Everyone knows about jackrabbits—those nasty vermin out there in the West Desert, right? Actually, most Utahns know very little about either of the two largest rabbit species in North America. The largest rabbit is the white-tailed jackrabbit found throughout the mid-elevation expanses of Utah’s sagebrush, while the slightly smaller black-tailed “jack” is found throughout … [Read more...]
Search Results for: DAN POTTS
Summer Garden Watering Made Easy
Ever forget to turn your sprinklers off before leaving home, only to come home to a flooded garden and an off-the-chart water bill? Ever come home to find areas of your yard totally dried out and dead or stunted plants? My wife and I have! After gardening for about 40 years, here are a couple of ideas we have learned that largely eliminates these unfortunate … [Read more...]
Girls Wrestling Boys: Concerned About Mixing the Sexes on the Wrestling Mat?
Progressive wrestling goes to the mat As a West High School wrestling coach, I coached female wrestlers on its mostly male teams for decades. Early on, I concluded that there were really no concerns about mixing the sexes on the mat. Wrestling was wrestling, and all participants wanted to gain something from the toughest high school sport in America. In my first article … [Read more...]
The Top Five Lakes in the High Uinta Mountains to Visit
I have been an avid backpacker and angler of Utah’s Uinta Mountains and its 600-plus fishable lakes for 55 years. As a teenager, I became addicted to fishing the mountain lakes closest to the Mirror Lake Byway with my cousin, who is now considered an expert, as he has visited so many lakes over the decades. Early on though, I decided we needed an approach to scoring lakes … [Read more...]
The Story of Utah Lake: Murky and Misunderstood
Utah’s public has long considered Utah Lake to be highly polluted. Once known as the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi, it is surprising just how unpolluted what later became a water storage reservoir really is. Extremely unique in the world, Utah Lake is 22 miles long by 15 miles wide, with an average depth of less than 10 feet. Because it is so shallow, … [Read more...]
July Fun Guide 2021: Celebrations & Activities
Pioneer Day Celebrations: July 9-10: Pops Concert. The Choral Arts Society of Utah will join the Utah National Guard 23rd Army Band and soloist Lauren Gruwell for concerts featuring hits from the 50s & 60s, movie soundtracks, patriotic favorites, and much more. This event is free but tickets are required. Visit daysof47.com for more information. July 15: Pioneers of … [Read more...]
Eat the Weeds: How to Harvest Wild Foods
I have foraged and eaten wild foods of all kinds for the past 40 years. For most people, foraging revolves around mushrooms, berries or wild asparagus, and I certainly harvest those. But while preparing to teach my first foraging class for West High School’s Community Education program several years ago, I discovered a forging book, Eat the Weeds by Ben Harris, that … [Read more...]
Gardening in Pots: Anyone Can Grow a Garden
After gardening virtually all of my life, and later teaching gardening classes through West High School’s Community Education Program, I have concluded that almost anyone can grow a garden. The only real requirement is about six hours of direct sunlight for any location. It could be a small corner of your yard, a patio, or even an outside deck on the east side of a high-rise … [Read more...]
The Number One Tip for Successful Hunting from the Modern-Day Hunter Gatherer
Over the past few years, I have written a variety of articles for Utah Stories that have largely characterized me as a local modern-day hunter/gatherer. My most recent article attempted to characterize today’s North American hunters, describing them in a continuum between more elitist/trophy hunters and those like myself who primarily hunt to harvest wild meat for the … [Read more...]
Are Utah Hunters Killing Off Starving Deer For Trophies?
As an avid big game hunter with university degrees in wildlife management, our North American model of managing game animals for sport and meat hunting is the best in the world. The approach involves limiting take, hunting in appropriate seasons, equipment restrictions, and restoring wildlife habitat. Our model has been exported to Europe and parts of Asia and is now … [Read more...]