ABSTRACT
The Rocky Mountains, North America's largest mountain range, span 3,100 miles from southern New Mexico in the United States northwest to British Columbia, in western Canada. One of the best-known segments of the Rockies is the Front Range in northern Colorado, home to Rocky Mountain National Park. Twelve thousand years ago, the Clovis people lived in the central Rocky Mountains during the summer months. Today, two communities serve as bookends for Rocky Mountain National Park: Estes Park on the eastern edge and Grand Lake on the western side. The Colorado-Big Thompson Project was planned in 1937 to divert water from the western side of the Continental Divide and transport it to the eastern side and down to the plains communities. For example, the construction and maintenance of Trail Ridge Road has significantly impacted the Rocky Mountains landscape. In 1915, the US Congress passed a bill creating a 32-by-18-mile Rocky Mountain National Park, and President Woodrow Wilson signed it into law.
