Environment in the Northeast Essay ⋆ Environment Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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The Northeastern United States is often referred to as New England and includes the states of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Most of the area is part of the northern end of the Appalachian Mountains where winters are cold and snowy. The states that occupy the region were settled by the Puritans and their descendants. Other immigrant groups have also come in the 19th and 20th centuries from Ireland, Portugal, Italy, and French-speaking Canada.

Maine is in the northeast corner of the United States and is the largest of the New England states. Its city of Eastport is the most easterly of all American cities. Along with New Hampshire and Massachusetts, Maine is bound by the Atlantic Ocean on its eastern side. On the west, it is bounded by New Hampshire and by the Canadian province of Quebec. The Canadian province of New Brunswick bounds it on the northeastern side.

Maine’s coast is in the first of three land regions, which are the Coastal Lowlands, the Eastern New England Upland, and the White Mountain Region. The Coastal Lowlands extend from the Atlantic coast between 10 and 40 miles inland and form a strip along Maine’s Atlantic shoreline. It is part of a larger region of land that stretches along the entire New England coast.

The Coastal Lowlands area does not rise much above sea level. It has broad sandy beaches that give way to salt marshes. During earlier ice ages, it was depressed from much greater heights by the great weight of glaciers. The southern part of Maine’s coast has numerous sandy beaches. Old Orchard Beach is a hard packed sandy beach that is 11 miles (18 kilometers) long. It is one of the longest of all sandy beaches on the Atlantic coast of the United States. The coast is a lowland area in which farming of cranberries, blueberries, beef cattle, and poultry is done. The northern part of the Coastal Lowlands is rocky and dominated by high cliffs. Deposits of sand, gravel, granite, and limestone are mined for construction and other uses.

Maine is best known for its rocky northern coast. Along the Maine coast are over 400 islands that are from two to 25 square miles (five to 65 square kilometers) in size. There are also thousands of smaller islands. The largest is Mount Desert, which is about 100 square miles (260 square kilometers). There are numerous ports with deep water where ships harbor along Maine’s 3,000mile long coastline. Fishing for lobster and other deep sea fishing are major industries.

The Eastern New England Upland area occupies the middle part of Maine. It is a belt between 20 and 50 miles (32 to 80 kilometers) wide and is part of an uplifted shelf that extends from Connecticut to Canada. The northern area covers Maine’s entire border with New Brunswick except for the thin Coastal Lowlands strip. Some areas of this region are several thousand feet above sea level. Dairy and beef cattle are raised in the area. The Aroostook Plateau in the northeast has deep, fertile soil; excellent for farming, it has made Maine famous as a potato producing state. Forestry is important in the region as it is in other parts of Maine. Its mountains look green all year long because of the vast number of trees covering nearly 90 percent of the state. The Eastern New England Upland area has a great number of lakes south of the Aroostook Plateau. In the center of the Upland area, mountains cut across, as do swift-moving steams fed by melting snows.

The White Mountain Region occupies western Maine. It extends into New Hampshire and Vermont. In the north, the region is only about five miles (eight kilometers) wide. In the south, it is 30 miles (48 kilometers) wide. Logging is a major occupation in the area. Maine’s tallest mountains and hundreds of lakes occupy the area’s valleys. Mount Katahdin, rising to 5,268 feet (1,606 meters), is the highest mountain in Maine. In addition, 97 other mountains exceed 3,000 feet (910 meters). Among the region’s wildlife are moose, beavers, foxes, lynxes, martens, minks, raccoons, black bears, deer, and over 300 kinds of birds. The climate in the region of the White Mountains is cool to cold because of Arctic or coastal sea winds. Snow covers the region in winter making skiing a popular sport in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire.

Vermont is about 160 miles long and 80 miles wide. Vermont covers 9,615 square miles (24,900 square kilometers). Its land regions are mostly mountainous. Northeast Highlands are part of an area shared with Maine and New Hampshire. The area is covered by mountains composed of granite, which rise from 2,700 to 3,300 feet (823 to 1,010 meters) above the sea level of the Atlantic coastline. Gore Mountain, at 3,330 feet (1,015 meters), is the tallest. The Northeast Highlands area is cut with many fast-flowing mountain streams.

The Western New England Upland region covers most of the eastern part of Vermont. The area extends into Western Massachusetts and is also called the Vermont Piedmont. Part of the area is composed of broad farmlands with streams that flow into the Connecticut River Valley. Farming in the valley produces apples, strawberries, and other crops. The lowlands of the Western New England Upland contain numerous lakes in the northern area. The region rises to the west in the western hills, which connect with granite outcroppings. These turn into granite hills along the boundary with the Green Mountains.

The Green Mountains region is a spine covering central Vermont. The highest peak, Mount Mansfield, is 4,393 feet high (1,339 meters) and a number of other peaks are nearly as tall. Because of the beauty and the winter snows, the region is the center of Vermont’s tourist industry. It is also an area that is logged for timber and mined for a variety of minerals. In the north, the Green Mountains decline to become lower mountain ranges. In southern Vermont between the Green Mountains and the Taconic Mountains is the Vermont Valley. The valley is narrow with small rivers and river valleys that stretch for miles north from Massachusetts into central Vermont. The Baton Kill and Waloomsac rivers flow through the Vermont Valley.

The Taconic Mountains cover a narrow strip in southwestern Vermont. Equinox Mountain (3,816 feet), Dorset Peak (3,770 feet), Little Equinox Mountain (3,320 feet), Mother Myrick Mountain (3,290 feet), and Bear Mountain (3,260 feet) are found in the Taconic Mountains of Vermont from which flow swift streams into areas with beautiful lakes. The Champlain Valley borders Lake Champlain in northwestern Vermont. The area is sometimes called the Vermont Lowland-a fertile area that is farmed extensively with dairy operations. It also has numerous apple orchards surrounded by corn, hay, oats, and wheat fields. Burlington, Vermont’s largest city, is located in the region.

New Hampshire is about 190 miles long and 70 miles wide. Canada forms its northern border and Massachusetts is on its southern border. In the east, New Hampshire has a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean. Maine lies to the east and the Vermont state line marks its western boundary. New Hampshire covers 9,351 square miles (24,100 square kilometers). There are three land areas in New Hampshire.

The coastal lowlands are in the extreme southeastern corner of the state and are part of the larger New England Coastal Lowlands. The area extends inland from about 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 kilometers). The coastal area has a number sandy beaches that are used for recreation. Great Bay on the coast is a stopover for migratory birds, especially geese and ducks. The rivers of the area have been a source of water power in the past.

The two remaining regions are the Eastern New England Upland and the White Mountains, which are divided by the Merrimack River that rises in the White Mountains and flows across the upland area and empties into the sea near Boston, Massachusetts. The Upland region covers most of the southern, western, and eastern parts of the state. The Connecticut River Valley forms its western boundary. The Hills and Lakes area surrounds the Merrimack River on the west, east, and northern sides. The White Mountain Region is in the northern part of the state. It is a rugged mountain range, heavily forested with spruce and fir and yellow birch. Mount Washington (6,288 feet) is the tallest in New England and is famous for extreme weather. In 1934, the Mount Washington Observatory recorded winds at 231 miles per hour.

Massachusetts is 190 miles long and 50 miles wide at its most distant points and covers 8,284 square miles (21,456 square kilometers), excluding nearly 1,000 square miles of coastal water areas. New Hampshire and Vermont border Massachusetts in the north. It is bordered in the south by Connecticut and Rhode Island. The Atlantic Ocean forms the east coast and New York forms the western border. The coastline is 192 miles (309 kilometers) long.

Massachusetts has six land areas. In the east is the Coastal Lowlands region. It makes up the eastern third of the state. This area includes the long sandy peninsula of Cape Cod, Nantucket Island, Martha’s Vineyard, the Elizabeth Islands, and other smaller islands. The region is a popular summer resort and has several excellent harbors including Boston. Swampy areas are found along the coast. At the end of the last ice age, glacial deposits were left to dot the area. The middle of Massachusetts is covered by the Eastern New England Upland extending from Maine to New Jersey. The Massachusetts portion is about 50 miles wide. Moving westward, the area rises to 1,000 feet in height (300 meters) and then gradually slopes westward to the Connecticut River Valley. The Connecticut Valley, drained by the Connecticut River, is long and narrow. It is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) wide and has rich soil and mild temperatures that make it productive farmland. The Western New England Upland is the major area west of the Connecticut River Valley. It is about 20 to 30 miles (32 to 48 kilometers) across from the Connecticut Valley to the Berkshire Valley. The Berkshire Hills area is an extension of the Green Mountains of Vermont. The Berkshire Hills are over 2,000 feet (610 meters) in height. The northern part of the Upland region near Vermont has the highest mountains in Massachusetts, such as Mount Greylock, at 3,487 feet (1,064 meters) above sea level. The narrow Berkshire Valley lies between the Berkshire Hills and the Taconic Mountains; its green pastures make it a major dairy area. The Taconic Mountains of Massachusetts are the sixth landform. They were formed during the late Ordovician Period (440 million years ago).

Bibliography:

Rennay Craats, Guide to New Hampshire (Weigl Publishers, Inc., 2001);
Gene Daniell, , White Mountain Guide (Appalachian Mountain Club Books, 2003);
Green Mountain Club, Long Trail Guide: Hiking Vermont’s High Ridge (Green Mountain Club, Inc., 2003);
John O. Hayden, 50 Hikes in Vermont: Walks, Hikes, and Overnights in the Green Mountain State (The Countryman Press, 2003);
Christopher Lenney, Sightseeking: Clues to the Landscape History of New England (University Press of New England, 2003);
Terrell Lester et al., Maine: The Seasons (Knopf Publishing Group, 2001);
John H. Long, ed., Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island: Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (Scribner, 1995);
Paul Searls, Two Vermonts: Geography and Identity, 1865-1910 (University of New Hampshire Press, 2006);
Tom Seymour, Foraging New England: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Foods and Medicinal Plants from Maine to Connecticut (Falcon Press Publishing, 2002);
Christina Tree and Diane Foulds, Vermont: An Explorer’s Guide (The Countryman Press, 2003).