Rocky Mountain Research Station

Title: From the Rio to the Sierra: An environmental history of the Middle Rio Grande Basin

Author: Scurlock, Dan

Date: 1998

Source: General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-5. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 440 p.

Station ID: GTR-RMRS-005

Description: Various human groups have greatly affected the processes and evolution of Middle Rio Grande Basin ecosystems, especially riparian zones, from A.D. 1540 to the present. Overgrazing, clear-cutting, irrigation farming, fire suppression, intensive hunting, and introduction of exotic plants have combined with droughts and floods to bring about environmental and associated cultural changes in the Basin. As a result of these changes, public laws were passed and agencies created to rectify or mitigate various environmental problems in the region. Although restoration and remedial programs have improved the overall "health" of Basin ecosystems, most old and new environmental problems persist.

Keywords: toric fauna, historic flora, Rio Grande

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Citation

Scurlock, Dan  1998.  From the Rio to the Sierra: An environmental history of the Middle Rio Grande Basin.   General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-5. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 440 p..