COLORADO FOURTEENERS AND THE NATURE OF PLACE IDENTITY*

ABSTRACT. The fifty‐four Colorado Fourteeners–mountains more than 14,000 feet in elevation–were early symbols of westward expansion, mineral wealth, and wondrous scenery, and they are increasingly popular as environmental icons in place attachment at national, regional, state, and local scales. The symbolism of this contrived yet iconic collection of peaks is examined through the evolution of the Fourteener concept, the popularity of peakbagging, and the role of the Sawatch Range Fourteeners in creating a larger community identity. Elevation is the gatekeeper into the Fourteener club, in which a distinctive landscape iconography of shape, accessibility, and aesthetics reflects the role of idealized nature and mountains in place identity.     

Large precipitation event variability among headwater SNOTEL sites and impacts on streamflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin

This exploratory study defines and characterizes large precipitation events (LPEs) at a sample of snow telemetry (SNOTEL) sites located in headwater subbasins of the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) and assesses the relationships of interannual LPE variability on basin streamflow. LPE thresholds are defined as the 80th percentile of daily precipitation increments observed at each SNOTEL site from 1981 to 2014. On average, LPEs accounted for more than half (55.5%) of annual precipitation. Total precipitation, total LPE precipitation, LPE count, and LPE magnitude are assessed annually at each SNOTEL site. Statistical analysis shows that these LPE metrics, observed at the headwater SNOTEL sites, are strongly correlated with total annual streamflow downstream, as measured at river gages on major tributaries in the UCRB and at Lake Powell. Further analysis of streamflow during the early twenty-first century drought suggests that drought conditions have coincided with lower precipitation observed at the SNOTEL sites, due in part to fewer and drier LPEs in recent years. Investigation of upper air patterns during LPEs reveals that such events most commonly coincide with zonal, onshore flow among the northern subbasins and amplified troughs towards the south of the UCRB, patterns which have been less common during the drought.     

Accessing Flexibility: A Historical Institutional Analysis of Water Use for Oil and Gas Development in Colorado

US Mountain West Water access and allocation institutions have a history of adapting policy and practice to increase flexibility for diverse water uses. We examine how flexible access has developed over time and space by operationalizing the historical institutional (HI) theoretical and methodological framework. We trace historical water access for oil and gas (OG) development in Colorado, working from contemporary water right data to examine historical critical events, policies, and political contexts. OG water use has iteratively shaped water governance institutions in the top OG producing regions of Colorado, Weld, and Garfield Counties. The analysis suggests that to more accurately capture institutional change and continuity in resource allocation systems, an analysis of informal institutions is an essential theoretical contribution to the HI framework. While increased flexibility makes multiple uses easier, policies favor the most economically lucrative beneficial uses and generate issues of transparency, an important consideration for the public’s resource. Future practices of flexibility are contingent on market structures and institutional access mechanisms shaped during previous government policy processes, illuminating the value of the HI framework to inform future water policy.     

Statistical sampling of the distribution of uranium deposits using geologic/geographic clusters

The concept of geologic/geographic clusters was developed particularly to study grade and tonnage models for sandstone-type uranium deposits. A cluster is a grouping of mined as well as unmined uranium occurrences within an arbitrary area about 8 km across. A cluster is a statistical sample that will reflect accurately the distribution of uranium in large regions relative to various geologic and geographic features. The example of the Colorado Plateau Uranium Province reveals that only 3 percent of the total number of clusters is in the largest tonnage-size category, greater than 10,000 short tons U₃O₈, and that 80 percent of the clusters are hosted by Triassic and Jurassic rocks. The distributions of grade and tonnage for clusters in the Powder River Basin show a wide variation; the grade distribution is highly variable, reflecting a difference between roll-front deposits and concretionary deposits, and the Basin contains about half the number in the greater-than-10,000 tonnage-size class as does the Colorado Plateau, even though it is much smaller. The grade and tonnage models should prove useful in finding the richest and largest uranium deposits.     

Didactyl raptor tracks from the Cretaceous,Plainview Sandstone at Dinosaur Ridge

Two natural casts of two-toed (didactyl) tracks from the Cretaceous (Albian) Plainview Sandstone (Plainview Member) of the South Platte Formation (Dakota Group) at Dinosaur Ridge, Colorado are attributed to deinonychosaurian theropod dinosaurs and placed in the ichnogenus Dromaeosauripus. This is both the first report of tracks from this unit in the Dinosaur Ridge area and the first report of deinonychosaurian tracks from Colorado. It is also only the third report of this track type from North America. The rarity of tracks from the Albian-aged, Plainview Sandstone (Dakota Group Sequence 2) contrasts with their abundance in the upper (Cenomanian) part of the overlying South Platte Formation (Dakota Group Sequence 3), which has yielded more than 120 sites mostly in Colorado, giving rise to the “Dinosaur Freeway” concept. As no deinonychosaurid tracks are known from the sequence 3 part of the South Platte Formation, despite the large vertebrate and invertebrate ichnological database available, it is evident that the sparse vertebrate ichnofauna from the Plainview Member (Sequence 2) is inherently different. This striking difference in both track abundance and track type reflects differences in both age and depositional environment. Based on the Albian age, and track type, the Plainview tracks invite comparison with the ichnofaunas of the Cedar Mountain Formation and not with those well-known from the upper part of the South Platte Formation known as the Dinosaur Freeway.     

A conceptual model for the longitudinal distribution of wood in mountain streams

Wood load, channel parameters and valley parameters were surveyed in 50 contiguous stream segments each 25 m in length along 12 streams in the Colorado Front Range. Length and diameter of each piece of wood were measured, and the orientation of each piece was tallied as a ramp, buried, bridge or unattached. These data were then used to evaluate longitudinal patterns of wood distribution in forested headwater streams of the Colorado Front Range, and potential channel‐, valley‐ and watershed‐scale controls on these patterns. We hypothesized that (i) wood load decreases downstream, (ii) wood is non‐randomly distributed at channel lengths of tens to hundreds of meters as a result of the presence of wood jams and (iii) the proportion of wood clustered into jams increases with drainage area as a result of downstream increases in relative capacity of a stream to transport wood introduced from the adjacent riparian zone and valley bottom. Results indicate a progressive downstream decrease in wood load within channels, and correlations between wood load and drainage area, elevation, channel width, bed gradient and total stream power. Results support the first and second hypotheses, but are inconclusive with respect to the third hypothesis. Wood is non‐randomly distributed at lengths of tens to hundreds of meters, but the proportion of pieces in jams reaches a maximum at intermediate downstream distances within the study area. We use these results to propose a conceptual model illustrating downstream trends in wood within streams of the Colorado Front Range. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A tribute to Edward Perry Glenn (1947–2017), who created a legacy of environmental assessment and applications within hydrological processes

This issue of Hydrological Processes is dedicated to Dr. Edward P. Glenn, a frequent contributor to the journal, who suddenly passed away in late 2017. The articles within this volume are by a number of his former co-authors and others who have been greatly influenced by his professional work on hydrological processes.     

Effect of an environmental flow on vegetation growth and health using ground and remote sensing metrics

Understanding the effectiveness of environmental flow deliveries along rivers requires monitoring vegetation. Monitoring data are often collected at multiple spatial scales. For riparian vegetation, optical remote sensing methods can estimate growth responses at the riparian corridor scale, and field-based measures can quantify species composition; however, the extent to which these different measures are duplicative or complementary is important to understand when planning monitoring programmes with limited resources. In this study, we analysed riparian vegetation growth in the delta of the Colorado River in response to an experimental pulse flow. Our goal was to compare ground-based measurements of vegetation structure and composition with satellite-based Landsat radiometric variables, such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). We made this comparison in 21 transects following the delivery of 131.8 million cubic meters (mcm) of water in the stream channel during the spring of 2014 as a pulse flow and 38.4 mcm as base flows. Vegetation cover increased 14% and NDVI increased 0.02 (15%) by October 2015, and both variables returned to pre-pulse flow values in October 2016. Observed changes in vegetation structure and composition did not persist after the second year. The highest increase in vegetation cover in October 2014 and October 2015 resulted from species that could respond rapidly to additional water such as reeds (Arundo donax and Phragmites australis), cattail (Typha domingensis), and herbaceous plants. Dominant shrubs, saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) and arrowweed (Pluchea sericea), both indicative of nonrestored habitats showed variable increases in cover, and native trees (Salicaceae family) presented low increases (1%). The strong NDVI–vegetation cover relationship indicates that NDVI is appropriate to detect changes at the riparian corridor scale but needs to be complemented with ground data to determine the contributions by different species to the observed trends.     

Anglo Intrusion on the Old Sangre de Cristo Land Grant

Positioned on the northern edge of the Hispano homeland, the southern portion of the old Sangre de Cristo Land Grant (present-day Costilla County, Colorado) provides an interesting empirical study of cultural change. After economically displacing Spanish-American residents from villages throughout the homeland's core, incoming Anglos have adopted the region's rich Spanish culture as their own. On the homeland's periphery, however, the cultural traditions of Hispanos and Anglos have been, for the most part, at odds. Most resident Hispanos desire to maintain ties to their traditional past, while the younger generations embrace Anglo cultural norms. Considering the vital role it plays in the maintenance of culture, religion provides a window to the study area's modified cultural environment. In 1900 the population in this region was predominantly Catholic Hispano; by 1990 Protestant-dominated Anglos comprised a sizeable proportion of the population. Comparisons are made between traditional Hispano and Anglo-influenced religious landscapes. Changes in church affiliation, the distribution of active Penitente moradas, and the characteristics of community cemeteries demonstrate ongoing cultural change. Geographically isolated communities, where Anglo intrusion is limited, retain their strong Hispano cultural integrity.