Courtesy US Bureau of Land Management No Endorsement Implied with Use
BLM announced that they are considering changing how they manage public lands in a proposed ‘Public Lands Rule’. BLM is considering how they should balance the many demands on these public lands – to consider conservation, recreation, wildlife, and cultural lands protections.
There will be in-person meetings in Denver, Reno and Albuquerque
Here’s info on the 2 virtual meetings … registration required:
BLM manages 1 in every 10 acres of land in the US and approximately 30% of the nation’s minerals.
BLM is responsible for 22.8 million acres of public land in UT – that’s 42% of the state!
In March, BLM announced that they are considering changing how they manage these public lands in a proposed ‘Public Lands Rule’. BLM is considering how they should balance the many demands on these public lands – to consider conservation, recreation, wildlife, and cultural lands protections. This is a REALLY big deal
“Because of the importance of public lands to many of you, providing amazing recreational opportunities and habitat for wildlife, I wanted to make sure that you’re aware of these upcoming virtual meetings. It’s also worth noting that recent science has reported that we’re losing – get ready for this – 1.3 million acres of functional sagebrush habitat a year (that includes a lot of public land). So big decisions are being considered, right now, on how public lands across the West can be managed to be more resilient to wildfire and drought, and all the other challenges.”
Daly Edmunds
Policy and Outreach Director, Audubon Rockies
From the Bridgerland Audubon Facebook Group, Matthew Kugel:
Hello all! I hope everyone had a happy holiday filled with love and joy. My name is Matt Kugel and I am the new Activities Coordinator and Chair for Bridgerland Audubon Society! Part of my responsibilities within BAS is to guide birdwatching field trips in and around Cache Valley. I will be doing so once per month and sometimes more! I will post an activities calendar for the year, which will include trips to the Bear River Auto Tour, Logan Lagoons, kayaking the wetlands of Hyrum Reservoir, and more! But for now, see the attached flyer for our January event at the Logan Icon Trail.
Please see the two attached flyers for details!
A bit about me: I am originally from Green Bay, Wisconsin, and have lived in Logan for almost two years now (Go Pack). I started birdwatching in college for an ornithology course and the passion stuck and has carried me to birding adventures in Arizona, Colombia, and Guatemala, volunteer activities for the World Birding Center at South Padre Island, Texas, and guiding for the Great Salt Lake Birding Festival. I am an open book, so if you want to know more just ask on the field trips! I have some pretty fun stories!
We here at BAS strive to include people from any and all religious, political, cultural, age, language, and gender backgrounds and I want to communicate that these field trips will emulate this openness and acceptance. 🙂 That being said, some of our field trips will have us crossing rough terrain and doing “hard birding”–I am looking at you warblers. I will communicate the physical and birding difficulty of the trips up front and you decide your comfort level. I look forward to sharing my passions for birdwatching, ecology, and botany with all who care to join us on our field trips.
If you have any questions feel free to comment or direct message me. For now, if you are interested please go ahead and comment on this post. I will put together a sign up sheet at a later time this week.
Questions? Contact Matt Kugel at m.kugel@outlook.com
3/9/2023 Owling up Green, Smithfield, Birch, or Lefthand fork canyon depending on activity
Duration: Meet at the trailhead at 7 PM, return to the cars around 10 PM
Join us as we look, and especially listen, for the owls of Cache County.
Bring your headlamps, flashlights, hiking boots, trekking poles, and adventurous spirit!
We will nail down what exact canyon we will be exploring in the end of February, so look for updates!
Questions? Contact Matt Kugel at m.kugel@outlook.com
4/7/23-4/9/23 Snow Canyon State Park/Mojave/Zion-Lytle Ranch Preserve
This will be a joint field trip with the USU Wildlife Society
Jack Greene will be co-leading this trip
We will be focusing on plants, birds, and herps
Where you stay is at your pleasure have it be camping or at a hotel. We will try to reserve a group campsite at Snow Canyon State Park.
We will affirm dates in late February/early March and put out sign up forms for this trip around mid-March.
Dates are subject to change, more information to follow.
Any questions, email jackisgreene@yahoo.com
4/30/2023 Bear River Auto Tour
Duration: 7 AM – 4 PM
Carpool arrangements recommended
Observe the avian migration in close-to or full swing!
One of the top spots to bird in all of Utah
Scopes provided
Date is subject to change with conditions.
More details to come
Questions regarding ebird, field books, identification help, ecology, and so on are welcome! I would like to help anyone become fluent in using ebird!
Any questions, email m.kugel@outlook.com
5/20/2023 Annual Weed Day partnering with USFS, UNPS, and the City of Logan
More information to follow
6/3/2023 Garden Tour on Island Drive
More information to follow
6/10/2023 Bear River Celebration and Free Fishing Day
In partner with USU Extension Water Quality and the Bear River Land Conservancy
7/22/2023 Birds, Butterflies, and Wildflowers at Tony Grove: Explore Tony Grove and its abundance of butterflies, birds, and blooms with Jack Greene and Matt Kugel
“Beautiful flowers with wings”, a phrase frequently used to express the exquisite beauty of butterflies. Join the Bridgerland Audubon Society for a fieldtrip to learn the secret lives of these amazing sparks of life, the flowers they visit, and birds that eat them! Place: Tony Grove meadows. Meet at the US Forest Service parking lot 1500 East Hwy 89 at 9am on July 22nd for carpooling. Return early afternoon. Bring lunch, water, light jacket, hat or sun screen, binoculars, camera, butterfly net (we will have some). Trip leader: local naturalist Jack Greene jackisgreene@yahoo.com or764-4815. Bring binoculars and a lunch. Return by mid afternoon.
10/5/2023 – 10/07/2023 Teton Splendor, Come spend the weekend reveling in natural wonders with us in Great Tetons National Park!
Trip led by Jack Greene and co-led by Matt Kugel.
Witness the Tetons in their best fall dress where rampaging large ungulates (elk, bison, moose, etc.), release their fall passion with grunts, bugles, and a nasty disposition. Fall migrating birds along with winter residents will add to the fun. Several hikes combined with auto tours will be included, and a visit to the Teton Science School Murie Museum. We will be camping at Gros Ventre campground, so bring your own food & gear. Car pool from Aggie Icecream parking lot at 3 pm on Friday, September 29th, return Sunday afternoon, Oct 1. The cost is $10/night/person for the group campsite, or you can reserve your own campsite at https://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/gros-ventre-campground.htm RSVP by contacting Jack Greene: 435-764-4815 or jackisgreene@yahoo.com
The Lower Bear River Courtesy and Copyright Hal Malde, Photographer The Nature Conservancy
Bear River Watershed Council Information Meeting Wednesday December 7 at 2:00 p.m at the Cache Events Center 450 S 500 W Logan, we will be holding an informational meeting about the Bear River Watershed council and begin the process of getting stakeholders involved in setting this council up. You can go to the link below for more information about HB 166 and the watershed councils act. We hope to see you there, feel free to invite others that may be interested.
In 2020, the Utah Legislature passed the Watershed Councils Act, (H.B. 166) which authorized and directed the Division of Water Resources to create the Utah Watersheds Council (a state council) and twelve local watershed councils. The intent of the Act is to “develop diverse and balanced stakeholder forums for discussion of water policy and resource issues at watershed and state levels that are not vested with regulatory, infrastructure financing, or enforcement powers or responsibilities.”
For information contact:
Watershed Councils – Utah Division of Water Resources
Nathan Daugs, Manager
Cache Water District
199 N Main Logan UT 84321
435-999-0051
