(Ch18) Race/Ethnicity

"Once the sole inhabitants of the state, American Indians in 2000 numbered 44,241, up from 28,000 in 1990. The black population is also small, 165,063, or 3.8% in 2000; the percentage for Denver, however, was considerably higher (11.1% in 2000). Of far greater importance to the state's history, culture, and economy are its Hispanic and Latino residents, of whom there were 735,601 in 2000 (17.1%), up from 424,000 (under 13%) in 1990. Among residents of Denver, 31.7% were Hispanic or Latino in 2000. Of over 95,213 Asians (2.2%), up from 60,000 in 1990, 11,571 were Japanese (down from 15,198 in 1990); 16,395 Korean (up from 12,490 in 1990); 15,457 Vietnamese (more than double the 1990 total of 6,679); 15,658 Chinese (up from 9,117 in 1990); and 8,941 Filipino. The population of Pacific Islanders was estimated at 4,621 in 2000. In all, 369,903 residents, or 8.6% of the state population, were foreign born in 2000."

The above is a chart that shows the distribution of 'whites' in Colorado. The American Indian population greatly conquered all other existing races in Colorado many years ago. However, in today's demographics, It is now occupied by primarily whites and Hispanics.

Also, the Peterson air force base is located at Colorado Springs in El Paso County. I thought i would talk about this briefly because I have actually visited it and been on base. It is extremely big and beautiful, hugging the mountains base and goes up into the mountains as well. While i visited Colorado with an Ex girlfriend of mine, her uncle and aunt are both in the military. So we got to get onto the base and drive around and check out all of the statues, and planes, etc. It was an amazing experience. Also, while we were there, we shot archery on an actual archery range which was really cool because it is set up like a golf course. There are "holes" which are really targets that you go around to and pick your distance and see how close you get to the bullseye, (or in our case if you could even hit the target). The below picture is an ariel view of one section of the base.

Colorado Logging

In the 1870s and 1880s with the harvest of railroad ties and other products for construction of the transcontinental railroad, logging began in the ponderosa pine forest of the southern Colorado Plateau. Starting in the 1920s, chainsaws, logging trucks, and bulldozer made it much easier to harvest on stepper slopes. Below is a picture taken in 1904 of the big pines.

In the 1940s-60s, road building dramatically increase in the Colorado Plateau and the West. To insure that the timber supply would last, harvesting large trees were reduced by distributing the cut to two or more entries. This meant that only 1/3 to 2/3 of the available harvesting area was allowed. Ultimately, "stem density increased while tree size and age decreased."

Once the 1970s and 80s came around, timber management practices continued to increase the "even-aged management." This focused on the visual quality, wildlife, and riparian zones and water quality. They wanted to make sure that they were not moving too fast, thus destroying the animals and wildlife.

In 1969, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEP A) was passed along with the FLPMA, Federal Land Policy and Management Act which restricted many management activities in federally-administered forests.

Kite Boarding Colorado

Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is the latest water sport sweeping the globe in the new millennium. If you have seen someone kiteboarding you know that not only does this sport look amazing but it is fun to watch. Many kiteboarders became enthralled and obsessed with learning this sport after seeing it for the first time. “…but it looks so easy” is a common statement I hear from students who thought they would be riding in the three hour lesson. The truth is kiteboarding is really not that hard. It is multitasking of wakeboarding and flying a kite. And learning to safely launch and fly kiteboarding kites takes some time. A minimum of about 3 hours of lesson time is a must. There is no bunny hill in kiteboarding; at any second the wind can pick up and you are on the triple black diamond. The first goal of new kiteboarders should be safe and independent. As an avid kiteboarder myself, I can agree that this sport is no joke. At any given minute the weather can shift on you causing a situation that may be potentially fatal.

Ethnicity in the Southwest Boarder Area

The Southwest's American Indian population is culturally diverse. The largest tribes are the Navajo in the "Four Corners" area, where the states of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico meet; several Apache tribes in Arizona and New Mexico; the various Pueblo groups in New Mexico; the Papago in southern Arizona; the Hopi in northwestern Arizona; and the Utes in southwestern Colorado.

Most of the American Indians are found in the major reservation areas centers on the four corners. The largest amongst all of these is the reservation which spans 62,000-square-kilometers, is home to the Navajo which has 10 times the population of any other reservation. Arizona and New Mexico together are the home fro about 300,000 American Indians. Many rural counties of the lower Rio Grande Valley and most in southern Colorado and eastern New Mexico have lost population during the last few decades, sharing the fate of other strongly rural areas in America.

The Empty Interior

This area stretches from the Eastern Rockies to the Sierra Nevada of California, to the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest and into Alaska. It is known to be as the largest area of sparse population in AMerica. The Rocky Mountains "still have remnants of glaciation found in the central Rockies and the Sierra Nevada's" (Birdsall, etc..). The South Platte River is a river that is formed from the glaciation of the Rockies and heads through all Denver. The Colorado river provides water for California, Nevada, Arizona and couple other western states. Although the empty interior has a high level of Mormon influence, Colorado only has an average of 2% percent of the population survey practicing the Mormon faith according to the Pew forum. The federal and state government own about 43% of Colorado, with a lot of land being dedicated to forest and parks. In these forest and parks, there are tons of wildlife that live there.

The Great Plains

The Great Plains of North America is a somewhat triangular area covering 1.4 million square miles that extends for about 2,400 miles from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba southward through Texas into Mexico and approximately 1,000 miles from foothills of the Rocky Mountains eastward to Indiana. Rainfall increases from west to east, resulting in different types of prairies, with the shortgrass prairie in the rain shadow of the Rockies, mixed-grass prairie in the central Great Plains, and tallgrass prairie in the wetter eastern region. The Great Plains region covers, roughly, the eastern 2/5 of the state. The land is flat and dry, sloping gently upward from east to west to meet the Rocky Mountains. This eastward-sloping, treeless, semi-arid, shortgrass plateau's annual rainfall is between thirteen and twenty inches, and the region's continental climate creates an environment of extremes: excessive heat and cold, and violent weather patterns.

The Agriculture Core

Due to the location of Colorado, there are limited crops that are able to be grown. The main focus of crops deal with growing corn, hay, and wheat. "Today, 40 percent of private land in the United States is used for agriculture. While 24 percent of that land is in the Rockies, the region produces only eight percent of the total agricultural commodities in the United States" (USDA). The agricultural core covers many states and includes Colorado, the following picture depicts the Corn for Grain Harvest acres.

Because corn flourishes in Colorado there are many corn field mazes around the area that help bring tourism to the area and other a fun activity to help the corn field farms grow. Like the The “Crazed Cornfield Maze” which is a 20 acre corn field maze that will have you twisting and turning in tall corn! This is a great outdoor event for all ages.