Wild About Utah

The most important lessons I can give my daughter are not through me, but instead those found best in the wild. Though she can’t talk, I know she still listens. Though her childhood amnesia is inevitable, I know that neural circuits are still being formed. Those circuits will do her good one day. Our favorite …

Continue reading "Tenacious Beaver"

Five needle pines- I love them! It was the stately eastern white pine that introduced me to these trees of the five needle clan in my early years in Wisconsin & Michigan. I marveled at their majesty, once the dominant pine of north central and north eastern states, until mostly logged off. Now, about 1% …

Continue reading "Whitebark Pines"

I sit on the front swivel seat of a drift boat gliding across the smooth water of Newton Reservoir. The sun begins to send morning rays of brilliance over the Cache Mountains. My only child, a 14-month-old boy named James, excitedly wriggles in my lap. Behind me in the captain’s seat is my long-time buddy, …

Continue reading "Bass, Birds, Buddies, and Boats"

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. Soon I got another glimpse, just as brilliant, just as green. If you’ve hiked the canyons of southern Utah, you may have already …

Continue reading "A Tropical Flash in the Desert"

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. Painted a gleaming white, it looked like an elegant butler standing stiffly at attention. Planted firming on three sturdy legs, …

Continue reading "Climate Data Recording"

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! A community of trees has much in common with human communities. Trees nurture and protect one another through an intricate web of roots and mycelium. …

Continue reading "Forests"

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. In May, 1991, two high school friends and I headed for Thunder Bowl in the Wasatch Range, with skis on our packs. We had a long …

Continue reading "Eye to Eye"

Mi nombre es Kate, y me llamo Carlos, y hoy este Wild About Utah está en español e inglés. Esta historia también, se puede escuchar on line en UPR.org Contra todo pronóstico, las luciérnagas encuentran el amor aquí en Utah. En lugares como el Parque de las Luciérnagas en Nibley, puedes ver estas deslumbrantes linternas …

Continue reading "Las luciérnagas encuentran el amor en Utah"

My name is Kate and my name is Carlos. Today’s Wild About Utah is in both Spanish and English. The Spanish version will be read by Carlos Ramos. You can also listen to this story in Spanish this Wednesday evening between 9:01-9:06 or online. Against all odds, fireflies find love here in Utah. Out at …

Continue reading "Fireflies Find Love in Utah"

Never have I seen the coming of spring celebrated with more flair than Mendon’s May Day. On the first Saturday in May, Maypoles with 20 foot long ribbons appear in the Mendon town square. By ten o’clock a couple hundred residents have gathered around the poles. A piano in the gazebo strikes the first chords …

Continue reading "May Day in Mendon"