The
Rocky Mountain Front is an area extending over
100 miles (160 km) from the central regions of the
U.S. state of Montana
to southern
Alberta
, Canada
.
Here, the
Rocky Mountains meet the Great Plains
in an abrupt altitude rise of between 4,000 to
5,000 feet (1,219–1,524 m). The Lewis
Overthrust
pushed
eastward and over younger aged rocks, creating the Lewis Range.
The
majority of the Rocky Mountain Front lies in Waterton Lakes
National Park
in Alberta, and Glacier National
Park
, Lewis and Clark National Forest
as well as on private lands and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation,
all of which are in Montana. The
U.S. Bureau of Land Management
also manages portions of the region.
Also referred to as the "Crown of the Continent", the region is
characterized by an uncommon ecosystem in which
prairie and Northern Rockies flora and fauna
overlap. All of the original animal species encountered when the
Lewis and Clark
Expedition passed through the region still exist in their wild
state, with the exception of the
bison, which
lives in the wild south and west of the front, but in the area
itself is represented by
domesticated
herds. This is one of the few places in the lower 48 states in
which the
grizzly bear still ventures
onto the Great Plains. Conservationists have been actively working
to protect the region from oil and gas exploration interests.
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