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Bryce Canyon
What are the natural wonders? There are different habitats
in the park like forests, caverns and a river. There are lots of beautiful
plants like: Indian Paint Brush, Colorado Columbine, Blue Flax, Evening
Primrose, Arizona Thistle, Quaking Aspen, Manzanita, White Fir, Juniper,
and Ponderosa Pine. Bryce Canyon is called fairyland because you will see
a rock that is brown colored. It looks like an ice cream cone and fairies
like that. There is a natural bridge and rainbow point. Who used to live
there Paiute Native People used to live there in 500 A.D. Ebenezer Bryce
was the first pioneer to go there so Bryce was named for him. Ebenezer
Bryce called Bryce Canyon “a heck of a place to lose a cow" because of
the Hoodoos.
How the canyon was formed When the river goes down the
river picks up rocks and it starts to dig down and it forms canyons. The
rock formations are called Hoodoos. They are tall, pointed rocks that were
caused by erosion. A large section of the park is called Silent City because
all the Hoodoos look so mysterious and they look like skyscrapers. When
the Indians used to see the Hoodoos they thought they looked like evil
spirits and they ran away. Today people love to walk on trails to view
the Hoodoos. They call Bryce a morning park because the sunlight shows
off the Hoodoos best. Some people like to take the moonlight hike because
the Hoodoos look spooky then.
How can people protect the park? Nobody can pick the
flowers, hurt the animals and take any rocks or break off souvenir pieces
from the Hoodoos. People need to stay on the trails or take a shuttle ride
( a kind of bus).
What animals live there Squirrels, chipmunks, raven,
stellar jay, Great Basin Rattler that can get to be five feet long, mountain
lion and skunk. You can also see the Utah Prairie Dog that only lives there.
Scientists are really happy now because the California Condor is back.
In the 1800’s condors, with their beautiful nine foot wings, flew over
the canyon but so many were killed or died of poisoning that they were
almost extinct. Scientists brought in 21 condors to raise and now there
are over 100. What Does A Park Ranger Do?
Park rangers take care of the land. They enforce the
park rules so that people do not touch plants and do not feed animals.
If you get lost, don’t worry, find a park ranger and he will help you.
Park rangers answer questions, tell stories and history about the park.
Park rangers even dress up in olden day costumes when they tell stories.
They give maps and show you animals that look cool. Park rangers have a
lot to learn because they need to be able to answer people’s questions.
Park rangers have to train to put out fires and to rescue people. Sometimes
rangers don’t put out the fire because it helps plants regrow. Cars and
horses go around and patrol the park. Park rangers need to count the birds
to see how healthy the whole area is. Lots of birds means that many plants
and insects live there. It must be hard to be a park ranger!
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