NATURAL RESOURCES Open Lands Master Plan Larimer County DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES June 2015 Photo: Jeff Andersen Larimer County Department of Natural Resources Open Lands Program Adopted and Recommended Larimer County Board of County Commissioners May 18, 2015 Adopted Larimer County Planning Commission June 17, 2015 Acknowledgments Table of Contents Special thanks to the citizens of Larimer County who supported the passage of the Help Preserve Open Spaces tax extension, with specific appreciation to the many citizens who helped shape thisOpen Lands Master Plan. Larimer County Board of Chapter 1. Introduction .....................1 Chapter 2. Needs and Existing Commissioners 1.1 Background ......................................................2 Conditions Lew Gaiter III, District 1 1.2 Department Organization and Structure .......3 2.1 Open Lands Program Accomplishments .....11 Steve Johnson, District 2 1.3 Department Funding: Help Preserve Open Tom Donnelly, District 3 2.2 Changing Demands for Land Conservation Spaces Tax ....................................................4 and Recreation ............................................16 Larimer County Natural Resources 1.4 Open Lands Program Guiding Principles �������6 2.3 Partnerships .................................................19 Department Staff 1.5 Planning Process .............................................6 Gary Buffington, Director 1.6 Public Outreach ...............................................7 Kerri Rollins, Open Lands Program Manager Zac Wiebe, Fund Development & Special Projects Meegan Flenniken, Resource Management Program Manager Jeffrey Boring, Resource Specialist Boards and Commissions Open Lands Advisory Board Agricultural Advisory Board Logan Simpson Design Inc. Jeremy Call Tom Keith Kristina Kachur Ben Hammer Maria Michieli-Best II LARIMER COUNTY OPEN LANDS MASTER PLAN III Buckeye Conservation Easement. Photo: Walt Hubis Cover photo by Harry Strharsky Chapter 3. Conservation Vision Chapter 4. Recreation Vision Chapter 5. Implementation Appendices 3.1 Results of Public Outreach............................21 4.1 Accomplishments ������������������������������������������55 Recommendations Appendix A. Acronyms ..........................................77 3.2 Priority Area Analysis �������������������������������������24 4.2 Results of Public Engagement ......................58 5.1 Level of Service .............................................73 Appendix B. Glossary ...........................................78 3.3 Land Conservation Priority Areas .................34 4.3 Recreation Opportunities ..............................60 5.2 Open Lands Program Policies & Processes .75 Appendix C. 1995, 1999, and 2014 Ballot 3.4 Habitat Restoration .......................................49 4.4 Facility Development and Improvements.....61 Language ...............................................................79 3.5 Resource Management .................................52 4.5 Community Engagement - Interpretation/ Appendix D. Regional Trail Comparison ...........104 Education/Volunteers ................................63 Appendix E. Policies and Procedures .................106 4.6 Regional Trail Corridors .................................64 Appendix F. Adoption Resolution ........................182 4.7 Regional Trail Gap Analysis ...........................66 4.8 Regional Trails Corridors Priorities ...............70 IV LARIMER COUNTY OPEN LANDS MASTER PLAN V Chapter 1. Introduction Larimer County has some of the most intact and diverse landscapes within the Front Range of Colorado. Near the Laramie Foothills, and at no other location in northern Colorado, the transition from native grasslands to the first rise of the foothills and beyond occurs within a continuous landscape that retains a sense of vastness and natural character. Pioneer trails, prominent landmarks such as Steamboat Rock, and an array of cultural features add to the richness of the landscape. Further south, thousands of acres of irrigated land creates an agricultural landscape where working farms and ranches persist, beneficiaries of a legacy of reservoirs and canals that also provide plant and wildlife habitat and offer a variety of recreational opportunities. Still further south, the land becomes more urbanized and cities and towns predominate but, not coincidentally, rivers and streams become more prominent and the riparian areas associated with the Cache la Poudre, Big Thompson, and Little Thompson rivers become a defining element of our communities. And across these changes north to south, there is one constant backdrop: a hogback front that ranges nearly 50-miles. For many of us, Horsetooth Rock, Devil’s Backbone, Blue Mountain, the abrupt rise of the foothills, and the higher peaks beyond define our sense of place. This is where we live and play, and for many it’s the landscape we miss most when away from home. For more than 20 years, Larimer County and its citizens have been working to conserve these valued landscapes. Much progress has been made yet many areas remain in need of protection. With the county’s population expected to grow by more than 150,000 residents by the year 2040 (Department of Local Affairs, 2013), the importance of conserving these remaining areas increases, the need to link them together becomes more critical, and the benefits of good stewardship, including Devil’s Backbone restoring our rivers and other key habitats, becomes more essential. In short, the work Open Space. is not complete. This Open Lands Master Plan, with the benefit of extensive input from Photo: Staff the citizens of Larimer County, is intended to guide our future conservation efforts and optimize the use of available funding dedicated for this purpose. It provides a focused vision for the Larimer County Open Lands Program in continuing to conserve and restore natural resources, conserve agricultural lands and working landscapes, conserve and improve river health, and enhance appropriate outdoor recreation opportunities. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION LARIMER COUNTY OPEN LANDS MASTER PLAN 1 Our Lands - Our Future provided a wealth of information and has been recognized The voluntary citizen Open Lands Advisory Board nationally, receiving awards from the Society for Outdoor Recreation Professionals, provides oversight of the Open Lands Program and the American Planning Association, and the Colorado chapter of the American administration of Help Preserve Open Spaces sales Society of Landscape Architects. tax funds. 1.1 Background 1.2 Department Organization and Structure The first master plan for the Larimer County In 2013, Larimer County and all of the cities and The Larimer County Natural Resources Department provides key services to Larimer County citizens through Department of Natural Resources, Larimer County towns within partnered to complete a regional study three major programs. Each program in the Department of Natural Resources obtains funding differently and Parks: Comprehensive Parks Master Plan, was of land conservation, outdoor recreation, and natural is guided cooperatively by separate planning processes. The purpose of this plan is to outline the direction of completed in October 1993. This plan included an resources stewardship. This regional study, Our the Open Lands Program and how revenues from the Help Preserve Open Spaces sales and use tax should inventory of the existing Department facilities and Lands - Our Future: Recreation and Conservation be allocated for conservation and management of current and future lands. the need for additional recreational opportunities, Choices for Northern Colorado, examined citizen regional trails, and the acquisition of land to protect preferences for conservation and recreation, Land Stewardship Program: Parks Program: Managing the Open Lands Program: wildlife habitat and scenic areas. This plan was analyzed the economic benefits of open space in Assisting private landowners County’s four regional reservoir Acquiring and managing open written prior to the initiation of the Open Lands Larimer County, and developed an online interactive and agencies with vegetation parks on Bureau of Reclamation space properties and holding Program. In 1995, Larimer County voters passed mapping tool and a financial model to help predict management including weed owned property, namely Carter conservation easements funded a citizen’s initiative for a ¼ cent county-wide sales future funding scenarios. This study forms a basis of control, native plant restoration, Lake, Flatiron, Pinewood and entirely through the Help Preserve tax specifically for the purchase, protection and information throughout this Master Plan. and forestry practices and Horsetooth reservoirs. These Open Spaces sales and use tax. management of open space, natural areas, wildlife The renewed plan will be a continuation of the Our enforcing the state noxious weed reservoir parks are managed Open spaces are managed for habitat, regional park preserves, regional trails, and Lands - Our Future effort but will be specific to the act and state pest control act for for camping, boating, fishing, non-motorized uses, primarily agricultural lands thereby initiating the Open Lands role of the Larimer County Open Lands Program. invasive plants and forest pests. swimming, and picnicking and hiking, biking and equestrian Program. In 1999, Larimer County citizens voted to In 2014, Larimer County citizens overwhelmingly Weed management is funded by are funded primarily through park trails, and for stewardship of extend the
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Late Pleistocene Glacial Equilibrium-Line Altitudes in the Colorado Front Range: a Comparison of Methods
    QUATERNARY RESEARCH l&289-310 (1982) Late Pleistocene Glacial Equilibrium-Line Altitudes in the Colorado Front Range: A Comparison of Methods THOMAS C. MEIERDING Department of Geography and Center For Climatic Research, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19711 Received July 6, 1982 Six methods for approximating late Pleistocene (Pinedale) equilibrium-line altitudes (ELAs) are compared for rapidity of data collection and error (RMSE) from first-order trend surfaces, using the Colorado Front Range. Trend surfaces computed from rapidly applied techniques, such as glacia- tion threshold, median altitude of small reconstructed glaciers, and altitude of lowest cirque floors have relatively high RMSEs @I- 186 m) because they are subjectively derived and are based on small glaciers sensitive to microclimatic variability. Surfaces computed for accumulation-area ratios (AARs) and toe-to-headwall altitude ratios (THARs) of large reconstructed glaciers show that an AAR of 0.65 and a THAR of 0.40 have the lowest RMSEs (about 80 m) and provide the same mean ELA estimate (about 3160 m) as that of the more subjectively derived maximum altitudes of Pinedale lateral moraines (RMSE = 149 m). Second-order trend surfaces demonstrate low ELAs in the latitudinal center of the Front Range, perhaps due to higher winter accumulation there. The mountains do not presently reach the ELA for large glaciers, and small Front Range cirque glaciers are not comparable to small glaciers existing during Pinedale time. Therefore, Pleistocene ELA depression and consequent temperature depression cannot reliably be ascertained from the calcu- lated ELA surfaces. INTRODUCTION existed in alpine regions (Charlesworth, Glacial equilibrium-line altitudes (ELAs) 1957; ostrem, 1966; Flint, 1971; Andrews, have been widely used to infer present and 1975).
    [Show full text]
  • Lakamie Basin, Wyoming
    DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR BULLETIN 364 GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE LAKAMIE BASIN, WYOMING A PRELIMINARY REPORT BY N. H. DARTON AND C. E. SIEBENTHAL WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1909 CONTENTS. Page. Introduction............................................................. 7 Geography ............................................................... 8 Configuration........................................................ 8 Drainage ............................................................ 9 Climate ............................................................. 9 Temperature...................................................... 9 Precipitation..................................................... 10 Geology ................................................................. 11 Stratigraphy.......................................................... 11 General relations........................../....................... .11 Carboniferous system............................................. 13 Casper formation......................... .................... 13. General character........................................ 13 Thickness ............................................... 13 Local features............................................ 14 Erosion and weathering of limestone slopes ................ 18 Paleontology and age..................................... 19 Correlation .............................................. 20 Forelle limestone............................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Laramie Region
    Wyoming Game and Fish Department 2009 Edition LLARAMIEARAMIE RREGIONEGION AANGLERNGLER UUPDATEPDATE “Conserving Wildlife—Serving People” Inside this issue: The Laramie Region Aquatic Invasive Species 2 Updates on selected wa- 3 ters in Laramie Region Channel catfish 4 2 Plains lakes aeration 5 systems 3 1 Laramie River 6 Learn about the smooth- 7 greensnake Encampment River study 8 Map of the Laramie Region indicating the three different management River and floating eti- 9 areas: (1) Platte Valley, Sierra Madre Mountains, (2) Laramie Plains to the quette Snowy Range, (3) Eastern Plains to the Laramie Range. Red and Blue North 10 Platte River signs 2010-2011 Regulation 10 Cycle Pole Mountain Beaver Pond Stocking Splake vs. brook trout 11 The Pole Mountain area, located between and makes for a great family outing. If Cheyenne and Laramie, is dotted with you are interested in volunteering on Special points of hundreds of beaver ponds teeming with this project, Saturday, June 6, 2009, interest: brook trout. These ponds offer fast action contact us at the Laramie Regional Of- □ Wyoming’s Free Fishing for anglers. Many portions of streams in fice, (307) 745-4046. day is Saturday June 6, the Pole Mountain area do not have the 2009! habitat conducive to trout spawning. In □ Summary of last year’s order for these ponds to support high fish- activities ing pressure, they are stocked annually □ River and floating eti- with 20,000 fingerling brook trout on the quette first Saturday in June. Effectively stocking hundreds of ponds scattered over thou- □ Splake vs. brook trout sands of acres is a labor intensive job, re- identification quiring a lot of people.
    [Show full text]
  • Platte River Basin
    Platte River Basin Little Medicine Bow River Table of Contents Watershed Description ............................................................................................................................................. 2 Aquatic Wildlife ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Identification of Conservation Areas ..................................................................................................................... 5 Threats......................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Conservation Initiatives ............................................................................................................................................ 8 Recommended Conservation Actions .................................................................................................................. 10 Monitoring ................................................................................................................................................................ 11 Literature Cited ........................................................................................................................................................ 11 Wyoming State Wildlife Action Plan - 2017 Page III – 15 - 1 Aquatic Basins Wyoming Game and Fish Department Platte River Basin Watershed Description Lower
    [Show full text]
  • Larimer County Emergency Operations Center Situation Report
    LARIMER COUNTY | OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT P.O. Box 1190, Fort Collins, Colorado 80522-1190, 970.498.7010, Larimer.org LARIMER COUNTY EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER SITUATION REPORT This report is intended to provide information and status in quickly evolving situations and is subject to change. This report can be shared publicly. INCIDENT INFORMATION: REPORT SUBMITTED BY: Lori R. Hodges, EOC Manager REPORT DATE/TIME: 08/21/2020 1000 MST INCIDENT NAME: Cameron Peak Wildfire CO-ARF-636 INCIDENT TYPE: Wildfire INCIDENT START DATE/TIME: 08/13/2020 1430 MST INCIDENT LOCATION: Cameron Peak, near Chambers Lake, Larimer County LARIMER OEM OR EOC POC NAME/CONTACT INFO: Lori Hodges, EOC Manager (303) 656-3214 [mobile] [email protected] CURRENT SITUATION: Larimer County is currently under a fire ban that went into effect at 1200 hours 8/18/2020 and will be in effect for a period of 30 days, until 9/18/2020. https://www.larimer.org/spotlights/2020/08/18/larimer- county-open-fire-ban-effect Governor Polis has issued a 30-day open fire ban for the State of Colorado, starting 8/20/2020. Fire restrictions for each county can be found at: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/dfpc/fire-restriction- information The USFS expanded closures for the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest yesterday. Updated closures can be found at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/arp/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD787358 DESCRIPTION: At approximately 1445 on 8/13/2020, Larimer OEM received notification that an active wildfire was growing on USFS property near Chambers Lake and Blue Lake on W.
    [Show full text]
  • Geologic Resources Inventory Report, Fort
    National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Program Center Fort Laramie National Historic Site Geologic Resources Inventory Report Natural Resource Report NPS/NRPC/GRD/NRR—2009/161 ON THE COVER: THIS PAGE: View of Fort Laramie National Historic Site, The Laramie River was a part of life at Fort Lara- looking north across the Laramie River from its mie. Here officers’ children ride along the river, confluence with Deer Creek. Note how the c.1888. View is to the north. fort is situated on a river terrace. NPS image, Louis Brechemin Collection. Courtesy NPS image courtesy Baird Todd (NPS FOLA). Baird Todd (NPS FOLA). Fort Laramie National Historic Site Geologic Resources Inventory Report Natural Resource Report NPS/NRPC/GRD/NRR—2009/161 Geologic Resources Division Natural Resource Program Center P.O. Box 25287 Denver, Colorado 80225 December 2009 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resource Program Center Denver, Colorado The National Park Service, Natural Resource Program Center publishes a range of reports that address natural resource topics of interest and applicability to a broad audience in the National Park Service and others in natural resource management, including scientists, conservation and environmental constituencies, and the public. The Natural Resource Report Series is used to disseminate high-priority, current natural resource management information with managerial application. The series targets a general, diverse audience, and may contain NPS policy considerations or address sensitive issues of management applicability. All manuscripts in the series receive the appropriate level of peer review to ensure that the information is scientifically credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the intended audience, and designed and published in a professional manner.
    [Show full text]
  • Assessment of Aquatic Biological Condition Using Wy Rivpacs with Comparisons to the Wyoming Stream Integrity Index (Wsii)
    ASSESSMENT OF AQUATIC BIOLOGICAL CONDITION USING WY RIVPACS WITH COMPARISONS TO THE WYOMING STREAM INTEGRITY INDEX (WSII) Eric G. Hargett Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality Water Quality Division 122 W. 25th St. Herschler Building 4-W Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002 Document #12-0151 March 2012 Assessment of Aquatic Biological Condition Using WY RIVPACS with Comparisons to the Wyoming Stream Integrity Index (WSII) TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................. IV INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 METHODS AND MATERIALS ........................................................................................ 2 STUDY AREA ................................................................................................................................................................. 2 REFERENCE AND TEST SAMPLES ........................................................................................................................................ 3 MACROINVERTEBRATES ................................................................................................................................................... 3 WATER QUALITY, CLIMATE AND LANDSCAPE CHARACTERIZATION ............................................................................................ 6 MODEL CONSTRUCTION .................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The North Platte Basin, Also Known As North Park, Is a High-Altitude Valley Covering About 2,000 Square Miles in North-Central Colorado
    ////// NORTH PLATTE BASIN The North Platte Basin, also known as North Park, is a high-altitude valley covering about 2,000 square miles in north-central Colorado. It includes all of Jackson County and the small portion of Larimer County that contains the Laramie River watershed. Both the North Platte and Laramie Rivers flow north into Wyoming and are subject to use-limitations described in Supreme Court decrees. The basin is also affected by the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program (PRRIP), which was developed to manage endangered species recovery efforts on the Platte River in Central Nebraska. Water use in the basin is dominated by irrigated pastures associated with ranching operations. The basin also has a major wildlife refuge in addition to numerous public lands and recreational opportunities. The basin exports a portion of North Platte water—approximately 4,500 AFY—to the Front Range. NORTH PLATTE ////// NORTH PLATTE BASIN 4.6 NORTH PLATTE BASIN RESULTS 4.6.1 BASIN CHALLENGES The North Platte Basin will face several key issues and challenges pertaining to water management, endangered species, and resource development in the future. These are described in The Colorado Water Plan and summarized below. Table 4.6.1 Key Future Water Management Issues in the North Platte Basin Agriculture Environment and Recreation Municipal and Industrial Compacts and Administration • Gaining knowledge of the • Maintaining healthy rivers • Increasing economic • Maintaining compliance with basin’s consumptive uses and through the strategic development and the equitable apportionment high-altitude crop implementation of projects diversification through decrees on the North Platte* coefficients. that meet prioritized strategic water use and and Laramie** rivers that nonconsumptive needs.
    [Show full text]
  • Forest Vegetation of the Colorado Front Range Composition and Dynamics*
    Forest vegetation of the Colorado Front Range Composition and dynamics* Robert K. Peet** Department of Botany, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill NC 27514, USA Keywords: Colorado, Forests, Front Range, Gradient analysis, Population structure, Rocky Mountains, Succession, Vegetation Abstract The forest vegetation of the northern Colorado Front Range was studied using a combination of gradient analysis and classification methods. A graphical model of forest composition based on elevation and topographic-moisture gradients was constructed using 305 0.1 ha samples. To derive the topographic- moisture gradient, stands were stratified into eight 200 m elevation belts, and then ordinated by correspondence analysis using understory (<1 m) data. Each of the resultant gradients was scaled against a standard site moisture scalar derived from incident solar radiation and topographic position. Except for krummholz sites, the vegetation defined gradients fit the moisture scalar closely. Once scaled, these gradients were stacked vertically, sandwich-style, to create the graphical representation shown in Figure 5. Gradient analysis and ordination (direct and indirect gradient analysis of Whittaker, 1967) are frequently viewed as alternative approaches for analysis of vegetation. With gradient analysis the axes are readily interpretable, but stand placement is often difficult and at times questionable. Ordination defines an optimal arrangement for species and/or stands, but axis interpretation is often impossible. With the present combination of methods, the interpretability of gradient analysis complements the precision of placement obtained with ordination. Forest vegetation was classified by dividing the gradient model into eight series and 29 types on the basis of similar successional trends in canopy dominants. On dry, low-elevation sites above 1 700 m Pinusponderosa woodlands dominate.
    [Show full text]
  • April 1, 2021 Colorado Water Supply Outlook Report
    Colorado Water Supply Outlook Report April 1, 2021 Overlooking the western portion of Turquoise Lake from Hagerman Pass as Snow Survey Supervisor, Brian Domonkos, and Hydrologist, Zack Wilson, leave Hagerman Tunnel Snow Course, which measured at 82 percent of median for the end of March. Photo By: Brian Domonkos REMINDER: We are soliciting field work photos from the field again this year. Each month we will pick one to grace the cover of this report! Please include information on where, when and of who/what the photo was taken. Contents Colorado Statewide Water Supply Conditions ........................................................................................................................ 3 Summary ............................................................................................................................................................................. 3 Snowpack ............................................................................................................................................................................ 4 Precipitation ........................................................................................................................................................................ 5 Reservoir Storage ................................................................................................................................................................ 6 Streamflow .........................................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Geologic Map of the Fort Collins 30'×60' Quadrangle, Larimer and Jackson Counties, Colorado, and Albany and Laramie Counties, Wyoming
    Geologic Map of the Fort Collins 30'×60' Quadrangle, Larimer and Jackson Counties, Colorado, and Albany and Laramie Counties, Wyoming Pamphlet to accompany Scientific Investigations Map 3399 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Cover. Photograph looking east from Rockhole Lake in the Rawah Wilderness down the West Branch Laramie River as it descends steeply eastward to the north-flowing upper Laramie River. High upland areas in the foreground expose granite of the Rawah batholith (XgR) with glacial till of Pinedale age (Qtp) filling the valley below. The southern end of Green Ridge, capped by a gently sloping erosion surface below the skyline, is visible just beyond the mouth of the valley. This ridge, formed by the Laramie River fault zone, separates the Laramie River drainage to the west from the Cache la Poudre River drainage to the east. South Bald Mountain is visible on the skyline to the left with Crown Point visible on the skyline to the right. The Cache la Poudre River flows east, away from view through a deep, inset canyon between these two high points below the skyline. Photograph by C.R. Ruleman, May 24, 2005. Geologic Map of the Fort Collins 30'×60' Quadrangle, Larimer and Jackson Counties, Colorado, and Albany and Laramie Counties, Wyoming By Jeremiah B. Workman, James C. Cole, Ralph R. Shroba, Karl S. Kellogg, and Wayne R. Premo Pamphlet to accompany Scientific Investigations Map 3399 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior RYAN K. ZINKE, Secretary U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Topographic Map Analysis of Laramie Range Bedrock-Walled Canyon
    Open Journal of Geology, 2018, 8, 33-55 http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojg ISSN Online: 2161-7589 ISSN Print: 2161-7570 Topographic Map Analysis of Laramie Range Bedrock-Walled Canyon Complex and the Goshen Hole Escarpment-Surrounded Basin, Albany and Platte Counties, Southeast Wyoming, USA Eric Clausen Independent Researcher, Jenkintown, PA 19046, USA How to cite this paper: Clausen, E. Abstract (2018) Topographic Map Analysis of Lara- mie Range Bedrock-Walled Canyon Com- The Laramie River after flowing in a north direction through southeast plex and the Goshen Hole Escarpment- Wyoming’s Laramie Basin abruptly turns in an east direction to flow across Surrounded Basin, Albany and Platte the north-to-south oriented Laramie Range in a bedrock-walled canyon and Counties, Southeast Wyoming, USA. Open Journal of Geology, 8, 33-55. eventually reaches the lower elevation Great Plains and southeast-oriented https://doi.org/10.4236/ojg.2018.81003 North Platte River. The North Laramie River, Bluegrass Creek, and North Sy- bille/Sybille Creek also flow from the Laramie Basin in separate bedrock- Received: December 7, 2017 walled valleys into the Laramie Range before eventually joining the Laramie Accepted: January 13, 2018 Published: January 16, 2018 River. Bedrock-walled through valleys link the various Laramie Range stream and river crossing valleys and detailed topographic maps were used to deter- Copyright © 2018 by author and mine how this anastomosing bedrock-walled canyon complex and the large Scientific Research Publishing Inc. escarpment-surrounded Goshen Hole basin (located just to the east of the This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial anastomosing canyon complex) originated.
    [Show full text]