The Rockies may be divided into four principal sections-Southern, Central, Northern, and Canadian. The Southern Rockies, which include the system's broadest and highest regions, extend from central New Mexico, through Colorado, to the Great Divide, or Wyoming, Basin, in southern Wyoming. This section, which encompasses Rocky Mountain National Park, is composed chiefly of two northern-southern belts of mountain ranges with several basins, or parks, between the belts. The component parts include the Sanger de Crisco and Laramie mountains and the Front Range, in

The Columbia River has immense hydroelectric potential, and since the 1930s several large power projects have been built on it. The largest of these, the Grand Coulee Dam, in central Washington, is the key unit of the Columbia Basin Project, a federal undertaking also designed to irrigate up to 485,623 hectares (1.2 million acres) of semiarid land. Other important power projects on the Columbia include Bonneville, The Dalles, John Day, McNary, Priest Rapids, Rocky Reach, and Chief Joseph dams, in the United States, and Mica Dam, in Canada. Most of these dams are also used for flood control and for irrigation.

The Fraser initially flows northwest through a section of a deep, narrow valley called the Rocky Mountain Trench. It then turns south near the city of Prince George, where it receives its major western tributary, the Nechako River. In its central section, the volume of the river increases, and below Quesnel its banks gradually take on a canyonlike aspect. Important tributaries in this section include the West Road and Chilcotin rivers, from the west, and the Thompson River, from the east. From Lytton to Yale the river flows through a canyon of great scenic beauty. At the canyon's southern end the Fraser passes between the Cascade Range to the east and the Coast Mountains to the west. A little below Yale, at Hope, the river turns sharply west, and the fertile lower Fraser Valley begins. The Fraser empties into the Strait of Georgia through three main channels. The river is used by commercial vessels for a short distance upstream. From May to July the Fraser Valley is subject to flooding; a series of dikes helps protect the delta.

The Central Rockies are in northeastern Utah, western Wyoming, eastern Idaho, and southern Montana. They encompass the Bighorn; Bear tooth, and Unite Mountains and the Absaroka, Wind River, Salt River, Teton, Snake River, and Wasatch ranges. The Unite Mountains are the only major portion of the Rockies that extends east west rather than north south. Among the peaks of the Central Rockies, which include Grand Eton and Yellowstone national parks, are Gannett Peak (4207 m/13,804 ft high), Grand Eton (4197 m/13,771 ft high), and Fremont Peak (4185 m/13,730 ft high).

There are two species of wolves: the gray, or timber, wolf, once widely distributed but now found only in Canada, Alaska, and northern Europe and Russia, except for a few isolated packs in other regions; and the red wolf, found only in Texas and the southeastern United States.

Wasatch Range, mountain range, western United States, in the Rocky Mountain system. The range is about 240 km (about 150 mi) long; part of the Central Rockies, it begins in southeastern Idaho and runs southward, east of the Great Salt Lake and through the center of Utah, gradually ending in southwestern Utah. The average height of the range is about 3050 m (about 10,000 ft), and the highest peak, Mount Nebo, is 3620 m (11,877 ft) high.

San Juan Mountains, mountain range, southwestern United States, in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. Part of the Rocky Mountains, it is of volcanic origin and is rich in minerals. The highest peaks are in Colorado and include Uncompahgre Peak (4361 m/14,309 ft), Mount Sneffels (4313 m/14,150 ft), and Wetterhorn Peak (4272 m/14,017 ft).

Bighorn Sheep, largest and best-known wild sheep of the North American continent, also called Rocky Mountain sheep. They are found from southern British Columbia to northwestern Mexico. A full-grown bighorn may average 101 cm (40 in) at the shoulder and range in weight from 79 to 158 kg (175 to 350 lb). The great curved horns, which may take more than one turn, attain a length of up to 127 cm (up to 50 in). The ewes have smaller horns, seldom exceeding 38 cm (15 in). The coat is not woolly but long, full, and coarse, like that of a goat. The animals have a short mating season, during which the rams clash head-on in a battle for the ewes; for the rest of the year the sheep u

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Pages = 30 (250 words per page double spaced)