Bear Lake Basin : History, geology, biology, people

Bear Lake is a large, deep lake located on the border of Utah and Idaho in Rich County Utah and Bear Lake County Idaho. It was formed through seismic activity along a fault on the eastern side of the lake. Tectonic shifts of the plates along this fault resulted in a lake basin that is over 200 ft deep along the eastern shore with a gradual slope to the western shore. The lake water has high concentrations of calcium carbonate because of high levels of evaporation typical of this semi-arid climate. These high concentrations of calcium carbonate give the lake it\u27s bright blue color. The three largest towns along the lake shore are Garden City, Utah, and Fish Haven and St. Charles, Idaho. Most of the region is rural in nature with economic activity coming mostly from agriculture and recreation. The population of the region has remained fairly stable during the past century. Historically the region was used by Shoshonie, Bannock, Ute, Sioux, and Blackfoot Indian tribes, primarily during spring and summer periods. Water in the Bear Lake basin has been used for irrigation and electrical generation since the late 1800\u27s. The Utah Power and Light Company secured water rights to Bear Lake water in 1912 and began construction of canals linking Bear River and Bear Lake from 1914-1917. These canals and the Lifton pumping station allowed the Utah Power and Light Company to use the top 20 ft of Bear Lake water for electrical generation and irrigation. The Bear River Compact, a collaborative effort by the states of Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming, provides for the distribution of water on the Bear River. Recreational use of Bear Lake has increased tremendously during the past ten years. Sales of fishing licenses, visits to state parks along the shore, and boating activities have all increased by nearly 50% during the past decade. Snowmobiling has become a significant winter recreational activity during recent years. Managing the growth of recreational use and the accompanying increase in seasonal homes will be a major focus of county planning activities in the near future. Bear Lake continues to support an active sport fishery. Cutthroat trout and lake trout are the fish most desired by anglers, but whitefish are the most abundant fish caught. In recent years the exotic yellow perch have been captured by anglers. The high quality of the fishing experience at Bear Lake is demonstrated by the designation of the lake as one of Utah\u27s Blue Ribbon Fisheries

Bear Lake It\u27s Fish and Fishing

Bear Lake is an old lake. The lake basin was form ed during the growth of the surround ing mountains; since that time, a lake has been present whenever the climate has been wet enough, but it has probably completely dried up during very dry periods

Utah Science Vol. 32 No. 3, September 1971

Bighorn sheep in Utah-past and present, J. Juan Spillett and Larry B. Dalton 79 Utah\u27s economy and the non-resident deer hunter, John D. Hunt 91 Chukars don\u27t need guzzlers, William W. Shaw and Jessop B. Low 93 Moose immigration prompts research, David E. Wilson 94 Fremont-a new hard red semi-dwarf spring wheat, W. G. Dewey and R. S. Albrechtsen 96 Ag facts 97, 108 Downy mildew on alfalfa-in northern Utah, Sheldon B. Waite 98 Custom farm service: a method for increasing profits on small farms, Terry Peterson and Roice H. Anderson 99 Iron chlorosis in Utah-another look at, J. C. Brown 101 Trends and adjustments in American agriculture, 1950-1970, Roice H. Anderson 104 To find a virus, Lois M. Cox 107 Plants and drought stress 107 Wildlife Notes 10

Over the Rim

Over the Rim is the first book about an important but little-known expedition sent by Brigham Young to explore southern Utah. Led by Mormon apostle Parley P. Pratt, the party traveled from Salt Lake City south across the rim of the Great Basin to the Virgin River near future St. George. They brought back to Mormon leaders their first detailed portrait of the country to the south that the church planned to settle. By 1849, the new Mormon settlement at Great Salt Lake City was taking on an air of permanence as companies of Latter-day Saints continued to arrive. Brigham Young and other leaders needed to find homesites for the growing body of settlers and to learn more about the expansive region, extending as far south as the coast, they had selected for colonization. Pratt\u27s party of fifty set out in the winter of 1849-50. They followed the Spanish Trail and other existing paths but also found new routes. As they went, they noted possible town sites, agricultural and mineral potential, water supplies, and other resources, creating an often-followed blueprint for the Mormon push south. Their descriptions of the Utes and Paiutes, including leaders Walkara and Arapeen, are among the most valuable parts of the journals. The Indians welcomed the travelers but were suffering from disease, increasing white settlement and travel in their territories, and trade in Indian slaves. Such encounters helped shape future relations with the tribes. Made in the depth of winter, the arduous journey included many hardships and adventures but had a permanent impact on Utah history.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs/1101/thumbnail.jp

Water Quality as a Land Use Determinant for the Bear Lake Valley, Utah-Idaho

The goal of this research has been to prove that changes in water quality resulting from changes in land use could result in a threatened decrease in economic utility of land uses in the Bear Lake Valley. The purpose of this research was to illustrate a process for determining land use and water quality relationships in the Bear Lake Valley that utilized quantified data and projective models. The first phase of the research estimated the changes in land uses and demographics for the valley. The second phase of research utilized the results from the first phase together with models predicting changes in water quality developed from the literature, to predict water quality changes. Other necessary data required for the models was obtained from an extensive inventory of existing data and literature from state, federal, and local sources. The results from the second phase were then compared to state and federal water quality standards to estimate if the changes in water quality threaten

Surficial Deposits and Geologic History, Northern Bear Lake Valley, Idaho

Detailed geologic mapping and subsurface study of late Pleistocene and Holocene sediments in northern Bear Lake Valley show at least four episodes of deposition of fluvial, marsh, bay, and lacustrine sediments. from oldest to youngest, these are the Ovid, Liberty, Wardboro, and Lifton episodes. These episodes are substantially different than those proposed by previous investigators. The informal term Bear Lake Formation is formally redefined here as the Bear Lake Group, and includes the newly defined Ovid Formation, Liberty Formation, lanark Formation, and Rainb= Gravel. The overlying Wardboro Loess, also defined here, provides a probably age of 11,000 to 8,000 years B. P. for widespread post-Wisconsinan deposition of loess in northern Utah and southern Idaho. The Ovid Episode began prior to 27,400 years B. P ., d=ing a warm, dry, climatic interval. Sediments deposited during the early part of the Ovid Episode include marsh and bay deposits of the l=er part of the Ovid Formation in northern Bear Lake Valley , probably similar deposits of the lCN~er part of the lanark Formation west of the Bloomington Scarp (on the west side of Bear Lake Valley), and marshy deposits beneath Bear Lake in southern Bear Lake Valley. West-sloping pediments at the north end of Bear Lake Valley, between Bennington and Georgetown, Idaho, and old alluvial fans, also may have formed at this time. The northern outlet of the valley was near 5990 feet at this time . Downfaulting along the Bear L3ke fault zone on the east side of Bear L3ke Valley, and prol:able eastward tilting affected the central valley during the Ovid Episode. At this time, deposition of deep-water carbonates, beneath Bear Lake, probably began in southern Bear Lake Valley. Later, cooler- and moister climatic conditions of a Late Pleistocene glacial interval (Pinedale?) resulted in a shall& extension of this lake into northern Bear Lake Valley during the Liberty Episode. Progradational, shallow-water sand deposits of the Liberty Formation show that Bear Lake attained its most recent maximum areal extent at this time. Simultaneous deposition of the Rainbow Gravel at the entrance of the Bear River into the valley, near Dingle, Idaho, and of the sandy, deltaic upper part of the Lanark Formation along the west side of the valley, reflected the increased addition of sediments, probably due to glaciation and higher stream discharges. The valley outlet was at an altitude near 5945 feet. Downcutting of the valley outlet and waning moist climatic conditions led to exposure of lake beds, increased effectiveness of the wind, and deposition of the Wardboro Loess during the Wardboro Episode. This loess probably is correlative with the Niter Loess in Thatcher Basin (Gem and Gentile valleys, Idaho). It is slightly more than 8,000 C14 years old, and probably less than 11,000 year old. Recurrent faulting along the east margin (Bear Lake fault zone) and west margin (Bloomington Scarp) of the valley at the onset of the Lifton Episode led to a brief re- expansion of Bear Lake, and then a recession southward to its present position near 5923 feet. During this time, a series of beach ridges, successively younger southward, and undifferentiated sediments of marsh, bay, and stream origin, formed in northern Bear Lake Valley. The present valley outlet is near 5873 feet