Category: Biome

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The Logan Island Twin Rivers Reverence Vibe

The first reach of the Little Logan River at River Hollow Park. This is the river’s connection to the Logan River, and in the proposed Logan River Watershed Plan it will be an excavated to bury piped water, severing the historic Little Logan River from the Logan River forever. Courtesy &amp Copyright Hilary Shughart, Photographer
The first reach of the Little Logan River at River Hollow Park. This is the river’s connection to the Logan River, and in the proposed Logan River Watershed Plan it will be an excavated to bury piped water, severing the historic Little Logan River from the Logan River forever.
Courtesy &amp Copyright Hilary Shughart, Photographer
The City of Logan has a special Logan Island Vibe anchored in the two arms of the Logan River which wrap around the heart of town as living blue trails and green stripes. We are the rivers, wetlands, and riparian buffers keepers.

This USGS map shows both the Logan River and the upper Little Logan River. These rivers define the Island district where Logan was originally founded. Click for a larger view and zoom in to Logan, UT
This USGS map shows both the Logan River and the upper Little Logan River. These rivers define the Island district where Logan was originally founded.
 
Click for a larger view in a new tab or window and search for or zoom-in to Logan UT, https://apps.nationalmap.gov/viewer/
Our stewardship is dictated by the laws we enact, and those laws include science-based riparian buffers based on best management practices. Let’s preserve and rehabilitate our natural resource treasures, not least of which the Logan River system, which includes the Logan River flowing out of Logan Canyon, and then forking into the North and South Branches which embrace the Logan Island.

Let’s celebrate our Logan Island Twin Rivers Reverence Vibe with poetry and conservation actions, such as planting native plant riparian buffers and ensuring this Tree City USA maintains a healthy tree canopy, clean water, and a thriving Natural Stream Environment, filled with the delights of birds and bird song, which are actual metrics of the health of a city.

The Logan Island Twin Rivers Reverence Vibe

The Logan River meanders gracefully from the mouth Logan Canyon,
Generating electricity here, filling First Dam Reservoir there,
Flowing through the World Class Utah State University Water Research Laboratory,
With a mile and a half southwesterly meander past Herm’s Inn here, and River Hollow Park there,
Forking to wrap around the Logan Island, twin blue trails
weaving green stripes of riverside parks,
Sustaining our urban ecosystem,
This one wild and beautiful Logan Island
Twin Rivers Reverence Vibe,
Natural Community,
Lifeline.

I’m Hilary Shughart with the Bridgerland Audubon Society, and I am Wild About the North and South Branches of the Logan River, and I am Wild About Utah!

Credits:
Images: Little Logan River Courtesy & Copyright Hilary Shughart, Photographer
Featured Audio: Courtesy Friend Weller, Chief Engineer Retired, UPR.org, Courtesy & Copyright © Kevin Colver, https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections/kevin-colver
Text: Hilary Shughart, President, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading: Hilary Shughart and Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Other Wild About Utah pieces authored by Hilary Shughart

Save and Restore the North Branch of the Logan River (Little Logan River), Bridgerland Audubon Society, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/llr/

Guide to The Logan River Trail
iFIT parking lot to Trapper Park
Read to Logan City Council April 1, 2025
by Logan Poet Shanan Balkan,

First, we pass under the traffic bridge
where barn swallows build nests of mud.
They disappear in late autumn
leaving stains where their nests once clung
to the underpass.
The river blurs turquoise to brown
under the bridge.

Bright green watercress thrives
year-round in the little stream—
see how it grows thicker by the day.
Notice the informational signs about what kinds of birds
live near the river:
red-winged blackbirds with a patch of ruby on their wings,
emerald-headed mallards, and raucous kingfishers—
now we pass a sign of fish who live in the river—
iridescent rainbow and Bonneville Cutthroat trout who wave
their tails in the swift green current.

See the majestic Wellsville mountains
jut sharp into the western sky.
They shine white, snow-covered,
late into summer.
Did you know that they are the steepest mountains
in the lower 48 states?

Turn around and see the Bear River Mountains
rise emerald behind us in the east.

Now we pass the pastures that fence horses—
dozens of them, black, white, chestnut.
A few hang their velvet snouts
over the fence to greet passersby.
The pastures shine with puddles,
bright pale hay.
The pastures smell of rich thaw,
horse manure.

Hear the music of frogs croaking,
and see the black-necked garter snakes
coiled, shy and olive-bodied,
on the edges of the trail in the grass.

The air vibrates with the jubilant
conk-conk-la-ree!
of red-winged blackbirds
and the cheerful chick-a-dee-dee-dee of black capped chickadees.
Listen! Can you hear the busy chatter of the crested kingfisher?
Can you hear the mallard skimming to a stop on the surface of the river?

At the bend in the trail, we hear
the lonely call of a great-horned owl
tangled in blue branches at dusk.

Here comes the man with one hiking pole
and the old cowboy riding his bike
and the woman who smells like patchouli glides by—
here come the mothers pushing strollers
as they chat with one another, smiling as we pass,
and all the people walking dogs—low-slung black Dachshunds,
gregarious yellow labs, and dozens of doodle mixes,
curly-haired, copper and blonde, and the golden retrievers
who love people, and lick everybody’s hands.

Past the pond,
an off-shoot of the river,
where we see minnows,
their shadows doubling them,
we can’t tell which is minnow,
which is shadow,
and a solitary kingfisher,
slate-blue, perches on a bare tree
that stands straight and tall,
and a small gray
bird skims the water, leaving riffles,
before being swallowed into a gray shrub—

there is the black metal bench
on the side of the trail where we stop to sit
and have a sip of water.

In summer, there are clouds
of white cabbage and pale yellow sulfur butterflies,
and a few orange and black monarchs.

Onto the second bridge,
this one too over a shallow pond,
where in summer small white flowers
dot the water, and wild cucumbers
with their spikey shells drape
on their vines. The silt is gray
and dappled and here we hear
the raspy call of a marsh wren
rattling cattails.

We pass the mobile home park
with blue and yellow homes
and over the bridge where on both sides
we are surrounded by gold cattails,
slowly exploding fluff,
and in summer, the blue of blue vervain.

And then onto the cow pastures
where Canadian geese nest and squawk.
We see a pair of sandhill cranes
in winter gray feathers
in the pasture, picking their way
between gold cattails.
They each have a bright red dot
under their eyes.

Look! A bald eagle!
Slow, deliberate flapping,
ebony-winged, ivory-headed.

And then to the sidewalk
that is lined with fragrant pink wild roses in June.
We see Trapper Park in the distance,
the new brick restrooms,
the pavilion with new exercise equipment,
and the brown bear perpetually climbing the side
of the toy set,

but before we get there,
let’s linger at the spring
that spills silver water over emerald
velvet moss.

Guide to The Logan River Trail
iFIT parking lot to Trapper Park
Read to Logan City Council, April 1, 2025
by Logan Poet Shanan Balkan
https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/…

Save and Restore the North Branch of the Logan River (Little Logan River), Bridgerland Audubon Society, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/llr/

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Lakes

USGS scientist Robert Baskin takes a boat out on the Great Salt Lake to conduct research Courtesy USGS, Jennifer LaVista, Photographer
USGS scientist Robert Baskin takes a boat out on the Great Salt Lake to conduct research. Baskin is best known for his innovative research on Great Salt Lake, collaborating with the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and University of Utah to provide information vital for effective lake management.
Courtesy USGS, Jennifer LaVista, Photographer
I’m a lake person born in the Great Lakes region, land of Hiawatha’s “shining big sea waters”. Fishing, hunting, swimming, and boating were at the center of our culture.

Now having lived three fourths of my life in Utah, I’ve found it a well-watered desert with all descriptions of lakes from the intermittent, seasonal, inches deep Sevier Lake to the plunging depths of Bear lake. Utah’s Great Salt Lake has brought us international acclaim, more than any other physical feature, as the Great Lakes have to Michigan. Following the Jordan River a relatively short distance upstream from the Great Salt Lake, freshwater Utah lake glitters in the sun, once thriving with monster Bonneville cutthroat trout, coveted by native peoples and pioneers alike.

Aerial view of Bear Lake, USGS boat, and employees on a water-quality platform, Courtesy USGS, Jake Seawolf,Photographer, (Volunteer for USGS, full-time professional photographer for the US Army.
Aerial view of Bear Lake, USGS boat, and employees on a water-quality platform
Courtesy USGS, Jake Seawolf, Photographer, (Volunteer for USGS, full-time professional photographer for the US Army.

Fish Lake, Courtesy USDA Forest Service Fish Lake
Courtesy USDA Forest Service

Moving to our northern border the turquois Bear Lake beauty startles the senses. A tectonic, earth fractured lake over a quarter millennium old, it is uniquely different from our other naturally occurring lakes, which were created during the last ice age, many formed less than 12,000 years ago.

Heading south, you will find the dazzling Fishlake, our largest high-altitude lake, six miles in length, a mile wide, approaching 9000’ elevation.

Beyond these, our Uintah Mountains are dappled with a head spinning thousand plus glacial lakes, ranging in size from the 1200 acre Mirror Lake to the half acre Boulder tarn lake. (tarn: a small mountain lake) Most occur above 10,000 feet elevation.

“Gods eye” wrote Herny David Thoreau describing Waldon Pond. I often sense the same as I peer into the crystalline depths of our pristine glacial lakes.

Our many artificial reservoir lakes are the most highly visited providing endless pleasure and relief from summer heat. Often their beauty is unmatched for artificial lakes, Flaming Gorge, Lake Powell, Jordanelle, Pineview, Sand Hollow to name a few.

A bit of lake ecology. There are four major categories of lakes from the deep, cold, low productive Oligotrophic like Bear lake, to the highly acidic, dystrophic bog lakes found in the Uintah high country containing little aquatic life. Between are the mesotrophic- Pine View reservoir, Willard Bay, and the eutrophic, highly fertilizer enriched Utah Lake, often suffering from algae blooms, which are becoming more common with a warming climate.

Our deeper lakes enjoy a spring and fall phenomenon called “overturn”. Deeper lakes experience stratification, or stagnation, similar to our atmospheric inversions, with warmer water sitting on top, and colder, heavier water toward the bottom. This causes an oxygen deficit in lower layers, and nutrient deficiency in the upper layers. Once water reaches its highest density of 39.2 degrees Fahrenheit, which occurs during spring warm up and fall cool down, the surface water will sink, forcing nutrients from the depths upward, and bring oxygen from the surface downward. This mixing favors aquatic life from top to bottom of the water column, a joyous occasion!

This is Jack Greene for Bridgerland Audubon Society, and I am Wild About Utah’s Great Lakes.

Credits:

Picture: Great Salt Lake and Bear Lake, Courtesy USGS, Fish Lake Courtesy USDA Forest Service
Audio: Courtesy & © Kevin Colver https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/ and Anderson, Howe and Wakeman.
Text: Jack Greene, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading: Lyle W Bingham, Webmaster, and Jack Greene, Author, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading:

Jack’s Wild About Utah pieces.

Judd, Harry Lewis, Utah’s Lakes and Reservoirs, Inventory and Classification of Utah’s Priority Lakes and Reservoirs, Utah Department of Environmental Quality, January 1997, https://lf-public.deq.utah.gov/WebLink/ElectronicFile.aspx?docid=458257

Utah’s Priority Lakes and Reservoirs 1999: Watershed Management Program, Utah Department of Environmental Quality, https://deq.utah.gov/water-quality/watershed-protection/utahs-priority-lakes-and-reservoirs-1999-watershed-management-program

Utah’s 1982 Priority Lakes and Reservoirs List from “Judd” above.
Each lake name is linked to a Google map:

Anderson Meadow Reservoir
Ashley Twin Lakes
Baker Dam Reservoir
Barney Lake
Bear Lake
Beaver Meadow Reservoir
Big East Lake
Big Lake
Big Sand Wash Reservoir
Birch Creek Reservoir #2
Blanding City Reservoir#4
Bridger Lake
Brough Reservoir
Browne Reservoir
Butterfly Lake
[Zelph] Calder Reservoir
Causey Reservoir
China Lake
Cleveland Reservoir
Cook Lake
Currant Creek Reservoir
Dark Canyon Lake
Deer Creek Reservoir
DMAD Reservoir
Donkey Reservoir
Duck Fork Reservoir
East Canyon Reservoir
East Park Reservoir
Echo Reservoir
Electric Lake
Fairview Reservoir #2
Ferron Reservoir
Fish Lake
Flaming Gorge Reservoir
Forsyth Reservoir
Grantsville Reservoir
Gunlock Reservoir
Gunnison Bend Reservoir
Gunnison Reservoir
Hoop Lake
Hoover Lake
Huntington Lake North
Huntington Reservoir
Hyrum Reservoir
Joes Valley Reservoir
Johnson Valley Reservoir
Jordanelle Reservoir
Kens Lake
Kents Lake
Kolob Reservoir
Koosharem Reservoir
Labaron Reservoir
Lake Mary
Lake Powell
Little Creek Reservoir
Little Dell Reservoir
Lloyds Reservoir
Long Park Reservoir
Lost Creek Reservoir
Lower Bowns Reservoir
Lower Box [Creek] Reservoir
Lower Gooseberry Reservoir
Lyman Lake
Manning Meadow Reservoir
Mantua Reservoir
Marsh Lake
Marshall Reservoir
Matt Warner Reservoir
Meeks Cabin Reservoir
Mill Hollow Reservoir
Mill Meadow Reservoir
Miller Flat Reservoir
Millsite Reservoir
Minersville Reservoir
Mirror Lake
Mona Reservoir
Monticello Lake
Moon Lake
Navajo Lake
Newcastle Reservoir
Newton Reservoir
Nine Mile Reservoir
Oak Park Reservoir
Otter Creek Reservoir
Palisades Lake
Panguitch Lake
Paradise Park Reservoir
Pelican Lake
Pine Lake
Pineview Reservoir
Piute Reservoir
Porcupine Reservoir
Posey Lake
Puffer Lake
Pyramid Lake
Quail Creek Reservoir
Recapture Reservoir
Red Creek Reservoir
Red Creek Reservoir (Iron)
Red Fleet Reservoir
Redmond Lake
Rex’s Reservoir
Rockport Reservoir
Rush Lake
Salem Pond
Scofield Reservoir
Scout Lake
Settlement Canyon Reservoir
Sevier Bridge Reservoir [a.k.a. Yuba Reservoir]
Sheep Creek Reservoir
Smith and Morehouse Res
Spirit Lake
Stansbury Lake
Starvation Reservoir
Stateline Reservoir
Steinaker Reservoir
Strawberry Reservoir
Three Creeks Reservoir
Tibbie Fork Reservoir
Tony Grove Reservoir
Trial Lake
Tropic Reservoir
Upper Enterprise Reservoir
Upper Stillwater Reservoir
Utah Lake
Wall Lake
Washington Lake
Whitney Reservoir
Wide Hollow Reservoir
Willard Bay Reservoir
Woodruff Creek Reservoir
Yankee Meadow Reservoir

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The Unique Biodiversity of Washington County

The Colorado Plateau Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer
The Colorado Plateau
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

The Great Basin Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer The Great Basin
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

Mojave Desert with Joshua Trees Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer Mojave Desert with Joshua Trees
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

Mojave Desert Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer Mojave Desert
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

Mojave Desert Tortoises Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer Mojave Desert Tortoises
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

Mojave Desert Tortoise Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer Mojave Desert Tortoise
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

Mojave Desert Tortoise in a Burrow Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer Mojave Desert Tortoise in a Burrow
Courtesy & Copyright Marshall Topham, Photographer

For 44 years I have spent considerable time in the company of the desert creatures that reside outside my home in St. George Utah. That number doesn’t include my frequent visits to this area as a young man growing up in Iron County. Back then I did not appreciate the uniqueness of the environment I was invading. I do now. Washington County is an area of unusual biodiversity. An impressive variety of plants and animals call Utah’s Dixie home. Over 100 species of plants and animals found here don’t exist anywhere else in Utah. This extraordinary biodiversity is the result of several factors working together to create an environment that is uniquely its own. The biologically diverse environment of Washington County can’t be found anywhere else on Earth.

Today on the trail, I pondered the reason for such incredible biodiversity I was experiencing. Three large geophysical features collide and overlap here. The Great Basin Desert invades from the North, and the Mojave Desert from the South. The Colorado Plateau, a semi-desert pushes in from the East. Each of these deserts bring with them their own unique complement of plants and animals, making Washington County a mixing pot of biodiversity. In addition to the merging of these three deserts, the incredible local topography plays a role in the diversity of life here as well. Washington county elevation ranges from 1,800 to 10,365 feet above sea level creating a number of different life zones influenced by elevation change. Erosion has also been a contributing factor by created mesas and canyons that provide additional habitat diversity.

I marvel at this environment as I stand in one place and see around me plants that originated in each of these very different desert environments. This same experience is reflected in the wildlife I encounter as I traverse the trails in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. Today I encountered juvenile and adult Chuckwallas, sunning on sandstone outcrops or aggressively dismembering a Desert Marigold plant to feast on its blossoms. Tiger Whiptail Lizards dash back and forth across the trail in front of me, as Side-blotched Lizards casually watch me pass by from the edge of the trail. At one point, I had to alter my path a little to avoid a Desert Horned Lizard lying motionless in the trail. Intentionally watching carefully off trail, I observe the occasional Leopard Lizard in the sand or a Desert Spiney Lizard atop a rock. Today was a good day for Mojave Desert Tortoises, as I observed three along my route. All were foraging not far from the trail. Today was a great day to be in the desert, but I will be back again tomorrow. The desert is an incredible therapist. And the price of therapy is extremely reasonable. Who wouldn’t be wild about that?

I’m Professor Marshall Topham and I’m Wild About Utah.

Credits:

Images Courtesy & Copyright
Courtesy & © Friend Weller, https://www.upr.org/people/friend-wellerCourtesy & Copyright © Anderson, Howe, Wakeman
Text: Marshall Topham,
Additional Reading: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah pieces by Marshall Topham https://wildaboututah.org/author/marshall-topham/

Washington County Utah https://www.washco.utah.gov/

Snow Canyon State Park, Utah State Parks, https://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/snow-canyon/

Joshua Tree National Landmark, US Bureau of Land Management, https://www.blm.gov/visit/joshua-tree-national-landmark

Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, Washington County & US Bureau of Land Management, http://www.redcliffsdesertreserve.com/

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Naomi Peak

Climbing Mt Naomi, Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
Climbing Mt Naomi
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
Nature Journaling, Mt Naomi Hike, Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
Nature Journaling
Mt Naomi Hike
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer

Nature Journal Entries After Climbing Mt Naomi, Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer Nature Journal Entries After Climbing Mt Naomi
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer

One September day when I was a fifth grader, my dad pulled me out of school to climb the Pfeifferhorn, an 11,000 foot peak in the Wasatch Range. That was the most meaningful and defining day of my elementary school experience.

Years later, when I first arrived in Logan, my younger sister Heather and I climbed Naomi Peak the day before our USU classes started. We made it an annual habit. At just under 10,000 feet elevation, Naomi Peak is the highest point in the Bear River Mountains.

Fast forward forty years from that day on the Pfeifferhorn and I’ve made a career of taking students out of class and into the mountains. Outdoor school programs are synonymous with science, but you can justify any destination with the language arts curriculum by having students write for authentic purposes and read meaningful texts.

When I taught at Mount Logan Middle School, we offered a literacy-based summer school program for incoming sixth graders. Part of that two-week experience was an overnight backing trip up to High Creek Lake. The next day we would climb Naomi Peak, then pack down the trail to Tony Grove. It is a grueling journey. We did it with student groups two to four times each summer for more than 15 years. Our strategy was simple, walk until our students were tired, then sit down, eat snacks, create word lists, and read and discuss a chapter of the book we were reading together. When students began to fidget, we’d hit the trail again. We repeated the pattern for eight hours, or however long it took to reach our destination. We wove science, math, and social studies concepts into the learning, but our main curriculum focus was literacy.

Four years ago, we decided to carry on these traditions with our sixth graders at Edith Bowen Laboratory School where I work, facilitating outdoor experiential learning opportunities for students. The second week of school each year we take four separate groups of students from Mr. Baggaley’s and Mrs. Jenkins’ classes to Naomi Peak to start off the school year. The round trip is just over 6 miles and it takes us 6 hours with our learning stops.

When we reach the summit, we have students pull out their field journals and use their word lists from the trail to create vivid descriptions of their journey. This is the best classroom to teach writing—where students can write with purpose about real emotions and experience. Writing forces students to slow down, to be still, and to be fully present with the landscape and with their thoughts. It allows them to construct meaning.

One student wrote, “I kept doubting myself, asking if I should turn back—my thighs aching, my feet sore, my stomach hungry. Every doubt was a new reason to quit, making me question if it is worth it. But I made it.”

Students huff and puff and we talk about the importance of pacing and controlling our breathing. We focus on being efficient, not fast. Students make new friends. They build confidence and they have fun along the way—even if they don’t want to admit it. One student wrote, “It was meh.”

As an educator I’m accountable to the state to connect learning to curriculum standards—I take that seriously. Outdoor programs give purpose to learning—making the state curriculum a means rather than an end. But I’m also accountable to these little humans to bring joy to the learning process, to nurture their curiosity, and give them a sense of belonging.

I do wonder what these kids will remember about Naomi Peak. I wonder if they will ever come back in the years ahead. Will they remember the adversity tree we stopped to talk about? The steep inclines? How tired they were? Or will they just remember the euphoria of standing on the summit while a cool breeze blows all their cares far away into Wyoming?

A student shared her journal entry with me on the summit: “I have never been so proud of myself and my mental self. The view is unreal. I am so lucky and happy, but I wish my mom was here because she pushed me to go. I’m so lucky to have my friend. She helped me and I helped her. I can live life accomplished. I am calm and I am free.” Underlined twice, in giant letters, she finished her entry: “I am amazing!”

I am Eric Newell and I am Wild About Utah.

Credits:
Images: Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell
Text: Eric Newell, Edith Bowen Laboratory School, Utah State University
Additional Reading: Eric Newell & Lyle Bingham, Bridgerland Audubon

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah Pieces by Eric Newell

Morgan, Susan K, Geologic Tours of Northern Utah, 1992, Found on website hosted by Utah Geological Survey, Department of Natural Resources, State of Utah, https://ugspub.nr.utah.gov/publications/misc_pubs/mp-92-1.pdf

Mt Naomi Wilderness Map, Wilderness Connect, University of Montana, https://umontana.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=a415bca07f0a4bee9f0e894b0db5c3b6&find=Mount%20Naomi%20Wilderness