1. THE EMPTY INTERIOR
(Chapter 13)

2. Introduction
• The largest area of sparse
population in sub-Arctic
North America: Rocky
Mountains to Cascade Range
and Canadian Coast Range
• Variations in topography
• Population mostly of
Northern European stock
with Hispanics and Native
Americans in southern
parts
• Economic activities
unevenly distributed and
widely scattered

3. Empty
Interior
(page 253)

6. Mountains
• Dramatic elevation changes: 1000 meters
(3000 feet) from base to summit
• Abrupt, almost vertical slopes with jagged
summits
• Shaped by erosion
• Glaciation
– Pleistocene ice sheets
– Alpine: smaller areas today

7. Plateaus
• Colorado Plateau
– Along middle
Colorado River in
Utah and Arizona
– Gently dipping
sedentary rocks
– Major landscape
features from
erosion by exotic
rivers, especially
Colorado—major
scenery resources

8. Plateaus
• Columbia
Plateau
– Formed from
gradual
buildup of
lava flows to
depth of 650
meters (2000
feet)
– Stream-
eroded
canyons

10. Bryce Canyon
Garden of the Gods
Canyon
Lands

11. Basin and Range
• Across southern New
Mexico, Arizona, west to
Death Valley and Mojave
Desert
• 80 broad, flat basins
containing > 200 linear
ridges
• No drainage outlet to the
sea
• Lake Bonneville largest
Pleistocene lake
(northern Utah), remnant
in Great Salt Lake
Pleistocene Lakes
(page 256)

15. Climate• Arid or semiarid,
especially toward south
• Much of North America’s
desert area
• Major determinant of
population distribution
• Dependence on exotic
surface streams for
water

16. Climate
• Direct association
with topography
– Low lying areas dry
– Heaviest
precipitation on
midslopes of
mountains
– Altitudinal
vegetation zonation
• Lowest elevations:
desert scrub
• Treeline: sufficient
precipitation for tree
growth
• Upper treeline: tree
growth hindered by
high winds, short
growing season
The Patriarch Tree
Bristlecone Pines-California

18. Physical Geography
Rocky Mountains
• Vegetation
– Role of elevation and
slope
– Western Forests
• CONIFEROUS
– Sagebrush and Prairie
• Climate
– Importance of location
• Major Microclimatic
Variations

19. Physical Geography Intermontane Region
• Vegetation:
– Role of elevation and slope
– Mountains: Forested
• Ponderosa Pine/Douglas Fir
• Piñon/Juniper
– Uplands: Short grass prairie
– Desert Lowlands: Sagebrush
• Climate:
– Importance of location
• Ranges of ARIDITY
Figure 15-10

20. Wildlife
• Much land publicly owned
• Wildlife population explosion since
1935
– Buffalo (bison) from 10,000 to
60,000
– Elk from 225,000 to 500,000
– Pronghorn antelope from 40,000
to 750,000
– White-tail deer from 5 million to
15 million
• Major attraction to tourists,
hunters
• Controversies over policies,
especially regarding certain species
(e.g., wolves)
– Tourists
– Ranchers

23. Public Land Ownership
Most land in the region
still under government
control (90% of
Nevada)
• Last to be settled
• Largely unsuitable
for agriculture
(page 258)

24. Public Control of
Land
• Conservation programs
– National parks
– National forests
– Canadian provincial lands
• Criticism
– Hindrance to planning
– “Sagebrush Rebellion”
– Forest and Rangeland
Renewable Resource and
Planning Act (1974)
– Federal Land Policy and
Management Act (1976)
– Plight of Indian reservations in
regions
(page 259)
Lawrence Red Feathers sits on his porch at Pine Ridge
Reservation, Rapid City, South Dakota, USA. Photograph:
Jennifer Brown/Corbis

25. BLM (Bureau of Land Management), controlled by politically powerful public lands ranching-livestock
industry, aka in the west as the sagebrush rebellion, thru the media managed to discredit Michael Blake,
author/screen play of "Dances with Wolves", in his effort to preserve and protect America's wild horses &
burros on public lands thru a legitimate and much needed campaign to bring public awareness to the
plight of America's wild horses & burros. Mr. Blake was simply attempting to get BLM to do a credible wild
horse & burro count and for BLM to follow the federal laws in their decisions to remove "excess" free-
roaming wild horses.
http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro/What_We_Do/rangeland_management0.html
BLM information about rangeland

26. The Forest and Rangeland
Renewable Resources Planning
Act of 1974 (or RPA) (P.L. 93-378)
is a United States federal law
which authorizes long-range
planning by the US Forest Service
to ensure the future supply of
forest resources while maintaining
a quality environment. RPA
requires that a renewable
resource assessment and a Forest
Service plan be prepared every ten
and five years, respectively, to
plan and prepare for the future of
natural resources. It is found in
the United States Code at Title 16,
Chapter 36.
Prescott cattle grazing
Wild horse roundup

27. National Parks in this region…
• Big Bend
• Carlsbad Caverns
• Grand Canyon
• Petrified Forest
• Canyonlands, Zion,
Bryce
• Mesa Verde

28. Reasons for population nodes in
the Intermontane West
• Enough precip. (or
irrigation) for dry
farming;
• Mining activities
• Transportation hubs
• Recreational
opportunities
• Retirement
developments

29. Historical Cultural Geography
• Indigenous Population
–Fur trade
• 1780s to1860s
–Fur trade shifts to
mining
• 1860s to 1920s
–Displacement of First
Nations
–Role of the railroads
–Rise of irrigated
agriculture
• 1920s to 1970s
–Fluctuations in the
primary sector,
particularly mining
• 1970s to Present
–Environmental
conflicts
–Increasing
importance of
tourism

30. • First Nations to 1860s
– Influx of Spanish
– Fur trade shifts to mining
– Rise of Mormon Deseret
• 1860s to 1920s
– Removal of First
Nations
– Economic role of the
railroads
– Mining booms and
busts
– Rise of irrigated
agriculture
Historical
Cultural
Geography

31. Modern Cultural
Geography• 1920s to 1970s
– Fluctuations in primary sector
• Global mining booms and busts
• 1970s to Present
– Rapid urbanization
– Environmental conflicts over water in
particular
– Hispanic Borderland issues
– Increasing importance of tourism

33. Mormon Influence
• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints founded in New York
State (1830), suffered repeated attacks and persecution
• Migrated to West, settled in the Wasatch Valley between
Wasatch Mountains and Great Salt Lake
• Population growth
– Migration and missionary outreach
– Natural growth
• Innovative agriculturalists
– Irrigation techniques
– Strong central organization (theocracy)
• Failed to establish independent state of Deseret

34. Mormon cultural landscapes
Donald Meinig’s classic study
The core: Salt Lake City and Ogden – Wasatch
oasis area, intensive settlement, urbanization.
The domain: Utah and SE Idaho – where
Mormonism is dominant
The sphere: Mormon enclaves within Gentile
majorities

36. Salt Lake City from
the north
Mormon Temple,
Salt Lake City

37. More on Mormon cultural
landscapes…
• Wide streets
• Unpainted barns
• Greek revival houses
(red brick, porches)
• Town plans:
Grid laid out with large
blocks/wide streets
• Irrigation canals at
edges of streets
• Poplar trees
• Dreamed of creating
state of ‘Deseret’

38. Mormon landscapes in the
Intermontane region

39. Irrigation and Agriculture
Reliance on irrigation for
stable agriculture
• Diversion of rivers
mainly for agriculture
• Doctrine of Prior
Appropriation: “first
come, first served”
• Reclamation Act of
1902: support for water
works
Irrigated areas (page 263)

40. Focus on Water Issues
• Pre-railway Era
– Beaver Ponds Valuable
• Railway Era
– Role of Mining
• Sluicing Operations
– Livestock vs. Crops
• Post-railway Era
– Multi-purpose Projects
– Pros/Cons of Mega-Projects
– Importance of Water Today
To dam or not to dam...
Figure 14-11

41. Colorado River
• Region’s longest river
• Nearly entire flow allocated by 1915, mainly to
Arizona and California
• 1929 reallocation, ½ to downstream, ½ to
upstream states
• Highly variable precipitation
• Intense competition for water
– Little use until recently by upper-river states
– Population and economic booms in Arizona (lower-
river state)

42. Colorado River Water Use
(page 264)

43. • Snake River Plain
– Idaho plains
– Potatoes, sugar beets
• Columbia River
– Grand Coulee Dam
– Alfalfa, sugar beets, potatoes
• Wasatch valley
– Mormon area
– Sugar beets, alfalfa
Irrigated Areas and Crops (North)

44. Snake River Plain
•Idaho plains
•Potatoes, sugar
beets

45. • Columbia River
– Grand Coulee
Dam
– Alfalfa, sugar
beets, potatoes

46. • Wasatch valley
– Mormon area
– Sugar beets, alfalfa

47. Irrigated Areas and Crops (continued)
• Grand Valley, West-central Colorado
– Alfalfa, potatoes
– Tree fruits
• Washington
– Columbia River tributaries, especially Yakima,
Wenatchee, Okanagan (Okanogan)
– Irrigated since 1860s
– Major producer of apples

48. • Grand Valley, West-central
Colorado
– Alfalfa, potatoes
– Tree fruits

49. • Washington
– Columbia River tributaries,
especially Yakima, Wenatchee,
Okanagan (Okanogan)
– Irrigated since 1860s
– Major producer of apples

50. Irrigated Areas (South)
• Imperial Valley
– 300 frost-free days, south of Salton Sea
– Vegetables, lettuce, grapes, cotton, alfalfa
– Double cropping possible with some crops
• Coachella Valley
– North of Salton Sea
– Dates, grapes, grapefruit

51. • Imperial Valley
– 300 frost-free days, south of
Salton Sea
– Vegetables, lettuce, grapes,
cotton, alfalfa
– Double cropping possible
with some crops

52. • Coachella Valley
– North of Salton Sea
– Dates, grapes,
grapefruit

53. Irrigated Areas (continued)
• Yuma valley
– Lower Colorado River
– Cotton, sugar beets, oranges
• Salt River valley
– Near Phoenix
– Winter lettuce, oranges, cotton

54. • Yuma valley
– Lower Colorado River
– Cotton, sugar beets,
oranges

55. • Salt River valley
– Near Phoenix
– Winter lettuce,
oranges, cotton

56. • Location between more populated, earlier
settled Midwest and West Coast
• Construction of railroads (later highways)
east-west
• Towns to service railroads, later auto and
truck travelers
• Growth centers with additional attributes
– Central location
– Retirement centers
– Manufacturing, especially electronics and
computer software
Transportation

57. Tourism
• Federal control of most major scenic attractions
• Related private enterprises
– Needed tourist services
– Distance between attractions
• Las Vegas
– 1931: Legislation allowing gambling, easy divorce
– Cheap electricity from Boulder Dam
– Proximity to southern California
• Problem of overburdening attractions

59. Lumbering and Ranching
• Depend on federal lands
– U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management
lands open to grazing
– Most lumbering in national forests
• Productivity of federal lands less than private lands
– Federal lands by definition multiple use
– Low quality of federal lands
• Transhumance
– Seasonal movement of animals
– Especially important in sheep ranching
• British Columbia: Wood products economic
cornerstone

60. • Miners second largest group (after Mormons) to
settle region
– Attraction of mineral deposits
– Minerals as reason for settlements
– Today serve as tourist attractions
• Mining today
– Gold and silver still mined, but less important
– Copper: most important mineral
• Arizona and Utah
• Mostly low-grade (< 5%)
– Lead and zinc: More important than copper in
Canada
Mining

61. Butte’s only economic base in the past
– copper mining

62. Oil Shale
• Utah, Colorado,
Wyoming
• Green River geologic
formation
• Issues
– Extraction technology
expensive
– Requires huge amounts
of water
– Huge amounts of waste
material
(page 270)

64. Growing
Cities
• Phoenix
– Approaching Tucson
to the south and
Flagstaff to the north;
Mesa already within
it
• Wasatch Front
– Salt Lake City north to
Ogden and south to
Provo and growing!
• El Paso-Ciudad Juarez
– The Maquiladoras
• Las Vegas

65. Urban settlement
Urban centers:
• El Paso
• Salt Lake City
• Phoenix
• Las Vegas
• Reno

66. The future of the
Rocky Mountain region?

67. And historic preservation like Butte,
Montana’s downtown…

68. The future of the Intermontane?
(urban sprawl in Phoenix)