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2021 Map of Ball Island

Name: 2021 Topographic Map of Ball Island
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 2021
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 2021

About this map

Ball Island and the surrounding high desert of Sublette County are defined by an intricate network of irrigation systems designed to manage the flow of Muddy Cr and Cottonwood Cr. Large-scale infrastructure like the Green River Supply Canal and the Cottonwood Canal work alongside smaller local channels such as the W L Smith Ditch, Essex Ditch, and Shafer Ditch to support this arid landscape.

Evidence of early ranching and settlement is visible at the Ball Cem, situated near the eponymous island feature. The terrain transitions from the low-lying Soap Hole Basin in the northeast to the Red Hills and the deep cuts of Billy Canyon in the southwest. A web of Bureau of Land Management roads, including BLM RD 5212 and BLM RD 5204, provides access to these remote reaches where the cattle-ranching economy of the West remains etched into the topography.