Amy Hutto

Carlos Guzman

Linh La

Tracey Mach

Nam Nguyen

S I E R R A N E V A D A

OVERVIEW - HISTORY

Approximately 400 miles long and 50 miles

wide

One of the most popular regions in the state of California

THE SIERRA NEVADA REGION INCLUDES:• 3 National Parks

• 20 Wilderness areas

• 2 National Monuments

BUSINESSES & ORGANIZATIONS• Sierra Entertainment

• Sierra Nevada Brewing Company

• Sierra Bullets

• Sierra Club

Even the state of Nevada was named for this mountainous region!

EARLY INHIBITERS – NATIVE AMERICANS• Inhabited as early as 500 CE

• Northern Paiutes – East Side

• Mono and Sierra Miwoks – Western Side

• Kawaiisu – South Side

Chief Winnemucca - Pauites

Sarah Winnemucca (daughter) Pauites writer, lecturer

Captain John of the Pauites

Mono Indians

EXPLORERS OF THE SIERRA NEVADA• Began by the Europeans and

Americans in 1827

• Pedro Fages - First European to sight range in 1772

• Bolton Coit Brown – Explored Kings River in late 1800s

• Joseph N. LeConte – Mapped Kings Canyon National Park in early 1900s

• James S. Hutchinson – Climbed Palisades and Mt. Humphreys in early 1900s

MORE EXPLORERS OF THE SIERRA NEVADA• John C. Fremont and Kit Carson – Lake Tahoe in the mid 1899s

• Josiah Whitney & others – Yosemite National Park in the mid 1899s

• 1912 – USGS (United States Geological Survey) published first maps of the Sierra Nevada

John C. Fremont Kit Carson Josiah Whitney

CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH (1848 – 1855)

EARLY ADVOCATES FOR THE SIERRA NEVADA

“None of Nature's landscape are ugly so long as they are wild” (John Muir from Our National Parks)

John Muir (1838 – 1914)Advocate, Conservationist, Author

EARLY ADVOCATES FOR THE SIERRA NEVADA

Ansley Adams (1902 – 1984)Photographer, Environmentalist

CLIMATE• Climate in this region is influenced

by a rain shadow effect.

• Air Flow from the ocean hits the western slope which influences precipitation.

• The Western slope receives about more precipitation than the Eastern slope.

PRECIPITATION EFFECT

Eastern SlopeWestern Slope

• Adiabatic cooling is a major cause for climate in the Sierra Nevada.

• Less oxygen at higher levels.

• Cool and dry air influences velocity

• “Venturi Effect.”

CLIMATE CONTINUED

GEOLOGY• Largest Mountain range in the United States

• Granite rocks

• Young mountain range.

BIRTH OF THE SIERRA NEVADA• Formed when the North American plate pushed westward over

the Pacific Ocean plate

• Erosion carved shape.

• Uplift in the eastern.

GOLD IN SEDIMENT DEPOSITS• Composites of gold and quartz in water

• Engraved in veins of metamorphic rocks

• Erosion

• Gold Rush in California as discovered in the American River

FootHill Woodlands

•Blue Oak (Quercus douglasii)

•California Buckeye (Aesculus californica)

CHAPARRAL

Flannel Bush (Fremontodendron californica)

Yellow Pine Forest

•Kit-Kit-dizze (Chamaebatia foliolosa)

•Sierra Gooseberry (Ribes roezlii)

•Western Azalea(Rhododendron occidentale)

•Greenleaf Manzanita(Arctostaphylos patula)

LODGEPOLE- RED FIR FOREST

• Snow Plant (Sarcodes sanguinea)

• Bush Chinquapin (Chrysolepis sempervirens)

RIPARIAN

• Black Cottonwood

(Populus trichocarpa)

• White Alder

(Alnus rhombifolia)

FLORA

Giant Sequoia, also known as Giant Sierra Redwoods

Sequoiadendron giganteum

The largest living things in the

world!!

FAUNA – FOOTHILL WOODLAND• California Ground Squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi)

• Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus)

• Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

• Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia)

• California Quail (Callipepla californica)

FAUNA – YELLOW PINE FOREST• Gilbert’s Skink (Eumeces gilbert)

• Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)

• American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

• American Black Bear (Ursus americanus)

• Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus)

FAUNA – LODGEPOLE- RED FIR FOREST

• Cassin’s Finch (Carpodacus cassinii)

• Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)

• Marten (Martes americanus)

• Northern Flying Squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus)

• Lodgepole Chipmunk (Tamius speciosus)

FAUNA – RIPARIAN HABITAT• Lorquin’s Admiral (Basilarchia lorquini)

• Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus)

• Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon)

• Zephyr Anglewing (Polygonia zephyrus)

• Pale Swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon)

CONSERVATION ISSUES- Yosemite Valley government protection (1864).- Endangered spp.- Invasive spp.

ENDANGERED SPECIES

California Tiger Salamander(Ambystoma californiense)

Sierra Nevada Red Fox(Vulpes vulpes necator)

Giant Sequia(Sequoiadendron giganteum)

INVASIVE SPECIES

Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum)

Yellow star- thistle

(Centaurea solstitialis)

Northern Snakehead

(Channa argus)

THE ENDThank you for listening to our

presentation on the Sierra Nevada region of California!