Wild About Utah

Not long ago, while walking up a gravel road in Bears Ears National Monument, my eye was distracted by a flash of brilliant, almost neon green against the red rocks and sand.

Last week while walking across the Utah State University campus, I rounded the Northeast corner of the University Inn and suddenly found myself face to face with a giant stick figure made of steel tubing.

Forests are beyond amazing! As a field ecologist for the U.S. Forest Service, and chairing the Smithfield City Tree Committee, their branches and roots have penetrated deep into my heartwood!

If you spend enough time in the wilds you acquire some remarkable stories. I've had some noteworthy wildlife encounters over the years, but one stands out from long ago.

Against all odds, fireflies find love here in Utah. Out at places like Firefly Park in Nibley, you can watch these dazzling lanterns dance and bounce, starting around early June.

A piano in the gazebo strikes the first chords and the May Queen and her entourage step around the corner of the church and onto the green.

A bird of the prairie and countryside, the western meadowlark releases songs synonymous with spring grasslands flush with balsam root, lupine, death camas, larkspur, prairie smoke, and wind tossed grasses that shimmer in morning sun.

Spring, though, again, is the moments. When our eyes flutter awake with birdsong; when light comes before alarms; when we begin to manifest all we longed for during the dreamt night.

The story of this giant hole in the ground is woven into Utah's history, but it's also left its mark on our planet Earth.

When I began Nordic skiing some 40 years ago, my Bonna laminated wood skies were coveted. I miss their natural beauty and high performance. Now, they sit in a corner, replaced by a light weight, wax free pair. Somethings lost, something's gained.

The snow beneath our skis is firm and our metal edges cut tight turns with precision as we descend from the clouds, honoring three of Logan's finest the best way we know how.

For many of us who love the outdoors, the first half of March is a least favorite time of year. But if we close our eyes and listen, nature still can brighten the dingy days.

Each fall, for the last ten years, a challenge has gone out to Utah and Southern Idaho's high school students to create a poster that sends a strong message to the rest of us that the air we breathe is dangerously dirty and we need to do something about it.

Across my years of exploring the majestic outdoors with young children, I've experimented with nature journaling.

February is the month to help scientists better understand global bird populations before one of their annual migrations, and the data collected will help bend the curve for bird survival.

These lands have been a hot issue in Utah for most of our state's history.

I've visited Blacksmith Fork Canyon with a thousand or so fifth and sixth graders — a few at a time — for a day with biologists and managers. Each time, we feed wintering elk about 5,000 pounds of hay.

It's always a good day when you see a Gila Monster in the wild. Monster sightings are not common in the Southwest corner of Utah even though they are quite abundant in this portion of the Mojave Desert.

When we're out enjoying Utah's backcountry in wintertime, we should always resist the temptation to have a close encounter of the wild kind.

A domestic goat is very different from a wild mountain goat. It's very unlikely a hiker will ever see a wild goat because there are less than 2,000 scattered about in a few small herds in Utah.

There are many reasons for having a bird feeder, especially in the winter season when birds are often hanging on by a thread due to challenges from inclement weather and lack of food.

The Bridgerland Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count is always hosted on the first Saturday on or following December 14th, and we have been contributing Cache Valley, Utah data to the National Audubon database since 1956.

Not all bones become fossils. So you can imagine the excitement in the scientific community when a fossil bed containing more than 12,000 dinosaur bones were discovered 30 miles south of Price.

Mindful birding is a practice that incorporates a heightened awareness and deepens our relationships with birds and our connection to the natural world.

And though elections can—and do—have direct impact on the wildlands of Utah and the health of our planet, today, the crows in the yellow pine in my front yard still call out, “Caw! Caw! Caw!” The Bear River keeps flowing to the Great Salt Lake, steady and silent.

For 44 years I have spent considerable time in the company of the desert creatures that reside outside my home in St. George Utah.

It's rare these days to see a sheep dog actually at work. But the International Sheep Dog Competition comes to Soldier Hollow every year, and I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Everyone loves a good bear story, especially around the campfire. I have accumulated many in my years- all personal and factual.

As a wise outdoor educator, Eric Newell, once told me “Never be too busy outdoors to stop and experience something that excites the kids.”

The most important lessons I can give my daughter are not through me, but instead those found best in the wild.

This warning, printed in big block letters , definitely caught my attention when I walked into the Mendon Post Office. The poster included a picture of a mosquito and a message saying "Please take the necessary precautions to protect yourself and your loved ones."

Outdoor programs give purpose to learning—making the state curriculum a means rather than an end.

I'd like to tell you a crime story. But is it still a crime story if it's about the natural world? I'll tell it and then let you decide for yourself.

Never one to say no to an adventure, this month I found myself sitting in the front row at the Bug Bar at the Natural History Museum in Salt Lake. I was waiting for the Bug Bar to open and serve up some insects.

Beyond the rapture and pure joy they provide, mountain meadows are critical ecosystems- biological hot spots.

Most Utah bat species are year-round residents hibernating during the winter. Some species migrate south and remain active all year while migrating species breed in the spring.

The Utah DWR has no plans to “introduce” goats into the vicinity because they are already here. Biologists are conducting surveys to understand the impacts goats have on endemic plant species to inform management decisions.

This ecosystem is full of life. Along this tour we saw at least 15 species of birds: American avocet, coot, great blue heron, cinnamon teal, white-faced ibis, curlew, American white pelican, yellow-headed blackbird, and red-winged blackbird.

These geese are very adaptable. Where they see open space with a good supply of grass and water, they will move in. Some geese opt out of migration entirely, like the ones who spent last winter at Logan's First Dam.

A hot, sunny, May day was Christmas for my avid 2nd-grade birders, when 35 pairs of high-quality Vortex binoculars and chest harnesses were delivered to our Edith Bowen Laboratory School classroom.

Sites with bird feeders attract more birds over time than those without feeders, and the birds are in overall greater health than birds at sites without feeders.

Early this spring, a semi-truck with a long flat bed pulled into the USU parking lot next to the cemetery and parked. Lashed down firmly on the flat bed was a giant railroad spike, covered in gold leaf and very impressive to see from a distance.