Jack Greene

The American pika can be found throughout the mountains of western North America, from Canada to New Mexico. Of the 30 global species, only two inhabit North America, which includes the collared pika found in Alaska and Canada.

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.

We all love pleasant surprises! I especially enjoy nature’s offerings, both pleasant and less so. I wish to share a few from a very long list!

I’m going to go beyond birds a few hundred million years to their precursors, who thrived long before our feathered mini-dinosaurs evolved. These ancient beings continue to thrive to this day.

The Eclipse Soundscapes project is looking for observers to record and share “field notes” of the changes they see, hear, and feel during the eclipse, whether they’re in the total path or not.

Canyons deliver our waters and nurture our souls. These priceless landforms deserve our love and protection.

Those masked bandits raiding our gardens by night and bird feeders by day, who often wash their food (actually enhancing tactile experience), have human-like highly sensitive hands, love to eat chickens, as do I, and have a very clever brain- an animal full of contradictions much like us human animals.

What about birds? Why are they so alluring, so beloved by so many? Whatever the reasons, the bird is the word!

Looking ahead, Salt Lake City may once again host the winter Olympics in 2034. May our internationally renowned Great Salt Lake be present to welcome them, and may our snow be white and bright, not brown and gone, from a covering of dust blown from an empty lake bed.