Sounds of the distant Gunnison River are brought to visitors and interpreted in an ecological context in a new exhibit at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
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Developing ambassadors for endangered fish
By David Whitman
Watershed science program unites park and neighbors
By Dave Kronk
Student stewardship in Glacier National Park
By Joyce Lapp
Scouts and Park Service collaborate on resource conservation
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The visitor center at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado, began featuring a new exhibit in 2000 that interprets the historical flows of the Gunnison River at various levels and times of the year. Because most visitors never visit the river itself (an arduous hike is required to reach it), they can now hear what it sounds like by playing recordings of the river at various flows and reading about the corresponding ecological role of its former variable flow rates, for example, in creating beach habitat and in cleaning and establishing gravel beds for eggs of native fish and invertebrates. The exhibit also includes information on changes in vegetation, riverbed morphology, and habitat along the river based on the upstream dams; shows changes in the erosive power and sediment load because of the dams; contrasts natural sounds and quiet in the canyon with noise such as construction equipment and airplanes; and compares the power of the Gunnison River with that of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon and that of the Mississippi River. | |
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This material is from Natural Resource Year in Review--2000, published by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, in May 2000 (publication D-1459)
/YearInReview/yir/yir2000/pages/06_outreach_education/06_04_sidebar_gunnison.html
Last Updated: 06/17/2001
Direct comments on this website to jeff_selleck@nps.gov