From Deseret News archives:
Outdoor notes
There will be a multistate survey of white-tailed prairie dogs to decide whether they are placed on the federal list of threatened and endangered species.
Biologists with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources will survey prairie dogs in Rich, Daggett, Duchesne, Uintah, Carbon, Emery and Grand counties.
By monitoring prairie dogs once every three years, the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies believes it can show the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that the prairie dogs are well-managed by the individual states.
REGISTER FOR NATURE CLASS
Registration for Ogden Nature Center's summer nature camps is open. Camps are fun, educational and creative with age-appropriate programs for preschoolers to age 16.
To register for a camp call 801-621-7595. For more information about the Ogden Nature Center, visit www.ogdennaturecenter.org.
Camp sizes are limited to ensure a quality experience. The center is located at 966 W. 12th Street in Ogden.
FALCONS ARE BACK
Peregrine falcons are nesting again in downtown Salt Lake City. And this year, people won't have to wait until June to watch them on their computer screen.
Cameras are up and running early this year. By logging into the Division of Wildlife Resources' Web site — www.wildlife.utah.gov — people can watch the antics of the falcons, including the female taking care of her four eggs.
Their nest box is on the northeast corner of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. The building is just west of State Street, between South Temple and North Temple.
Two cameras have been positioned in the nest box this year to provide better coverage of the action.
People also will be able to hear the falcons this year.
Peregrines have nested in downtown Salt Lake City for years. A total of 11 of 16 young-of-the-year falcons learned to fly in the downtown area.
For more information call 801-538-4700.
SAGE-GROUSE STUDY
How does oil and gas development affect sage-grouse?
A donation from Questar Exploration and Production Co. will allow Utah Division of Wildlife Resources biologists to find more answers to that question.
Questar donated more than $27,000 to the UDWR to fund a greater sage-grouse study. Biologists will conduct the study in 2008 and 2009 in the Deadman Bench and Glen Bench areas in northeastern Utah.
Biologists will focus their efforts in areas that have sage-grouse breeding grounds. They'll learn more about the migration patterns and the breeding and productivity of the grouse in the area, the habitat quality in the area and the effect oil and gas development have on grouse.
