Rocky
Mountains
Rocky
Mountains
The Rocky Mountains stretch from Alaska to Mexico along the western section of the North American continent. It is the country's largest mountain range. It is also one of the longest.
The location of the Rockies in Washington state is in the northeast corner of the state. They extend hundreds of miles in all directions (north, south, east, and west) into Oregon, and most of Idaho.
The Cascades are to the west of the Rockies, Idaho is to the east, Canada is to the north, and the Columbia Plateau is south of them.
There are five counties in the Rocky mountain region.
The counties I found are Okanogan, Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille (pronounced "pond-o-ray"), and part of Spokane county.
Okanogan county is in the northwest corner of the Rockies. Ferry county is right next to it on the east. Stevens county is next to it on the east and Pend Oreille county is further to the east next to Idaho. Southwest to Stevens county and south of Pend Oreille county is the part of Spokane county that is in the Rocky Mountain region.
The main physical features of the Rockies are farmland and mountains. They are found all over the region. The Rockies are also very "isolated" and "rugged".
The total value of the manufactured goods produced each year in the Pacific Northwest exceeds 60 billion dollars.
The manufactured goods that the world will depend on most in the future are food products, forest prducts, aerospace, and metallurgical industries.
In the Rocky mountains the manufactured goods are hydroelectricity, farming goods, industrial growth, automobiles, and consumer demand.
In the Rocky Mountains there are three main types of soils. Inceptisols, Azonal, and Zonal soils.
Inceptisol soils are located in the Rocky Mountains of Washington State. But, they are also located in the Cascades, Puget Sound lowlands, North Coastal Range, Olympic Mountains, and the Idaho Rockies. Inceptisols are located on sloping terrain and/or in alleviated soil (deposited by water) and areas that have cool temperatures in the summer and the maximum amount of precipitation in the mild winter months. The Inceptisol soil is dark in color and quite wet in appearance. But, this type of soil is lacking in clay. It is rich in organic matter and only slightly to moderately leeching (when the action of water flows downward through horizon A, carrying minerals to horizon B). It also has a high acidic content.
Azonal soil is very young soil that has no structural horizons. This type of soil is found on steep sloping hills/mountains. Strangely enough, it is also found in the desert regions. Azonal soil is generally alluvial (water deposited) or loessal (wind deposited). Or in other words, this soil is made up of eroded soil that has been carried to its current location by either flowing water or the wind. Azonal soil can be found in the Olympic, Cascade and Rocky Mountains (because of the steep sloping areas in these regions). It can also be found in the flood plains of the major river valleys; in the sand dunes of the coastal beaches; in the drier areas of the Columbia Plateau; and in the loessal hills of the Palouse.
The zonal soil type is the most wide spread soil in the Pacific Northwest. It is also the most important soil in the PNW. Zonal soil has a well defined and developed horizontal structure with distinctive A, B, and C horizons.
Vegetation
Imagine you are driving through the woods, you see all sorts of varieties of trees. Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, Western hemlock, and Ceder are the names of the trees that you see. Then you come out into a big white field filled to the brim with different kinds of vegetation. Then all of a sudden, you realize that you want to move to the Rockies. You want to become a farmer to have your own space to grow stuff for yourself. You would move to the Rockies for farming because they have very fertile soil. It grows sparse steppe grasses, and it can support your grazing cattle and sheep.
You don't have to be a farmer if you want to live in the Rockies, you could be anythng you want to be. You also want to be a logger, a forestry worker, or you can come just to find a nice quiet place to live. The winters may get cold but the trees look beautiful; the way they shimmer in the light of the sun during the day, the way the ground goes "crunch, crunch" when you walk. The snow looks like the clouds poured out white glitter all over the mountains, trees, fields, and the frozen lakes.
