The National Park Service is asking visitors to take caution and not to approach wildlife, especially wild rabbits. Rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHDV2) was recently detected in wild cottontail rabbits inside Dinosaur National Monument in Uintah County, Utah.
While two river guides, armed with a UV flashlight, searched the beach for scorpions, I wandered in the other direction down the shoreline of the Colorado River to stare into the night sky at the Milky Way and its surrounding twinkling diamonds of light.
"Dinosaurs once roamed here. Their fantastic remains are still visibly embedded in the rocks. Today, the mountains, desert, and untamed rivers flowing in deep canyons support an array of life. Petroglyphs hint at earlier cultures. Later, homesteaders and outlaws found refuge here. Whether your passion is science, adventure, history or scenery, Dinosaur offers much to explore."
Drought has gripped much of the Southwest for 20 years so far, maybe a little longer. The situation has seen Lake Powell at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area drop to about one-third of its full capacity, and Lake Mead downstream is running low, as well. Reduced flows below the Glen Canyon Dam into Grand Canyon National Park have impacted the ecology of that grand canyon and the recreational experience it long has offered.
The Yampa Bench Road at Dinosaur National Monument in Utah and Colorado that provides access to the Echo Park Road from the monument's east boundary has been closed by debris from recent rain storms.
In a move similar to one President George W. Bush authorized back in 2008, the Biden administration is backing a proposal to allow oil and gas development within a half-mile of Dinosaur National Monument in Utah.
Come May 1 you'll be able to visit the Quarry Exhibit Hall at Dinosaur National Monument in Utah, but you'll need a ticket as the park staff continues to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
From the air, the seismic lines worm their way across the landscape of Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida, while under foot some are hard-packed routes that thwart vegetation and alter the flow of the "river of grass." The impairment to the country's first national preserve, a wild remnant of what once covered southern Florida, is both palpable and tangible.