Emigration Creek Environmental Consortium

Ian Frazier, always worth reading, in a sort of sequel to On the Rez, and a warning to avoid a seductive cliché.

http://www.outsideonline.com/2085166/they-dont-need-your-misty-eyed-reverence

National Parks Don't Need Your Misty-Eyed Reverence John Muir rhapsodizing about Yosemite is one thing, but Ian Frazier has had it with people calling their favorite outdoor spots “cathedrals,” “shrines,” and “sacred spaces.” The false piety detracts from the real task at hand: seeing these places as they actually are.

Joel Berg concludes our 3 part series on the industrial Sublime.

A brief time within the industrial sublime Joel Berg shares his experience of looking at the Dugway Proving Ground in the third part of our series on the Industrial Sublime. The writing and images for this series emerged from “Mineral…

This meeting may be of interest to some folks here

Draper to Host Corner Canyon Region Open Space Master Plan Open House on February 9, 2016 February 4, 2016 - Draper City is hosting an open house for public review of their draft Open Space Master Plan on February 9, 2016 from 6-8 pm in the Draper City Hall located at 1020 Pioneer Road in Draper, Utah. The plan encompasses the Traverse Ridge area, and includes the Corner Canyon trail net…

If you haven't seen this new Environmental documentary, check out the trailer and review, it's a must-see!

“How to let go of the world” Movie Review A review of the Sundance screening of “How to let go of the world (and love all the things climate can’t change)” from Claire Navarra

We're happy to share the second in a 3 part series emerging from a field studies class this fall. Transcending Landscapes Through the Lens of an iPhone: An essay from Katrina Castro

Transcending Landscapes Through the Lens of an iPhone In the second in a series related to the industrial sublime, Katrina Castro explores our connection to these landscapes through the lens, speaker and screen of an iPhone.

Youth leaders reject PLI As a young person, Utah native, red rock enthusiast and wilderness advocate, I am dismayed to read Representative Rob Bishop’s draft Public Land Initiative (PLI) bill. On Jan. 20, Congressman Bishop released the draft PLI, the result of an over-three-year effort to reach compromise on public land is…

We've been negligent in promoting this, but a couple of months ago Jeff sat down with Joni Adamson to talk about the environmental humanities. Listen to the whole interview here.

An EC2 interview with Joni Adamson Dr. Joni Adamson is one of the outstanding scholars in the field of Environmental Humanities, and a delightful person to talk to. Jeff met her when we were both part of an NEH seminar in Environme…

Westminster grad Kailey Kornhauser joined the ENVI field studies trip a couple of weeks ago for a tour of beautiful, industrial spots in the desert. Here are her reflections on the trip and the industrial sublime.

Industrial Sublimes “We took a minute just to stare at it. When you see Kennecott Copper Mine from the sky it is hard to grasp its size, and when you see it from across the valley it’s even harder. When you star…

Ec2 at the Confluence conference on the Weber River. Jeff's here as landowner on a Weber tributary, Gordon Creek. Our EC 2 blog has a couple stories and photo essays, by Paul Burnett and me, about restoration work on the creek, and dewatering by an upstream user.

Eric McCulley, River Restoration, talking some projects funded by HUD and the Rockefeller Foundation, most of which are framed as about "economic resilience" (inspired by 2011 floods).

You will be shocked to learn that people who live in the Weber floodplain tend to be lower income.

Next time she might BASE jump it.

Rapunzel’s Rappel Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair. But Rapunzel didn’t. Rather, Rapunzel rappelled. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to sh…

Please welcome Claire Navarra to the EC Squared team. http://ecsquared.org/from-the-editor/introducing-our-new-student-editor-claire-navarra/

Introducing our new student Editor: Claire Navarra ~The new year means that it is time to welcome a new student editor to EC Squared. We’ve asked Claire to introduce herself with a letter.~ “Go places that inspire you. Go where you can …

The new book by a close friend of EC2.

The Size of the Risk: Histories of Multiple Use in the Great Basin The Great Basin, a stark and beautiful desert filled with sagebrush seas and mountain ranges, is ground zero for public lands conflicts. Arising out of the multiple, often incompatible uses created throughout the twentieth century, these struggles reveal the tension inherent within the multiple ...

Our latest piece attempts to examine the idea of wilderness and what wilderness means for future environmentalists. Feel free to join in by leaving us your thoughts and comments on the subject: http://www.ecsquared.org/the-trouble-with-humans/

The Trouble with Humans - Emigration Creek Environmental Consortium I want to start a running conversation about wilderness and the idea of wilderness itself. This will require active participation by anyone reading this article, as I think the idea of wilderness is one of the biggest issues environmentalism is facing currently, of course outside of crises such as g…

Two new pieces up this week! The first discusses climbing with Nathan Williamson and focuses on ethics when it comes to rock climbing, check it out at: http://www.ecsquared.org/sport-climbers-traditional-world/

Sport Climbers in a Traditional World - Emigration Creek Environmental Consortium Traditionally, Little Cottonwood Canyon has been referred to by many rock climbers as a “bolt-less” or “bolt free” canyon. Anyone with climbing experience in the canyon though, knows that this phrase is meant more often to express the type of climbing, traditional, that the majority of people enjoy…

With Earth Day coming up this Wednesday, it is time to start thinking about ways to get involved! There are many Earth Day celebrations that will be happening across the globe and many ways to get involved, one of which is checking out the Westminster College Earth Day celebration from 3:00-5:00pm in the Westminster Commons. Information and events will be provided! Feel free to join us and also check out our latest piece in order to find out more ways in which you can get involved:
http://www.ecsquared.org/earth-day-2015/

Earth Day 2015 - Emigration Creek Environmental Consortium With Earth Day just a couple of weeks around the corner, many of us may find ourselves asking, “Just what is Earth Day and why is it important?” Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22nd, following suit with the first Earth Day ever which took place on April 22nd, 1970. This event helped...

With Utah's black bear populations still recovering from the low points in the 1980's and 1990's, any major behavioral change could forever alter the role that the black bear will play in Utah in the coming years. One such change has been noted this year where black bears tended to come out of hibernation about 1 month earlier than usual, when food is scarce, due to warmer winter temperatures. It is unclear whether or not this temperature rise is due to climate change, but it may certainly have effects on the future of the black bear in Utah. Read the full article here: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/04/150413-utah-bears-hibernation-warm-winter-climate-science/

Warm Weather Drives Bears Out of Hibernation Utah animals left dens early but found little food.

Student editor Daniel Goodman recently finished a Wilderness First Responder course through the Wilderness Medicine Training Center and Westminster College. His latest piece "Up a Creek, But Not Without a Paddle" discusses the benefits of knowing even the very basics of wilderness medicine before heading out into the wild. For more information see the link below:
http://www.ecsquared.org/up-a-creek-but-not-without-a-paddle/

Up a Creek, But Not Without a Paddle - Emigration Creek Environmental Consortium As nature lovers and environmentalists alike, we all know what it means to enjoy the solitude that one can only find in nature. Nothing can quite compare to that feeling of inner peace when you know that it is just you and what you brought with you, which may include family or friends, out in...

As you all know, ECSquared is a Westminster College based website encouraging members of a much larger community to join us in a free wheeling conversation about the environment. Although we don't always post articles relating to Westminster itself, many of our posts are written by students and professors from the college. This stems from the strong environmental base that Westminster College has and strives for every year. Thus, if you are interested in environmental efforts at Westminster or are thinking of attending Westminster College and would want to get involved with the campus-wide green movement, check out the following video (put together by ECSquared's own Brent Olson) about the college environmental center for more information:
https://vimeo.com/71274964

Learning Sustainability: The Environmental Center at Westminster College Get to know the Westminster College Environmental Center and the impacts it is having on our students. To get involved or learn more, visit www.westminstercollege.edu/environmental_center…

Hey everyone, check out our latest piece, an interview with author Peter Boag!
http://www.ecsquared.org/ec2s-interview-with-peter-boag/

EC2's Interview with Peter Boag - Emigration Creek Environmental Consortium On October 29, 2014, the EC2 team – Brent Olson and Jeff Nichols – sat down with Dr. Peter Boag in the elegant Hotel Monaco in Salt Lake City for our first-ever EC2 interview. Peter is professor and Columbia Chair in the History of the American West at Washington State University. His WSU website te…

Kailey Kornhauser presenting her research on the Colorado River Compact at the Utah Regional Phi Alpha Theta history conference at Weber State University.

Our latest conversation piece relates to episode 5 of "Earth: A new Wild" and touches on a crucial topic that we all may have to face sooner than we'd like to, that of water. Let us know what your thoughts are by commenting on this piece or submitting one of your own! http://www.ecsquared.org/earth-a-new-wild-episode-5-water/

Join the conversation at EC2!

Earth: A New Wild - Episode 4 - Oceans - Emigration Creek Environmental Consortium Dan starts off the conversation again this week with responses by Brent and Jeff to come shortly. Dan: One thing that stuck me as truly interesting in this episode was when Jeremy Jackson mentioned that humans are “nostalgic about how it used to be” when he was referring to our drive to change ocean…

Check out our new running conversation about the new PBS series, "Earth: A New Wild" on the site! Jeff recently responded to episode 3! Feel free to watch with us and join in on the conversation:

http://www.ecsquared.org/earth-new-wild-episode-3-forests/

Earth: A New Wild - Episode 3 - Forests - Emigration Creek Environmental Consortium Dan gets the conversation about "Earth: A New Wild" started this week while Jeff and Brent get caught up by watching both episodes 1 and 3.

Utahns rally at state Capitol for Clean Air Utahns rally at state Capitol for Clean Air by Michael Grennell · February 1, 2015 Utahns gather on the steps of the Capitol Building in Salt Lake City at the ‘Clean Air, No Excuses 2015′ rally on Saturday. (Emily Crooks/ The Signpost) Hundreds of Utahns gathered at the steps of the Utah State Capi…

Amazing - you keep people from shooting animals (in some places) and they rally back.

Wildlife professionals celebrate 20 years of wolves GARDINER – A gray wolf crouched at the crest of Junction Butte in Yellowstone National Park early Monday morning, her attention focused on the valley below.

Check out our latest piece, where Jeff Nichols discusses his time spent with Round River and the Taku River Tlingit First Nation this summer!

http://www.ecsquared.org/taku-practice/

Taku Practice - Emigration Creek Environmental Consortium “Practically speaking, a life that is vowed to simplicity, appropriate boldness, good humor, gratitude, unstinting work and play, and lots of walking brings us close to the actually existing world and its wholeness.” That’s the poet and environmentalist Gary Snyder. He exhorts us to take inventory o…